© Cape Times Friday 27th January 2012 There is a truism in the wine industry which states “You can make a bad wine from good grapes, but you’ll never make a good wine from bad grapes.” Everything starts in the vineyard, not the cellar, and when you think of all the permutations a winemaker faces before he or... 

© Cape Times Friday 13th January 2012 Even after a decade of twisting my tongue, there are still some wine farms in South Africa which floor me. I’m not claiming any kind of an amazing accent, but over the last years, I have managed to produce noises which most people recognise as ‘Buitenverwachting’, ‘Altydgedacht’... 

© Cape Times Friday 30th December 2011 Everyone loves champagne. Well, don’t they? Perhaps it’s just me, but I thought that the opportunity to open a bottle of bubbly was something anybody would rush to do. Whether it’s ‘proper’ champagne (the French are highly protective of the actual word ‘champagne’... 

© Cape Times Friday 23rd December 2011 “On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…..” – can you remember the whole song? I have to confess, I often struggle, so I resorted to the internet to find out more. Quite apart from the expected cost of buying all the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ items... 

© Cape Times Friday 9th December 2011 T’was ten days before Christmas, And all throughout the land, Everyone was panicking, “What the heck are we going to do for Christmas lunch this year, because I’m so bored with all the usual stuff?” Hey, c’mon! I wasn’t asked to write this column on the basis that... 

© Cape Times Friday 11th November 2011 Hands up who drinks Chenin Blanc? Okay, then hands up who knows what Chenin Blanc even is? It’s ironic that Chenin is widely acknowledged by experts as being the variety most likely to make SA’s mark on the international wine world, offers better value than any other wine...