Wednesday, September 01, 2021

In MENU This Week – Aubergine, Lanzerac Pinotage, Dunes, Ginja, Wine.co.za at 25, CWG Auction







A father and his son on Hout Bay beach, reflected in the wet sand

It seems like a record. We have visited three restaurants and report on them below, as many as we have reported on in long periods in the last year and a half. As more people have their vaccinations, perhaps we can look forward to the government reducing the restrictions on curfew and sales of alcoholic beverages which will allow restaurants and wine merchants a bit more freedom to trade with resulting improvements in employment. Our record unemployment rate is one of the country’s biggest problems – government incompetence is probably the biggest – and freeing up the hospitality and related industries will go a long way in improving matters. Of course, reducing the restrictions imposed by foreign governments will also be an enormous help to our almost moribund tourist industry.  We wait with increasing impatience.

Meeting friends for a light lunch at Dunes, Hout Bay

Another chilly and windy day in Hout Bay and a promise of rain. A chance to catch up with good friends again who have been through a lot over the last few months. Where else but our favourite Dunes on the beach. Read On…

Birthday dinner at Aubergine

John proposed to Lynne when they were at a fine dining restaurant celebrating her August birthday, so each year we treat ourselves to a great dinner. When we entered the third Lock Down, Jordan Wine Estate issued another of their fantastic R600 vouchers to support the restaurant industry, for which you received a box of 6 good Jordan wines and a voucher for R600 to spend at a restaurant of your choice from their list. Aubergine has long been a favourite of ours and we had not been for several years, so we bought one. Read on… 

Rib eye special at Jinja in the V&A Hotel

Good friends phoned us to see if we wanted to join them at Ginja restaurant in the Victoria & Alfred Hotel on the dockside in the waterfront for one of the restaurant specials. Because of the curfew we arrived earlier than we would normally have done but got the benefit of seeing the Waterfront and the mountain as the sun went down. Read on…

Lanzerac Pinotage 2012

We are of the belief that South African Pinotages improve hugely the longer they age and this wine, which we opened on International Pinotage Day, August 18th, supports that view. It was absolutely at its peak. The first Pinotage, harvested in 1959 and released in 1961, was grown and made on the Bellevue Estate in Bottelary, Stellenbosch and the wine was sold under the Lanzerac label by Stellenbosch Farmers Winery. Read on…

Happy 25th Birthday, Wine.co.za

We first met Kevin Kidson and Judy Brower at the Robertson Wine Festival in 1999, when they were kind enough to allow us to share accommodation that they and a group of friends had rented on a farm between Robertson and Bonnievale. Wine.co.za, their fledgling online publication, was in its infancy as a pioneer in South Africa’s world of digital publications. Read on…

A closer look into the 2021 Nedbank CWG Auction & Protégé Auction

There will be two separate and distinct auctions this year, both will be hosted by international auction house Bonhams. Read on…

Have a most enjoyable week and stay safe, masked and, above all, vaccinated! Don’t believe the conspiracy theorists’ fake news, listen to the doctors and nurses who are dealing with the horror.



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