Tag Archives: Wine Spectator

21st Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc vintage launched!

Hamilton Ruell Right 2015We have had a very soft spot for Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage at our Whale Cottages, the Hamilton Russell second brand suiting our guest house perfectly. It was one of the first wines we added to our wine list (joined by Creation’s Whale Pod more recently) when we opened our first Whale Cottage in Hermanus 19 years ago.

The Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc 2015 has just been launched, its 21st vintage. The wine has won ‘Best Value’ five times in Wine Spectator. It has complexity, depth, dry minerality, and ‘age-worthiness we are proud of’, explains the media release received from Hamilton Russell.

The Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc is unique in that : Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 26 January

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Mrs Liz McGrath, owner of The Collection by Liz McGrath, which includes The Cellars-Hohenhort,  The Marine, and The Plettenberg, with The Lord Milner in Matjiesfontein recently taken over by her too, passed away this weekend.

*   James Laube, writing for Wine Spectator, generically describes South African wines as aiming for longevity, of up to 40 years.  Cape Point Vineyards winemaker Duncan Savage told him: ‘South African winemakers say they feel as if they’re in a state of limbo. “It’s as if we’re in the New World of the Old World, or part of the Old World in the New World’.  He expressed his personal dislike of our country’s ‘low pH, high-acidity wines’.

*   Cape Town already has a street named after former President FW de Klerk, in Wesbank it has been discovered, Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 22 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Norwegian Air is planning to introduce low-cost flights between Gatwick and Cape Town.   The airline has recently introduced low-cost flights Los Angeles, New York, and Fort Lauderdale from Gatwick.

*   Edelweiss and Lufthansa airlines have announced that they will increase capacity to their flights to Cape Town.   From October Lufthansa will be putting larger A340-600 aircraft on the route, adding 30% more capacity.  Similarly Edelweiss will add 30% more capacity between Cape Town and Zürich from December to March, by flying three times a week.

*   Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient has received an Award of Excellence in the Wine Spectator Restaurant Wine List Awards, one of only three recipients of the Award in Africa. The minimum requirement is to stock 400 wines – Restaurant Mosaic stocks 40000 ‘fine and rare wines‘. (received via e-mail from Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient).  Rust en Vrede and five hundred are the other two recipients of the Award, Chantel Dartnall has informed.

*   Two Oceans wines have new redesigned labels for its Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and  Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend, to Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Brangelina’s Miravel Rosé is the first pink wine to have made the Wine Spectator Top 100 exciting wines list.  This year South Africa’s Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2012,  Ashbourne Sandstone 2008 (also made by Hamilton Russell), and AA Badenhorst Family 2009 are also on the Top 100 list.

*   Hartenberg is hosting its annual Riesling Rocks Festival on 25 January, with our country’s best Rieslings available to taste, paired with gourmet deli food. Hartenberg winemaker Carl Schultz is regarded as one of the best local Riesling winemakers.  Tickets cost R120. (received via media release via Smart Communications & Events)

*   Indaba will run over only three days next year, from 10 – 12 May, SA Tourism giving the ‘stagnant’ trade show in Durban a makeover with changes being implemented over the next two years.  The focus will be to meet and engage, rather than man large stands.  SA Tourism Chief Marketing Officer Jan Hutton will meet with the tourism industry in Durban and Cape Town next week, to share her plans for Indaba 2014.

*   Tony Romer-Lee is said to be leaving the McGrath Collection at the end Continue reading →