Friday, August 22, 2025

John Collins trade wine show at Den Anker

 John Collins has again presented his collection of wine producers to his trade customers
at the Den Anker Belgian restaurant in the V&A Waterfront


Den Anker is alongside the historic Port Captain's building, which is being refurbished



At the Alfred Basin entrance, Miquelle Scheepers was welcoming guests
with Springfield Estate's excellent Garuzis Brut Cap Classique









The show took place in the inner half of the restaurant with normal lunchtime trade in the front
and more tables outside in the quayside enclosure

Pieter Bruwer showing his family's Springfield wines with his sister, marketing manager Jenna Bruwer Kruger

We have always enjoyed them, the Albariño is one of the first wines produced in South Africa from this Iberian grape and Miss Lucy white blend is great with seafood

The Life from Stone and Premier Cuvée Sauvignons are national favourites
as are the Wild Yeast unwooded Chardonnay and the Méthode Ancienne barrel-fermented Chardonnay
The classic red wines include the Whole Beery Cabernet and the Work of Time and Méthode Ancienne red blends

Johan Kruger showing his Kruger Family Wines to Rui Blanco, Tatiana Marcetteau of Steenberg Golf Estate
and Lourens Serfontein of Tabak Duty Free

Johan makes a wide range of excellent, very interesting wines from grapes sourced from several terroirs
including Grenache, Cinsault, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot noir

He also makes a range of wines for the British label Naked Wines

 Renette Muir of Wine Concepts tasting the Springfield wines with Jemma Bruwer Kruger

Delicious Belgian frites with real mayonnaise

and Moules (mussels) to accompany them

Den Anker always provides a delicious accompaniment of canapés

 Arancini

Tuna bites with sesame seeds

 

Den Anker Chef and co-owner Doekie Vlietman - service with a smile


small rolls of prosciutto

and delicious deep-fried cheese croquettes, served hot

Marketing manager Bianka Jordan showed Jordan's Chameleon range of affordable, environmentally friendly
and very drinkable white and red wines

while Melanie Melvill showed their mid-range Estate wines
which includes The Prospector Syrah and The Outlier Sauvignon blanc, favourites of our when we eat at the estate,
an excellent Rosé and the Inspector Péringuey Chenin and Real McCoy Riesling, Merlot and Cabernet sauvignon

Alex Jordan showed the superb Reserve range of premium Jordan wines:
 Cobbler's Hill and Sofia red Bordeaux blends, Cap Classique and Nine Yards Chardonnay
and the Timepiece range
which now comprises Sauvignon blanc, Chenin blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay and Cabernet sauvignon,
all produced from certified Old Vines vineyards



Marisa van Rensburg and Wade Roger-Lund, Meerendal cellarmaster and General manager,
showed the Meerendal range of wines

We wrote about them in two articles earlier this year
(see them in the list of stories in the column on the right of this)

Meerendal's Pinotage vineyard is now still 70 years old and it is still the source of excellent wine
The Meerendal Pinotage is made in the modern style
which produces a wine which is ready to drink young, but should age very well for at least 10 years

Christopher Keet speaking to Wendy Mesias, a member of the John Collins team,
about his superb Keet First Verse red blend

It is beyond doubt, a masterpiece

Gary Jordan visiting the Springfield exhibit

Alex and Gary Jordan

All the stories we have produced since 2012 can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page

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Thursday, July 31, 2025

David Brice RIP

Another hero of the Cape wine world has left us. 

David at a Cape Winemakers Guild Auction

David Brice was two years ahead of me at school, St Andrews College in Grahamstown in the early 1960s. At that time, when I was 13 and he 15, the age gap and seniority in the school pecking order as well as our being in different houses, he in Merriman and I in Armstrong, was an insurmountable chasm. I remember him as one of the “nice” guys, who exuded a special confidence without being full of his own importance. He always looked very splendid in his first team rugby outfit and, especially, in the full Highland dress we wore in the cadet corps. He, as a “student officer” and I as a piper in the band wore the full dress uniform with white spats, black and white horsehair sporran, Graham tartan socks, kilt and plaid wrap.

