Beat the recession with best value wines

The 2008 Best Value Wine Show which is hosted by Grand West Casino this year, takes place in the Market Hall, Entertainment Centre on Tuesday 2 December form 17h00 -21h00
The show once again offers Capetonians the opportunity to taste and purchase around seventy value-for-money wines from twenty South African wineries under one roof. All wines [...]

The perfect present

The eternal question looms: What is the ideal, universal gift for hosts, friends, business associates, service workers and, not least, the family physician?
I’d submit that – barring such obvious exceptions as Alcoholics Anonymous members or hardshell teetotalers – it’s hard to top a gift of wine. Wine is broadly available and widely enjoyed. It comes [...]

Top tips for serving tipple

Wine enhances the flavour of the food, makes the table look nice and can liven up a meal. But many people find it confusing. There are too many choices, it requires a special tool to open, and there’s the whole culture around wine supposedly dictating what goes with which food and what’s cool to drink.
Here’s [...]

South Africa is becoming a New World wine force

Wines from Old World countries like France, Italy and Spain and New World wines from California seem to always garner most of the experts’ accolades. The majority absolutely deserve these high ratings, but there are many outstanding wines from other parts of the New World.
South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile are producing fabulous [...]

Silver lining for the company of wine people at the India Wine Challenge

The company of wine peopleTM delivered sterling results at the India Wine Challenge: its newly launched Arniston Bay Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and Kumkani Sauvignon Blanc 2007 were both awarded silver medals.
The Kumkani Chardonnay Viognier 2007 received a bronze medal while the Arniston Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2008, Arniston Bay Reserve Shiraz 2007 and [...]

Celebrating with wine

The month before the festive season tends to be the busiest period on the social calendar thanks to numerous year-end functions, and visits from friends and family. We’ll leave you to decide on the eat-some-morish menus and music, but here’s a few tips when choosing wine for the silly season.
In order to make a good [...]

Russia is probably the most exciting new wine market

Never mind the oligarchs. Russia is probably the most exciting new wine market to emerge in the past five years. Why? Because a growing slice of ordinary middle class Russian society has developed a taste for quality wine, according to Wine Intelligence’s Russian Wine Market Landscape report, published on 14 November 2008.
Based on a groundbreaking [...]

US wine investment specialist on SA wines

 
Mike Fisher, a founding partner of US investment banking firm Global Wine Partners believes South Africa, with its excellent wine-growing conditions, the beauty of its winelands and competitive cost structures, is well placed to advance from its relative obscurity in the US to the point where it becomes better recognised for its quality offerings.
 In South [...]

Party like a star

In an article published on the Destiny magazine website ( destinyconnect.com ), some well-known South African celebrities share their ‘party tricks’ used to entertain guests.
UYANDA MBULI
MD of Agenda Communications, co-owner of Diamond Face Couture, deputy chairperson of Gauteng Films and TV presenter of African Giants, Uyanda Mbuli is a skilled businesswoman and hostess. She loves [...]

Enjoying wine doesn’t need to be a daunting task

It’s easy for diners to be confident when ordering their favourite domestic beer, or a common cocktail that every bartender knows how to prepare.
Hand them a wine list, though, and all confidence goes out the window. The average diner tends to be less than well-educated when it comes to pairing wine with their meals, or [...]