Much later, after Lynne and I started our retail business, Main Ingredient, in Sea Point, David became a customer, buying food ingredients from us that were not easy to find elsewhere. Through this, we became aware of his love and encyclopaedic knowledge of food and of the wine industry.

He was a founding partner, with Richard Burnett, of wine brokers and cellarers ‘Wine Cellar’ in Observatory, which offered wine enthusiasts a wonderful secure storage facility for their wine collections with ideal temperature and humidity conditions. They also imported and sold a superb range of imported, mainly French wines and champagnes and presented very interesting tastings of these wines.


At the opening of the new Wine Cellar tasting Room in Observatory in 2015

He was a wonderful supporter for us as retailers of gourmet foods and wine and was, in many ways, a mentor as we were setting up what was, in the early part of the 21st Century, an innovative business. 

We send our sincere sympathy to Angela and to all his present and former colleagues at the Wine Cellar and wish them all the love and strength they will need.

David at a John Collins trade tasting in the Cape Town Club with Marcha Cooke and Caroline Rillema

Asking a question at the Dewetshof Celebration of Chardonnay in Robertson

All our stories can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page

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Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Caroline's Red Wine Review 2025

The Members Lounge at the DHL Stadium.  It's a vast area and, this year, it was filled to bursting with great red wine
Lots and lots of enthusiasts too, a very popular tasting
This was taken at the beginning...

Caroline Rillema, convenor of the show

and with Nathan Jankelowitz, owner of Bacco Wine Estate in the Simonsberg/Paarl foothills
He was showing his 2021 Estate Red Blend 



Dr Rijk Melck talking to Lynne about hip ops!
We so enjoyed tasting his 2021 Ansela van de Caab Bordeaux blend
Lots of great fruit and lots of depth, balance and good wood, but still youthful with ages to go

Tayla Kymdell, Stark-Condé winemaker, with the Oude Nektar Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec red blend

Brett Naicker presenting the Anysbos Tesame Grenache noir, Shiraz and Cinsaut
Lovely colour, very rounded on the palate with great fruit and quite delicious, a find!
Made by Marelise Niemann on this Bot River farm

Broadcaster Guy McDonald with Rickety Bridge winemaker Mari Kotze, cellarmaster Donovan Ackermann and a friend

Jade Kylander showing the 2017 de Trafford Elevation 393 
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc single site red blend
We were impressed, as we always are at the elegance and quality of these wines
The winemaker is Hendry Hess

Emil Kanstinger, Sales Manager at Anura Vineyards with the 2022 Anura Malbec Reserve made by Sander Maass
It has a splendid dive-in nose, savoury and enticing, with layers of flavour and good supporting tannins and wood

Idiom Barbera 2023 is made by Roberto Bottega
Very Italian in style, with big fruit, lots of tannins and years to go

The Newton Johnson Walker Bay 2023 Pinot Noir was presented by winemaker, Bevan Newton Johnson
Yes, we are biased; yes, we buy this wine; and yes, it was the top Pinot Noir of the evening for us
It is sophisticated, the nose has perfume, wood smoke and black cherry fruit,
which follows through on the luscious palate
with layers of gently melded raspberry and cherry fruit gathered together so beautifully
And a definite wine for good food

Jacques du Plessis, Oak Valley winemaker pouring his 2021 Tabula Rasa Pinot Noir for Marie Uys  of Amorim Cork
Top of the Oak Valley range, this wine is textured, full of class, deep flavours and one to pair with food and to cellar

Paul Cluver winemaker Chelsea Gibson with the Paul Cluver 2023 Estate Pinot Noir
Another of our favourites and always impressive
 In perfect balance with ripe, dark berry fruit and good supporting oak, a hint of terroir with elegance and length

Berene Sauls showed her 2023 Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir
Perfumed, light in colour but not light in flavour; all the cherries in a bunch, with long delicious flavours

Benguela Cove GM and winemaker Michelle Waldeck with her 2022 Walker Bay Cabernet Sauvignon 

Beyerskloof Eerste Ry 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon made by Anri Truter

Cederberg winemaker Gwen Marais
pouring the Cederberg 2020 Five Generations Cabernet Sauvignon for a happy taster
This wine was made by Jean Nel.

Annemie Arendse with David Finlayson's 2022 GS Cabernet Sauvignon
Full of layers of good fruit and made by Pieter vd Merwe

Never one to miss, the 2023 Leeu Passant Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon, a quality wine made by Andrea Mullineux

Nederburg winemaker Zinaschke Steyn presented her 2021 Private Bin Nederburg Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon

Petra and Nico van der Merwe with their 2020 Nico Cabernet Sauvignon

Joris van Almenkerk pouring his 2022 Almenkerk Elgin Merlot

Lizann Groenewald showing the 2021 Sijnn Red, a blend of Syrah, Tinta Amarela, Touriga Nacional
made by Kruger Theunissen

Winemaker Bertho van der Westhuizen with his 2022 Alto Estate Blend

Rijk Melck with his Muratie Ansela van de Caab red blend

Jackie Rabe with the 2021 Stony Brook Ghost Gum Cabernet Sauvignon from Franschhoek, made by Craig McNaught

Thelema winemaker Rudi Schultz showed Thelema's 2022 The Mint Cabernet Sauvignon, made by JC Smit

KWV winemaker Izele van Blerk pouring 2021 The Mentors Cabernet Franc
Superb and true to the varietal

Raats Family Reserve 2022 Cabernet Franc, always one of the top Cabernet Francs, classy and delicious
Made by Bruwer Raats

Jana Cloete decanting the 2022 Rainbow's End Cabernet Sauvignon made by Anton Malan

Space for a restful interlude
Needed as there were so many excellent wines to sample. We could not possibly taste them all

Buitenverwachting cellarmaster Brad Paton with his excellent 2017 Buitenverwachting Christine Bordeaux Blend

Duncan Marshall and his daughter Micayla were so enjoying the evening.

De Grendel 2020 Elim Shiraz made by Morgan Steyn

Lanzerac cellarmaster Wynand Lategan showed the iconic 2021 Lanzerac Pinotage, one of the oldest planted in the Cape
and the first Pinotage to reach the market - in 1959

Bellingham winemaker Richard Duckitt with his 2022 Bernard Series Basket Press Bellingham Shiraz

Overhex cellarmaster Pierre Wahl in the DHL Stadium with his 2022 Survivor Reserve Pinotage

Pieter Carstens proudly showing his 2019 Leeuwenkuil Heritage Syrah

Niels Verburg amusing fans of his 2022 Luddite Shiraz made by Alice Verburg, his daughter
Another wine family dynasty

Saronsberg winemaker Daniela Jansen with her much-decorated 2022 Shiraz

Fairview winemaker Annette van Zyl showed The  Beacon 2021 Shiraz

Eenzaamheid's 2023 Grenache Noir is an exciting young red wine; we wonder how it will develop
With perfume on the nose, floral and leesy, with good raspberry and cherry fruit, chalky tannins on the palate
Impressive even at this stage. Made by Janno Briers Louw 

Sarah and Jacques du Plessis comparing notes
Jacques is the Oak Valley winemaker; Sarah is sales manager at Richard Kershaw Wines

Thelema Mountain Vineyards showed their Sutherland vineyards 2022 Emily Petit Verdot made by JC Smit
This was our second highest scoring wine of the night and so impressed us and others. Much talked about
Classic violets on the nose, dark red berry fruit opens in layers on the palate
Delicious, juicy, supple, a good surprise and a food wine to scoop up

Red Winemaker Timothy Witbooi and Bradley Solomons with the 2023 Lourensford Limited Release Merlot

Richard Duckitt discussing his Bellingham Shiraz with Lynne

Two glamorous Wine lovers who asked to have their picture taken

Top Sommelier Marlvin Gweze runs the wine department at Newmark Hotels

All our stories can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email










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