Monday, March 21, 2022

The 2022 RMB Starlight Concert at Vergelegen

It is always exciting to receive an invitation to what is one of the best musical events each year, the RMB Starlight Classics concert, held in Cape Town at Vergelegen in March and in September at the Johannesburg Country Club; especially as both performances had to be cancelled during Covid lockdown. Sadly, it was not open to the public this year; just to invited guests who were mainly clients of the Bank, media and its senior employees. We were instructed to be there by 4.30 on a Saturday evening and the weather was perfect. After collecting our entry badges, we were welcomed with a glass of Vergelegen's MMV Cap Classique

The Vergelegen MMV is a Blanc de Blanc (100% Chardonnay)
The wine is named for 2005, when Vergelegen first made bottle fermented sparkling wine - MMV in Roman numerals
It is clean, dry and crisp with lovely flavours of toast, green apple and lime,
with a good mousse and lots of elegance and enjoyment
It spent 49 months on the lees, which gives it good complexity. We knew we were in for an evening of excellence

Lady Phillips’ famous garden was in full bloom as we walked towards the Manor House
Very different plantings from previous years; very abundant


Drifts of cosmos and a huge bright pink bougainvillea cover the back wall


Different chairs this year, much more comfortable, and set out in two and fours to give us space between our neighbours
and the rows were also widely spaced apart


There were several bars where one could get wine and other drinks;
people began to gather on the lawns in front of the house


One of the very friendly and helpful members of staff circulating to serve us - with a very special hairdo

Everyone had to collect a picnic hamper of food for dinner, which you could eat before the show
seated at the new table area behind the seating or in the seating area itself before the concert or during interval
We were also given a blanket, in case it became a bit chilly
Packed full of wine, very good plastic glasses, the obligatory candles for lighting during the show, and salads, cold chicken, cheeses, biscuits, olives and canapés sourced from Woolworths, Pick 'n Pay and Checkers. They thought of everything
You could even get a cup of ice to keep the wine cool on the warm late summer evening


We found a table, chatted to other guests and then enjoyed some supper before it was time to find our seats

We enjoyed the Vergelegen Chardonnay very much, we were served an older one from the bar and it really shone


Seated next to us were Muzi Nkosi and his wife
He is in charge of Rand Merchant Bank's corporate business in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa


John managed to get us aisle seats again so that he could have an uninterrupted view of the stage
and not bother anyone behind him when taking photographs


and it was time for the concert to begin


Warmly welcomed back by Conductor maestro Richard Cock who had missed all of us as much as we missed him!
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra played the overture from the film Back to the Future,
which was rather appropriate

and by the CEO of Rand Merchant Bank, James Formby

We then all stood to sing the National Anthem

The opening act was the Mzansi 10 Tenors, a group of men from the townships, many of whom are training to be opera singers at Cape Town University, who have banded together to find work singing, which was very sparse during Covid. They are managed by Sipho Fabesi. Thanks to Richard Cock, Rand Merchant Bank has agreed to support the Mzansi Ten Tenors and they’ve commissioned Ralf Schmitt, who is a conductor and co-founder of the popular Ndlovu Youth Choir, to write and produce a signature piece for the group called Go Forth Young Man. The song will be available in all the digital music platforms

They sang rousing choruses of Neapolitan songs, including O Sole Mio
It brought joy to our hearts to see what amazing talent we have in this country

and then a rousing version of Granada

Next Diva Thembeka Mguni returned to Starlight with a lovely song Brave by Sara Bareilles,
which brought the first tears of the evening to Lynne's eyes

Joined by the dancers from Jazzart

Talented Baritone William Berger from Stellenbosch has a stellar career in Europe and now lives in London
He was stuck here during the Covid lockdown and so was available to appear at this year's Starlight concert
 He told us that appearing at Starlight was one of his top Bucket List items and he was so happy to be here


He has a wonderful, rich voice and entertained us with the well-known aria Votre Toast from Carmen,
better known as The Toreador Song

Charl Petrus du Plessis is a South African classical and jazz pianist
who has written a rather different version of the famous hit by Meatloaf (RIP) I Would do Anything for Love
in the style of both Tchaikovsky and Mozart

Performed by the UCT Jazz Choir and the orchestra
It was both entertaining and hilarious and got a terrific response from the audience

Maestro Richard Cock then introduced his co-conductor for the evening, Brandon Philips,
who is the resident conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra

He would conduct Coenie de Villiers performing his popular song Namaqualand
Coenie de Villiers is a South African singer-songwriter, pianist, and pop artist who sings in his mother tongue, Afrikaans

They accompanied the song with a wonderful film backdrop of the spring flowers in Namaqualand

Very talented Mezzo-Soprano Monica Mhangwana, singer and musician, born and raised in Pretoria,
wowed us next with a faultless performance of the beautiful aria from Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah,
“Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix”. When Richard Cock introduced her, he said "This is a talent to watch"
We so agree, she has a superb voice, one that gives one cold shivers, it is so good

Singer, songwriter and performer, Zoë Modiga’s sang "Isegazini" (It's in the Blood) in Zulu next

Very popular South African singer, songwriter and performer Matthew Mole
He energised the crowd with his performance of I'm With You,
which had us thinking of our long periods of lock down in Covid and how many friends and family we missed

and he followed it up with his song Take Yours, I'll Take Mine which had the audience singing along,
stomping and clapping to the music

To raise funds for the Mzansi 10 Tenors, this large engraving was put up for raffle at R500 a ticket

and then to highlight the end of the first half, the entire cast was on stage to perform the song written by P!nk,
Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, which could be the anthem for most of South Africa at the moment, "What about us?"

One by one, performers joined the others on the stage and it finished in a huge response from the audience. If you don't know the song, here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKOEJs602uk

Interval, which gives everyone a break to get some coffee, eat some more food from the hamper,
find friends, chat and have a comfort break, as coy Americans put it

and just stand around and talk, reconnect after a long hiatus of two years and enjoy each others’ company at last
Pick 'n Pay supermarkets founder Raymond Ackerman, seated in the front row, was celebrating his 90th birthday

Time to start the second half with the orchestra playing the Champagne Polka by Johann Strauss II
and the audience supplying the appropriate POP! sounds when signalled by Maestro Cock!

and so we all joined in!

Two famous people in the audience were celebrating their birthdays
so we sang Happy Birthday lustily to them and anyone else who was having a birthday


Next a clink of Champagne glasses and William Berger performed Fin Ch'han Dal Vino from Mozart's Don Giovanni

The aria is supposed to be sung in 60 seconds, so it is very rapido, and his diction was perfect

Zoë Modiga sang Miriam Makeba's I Langa We Son Ewe and Matthew Mole sang the Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun
and then they sang both together, a lovely fusion of culture, voices and songs

The 10 Tenors performed Ralf Schmitt’s specially commissioned Go Forth Young Man 

The raffle for the engraving had closed at half time

and it was now time to draw the winning ticket

The raffle raised R121 500, a sizeable sum, which will support the Ten Tenors
and the winner was a surprised and delighted Kurt Wiley

Thembeka Mguni and Coenie de Villiers and the UCT Jazz Choir sang a rousing version of Another Country,
the Mango Groove hit and we all joined in, raising our cell phone torches

at full voice, audience included!

Zoë Modiga is extremely versatile and her next performance singing jazz was superb and impressive; she rocked the audience

Coenie de Villiers at the piano, singing his famous song Katedraal (Cathedral) in Afrikaans,
all about the wide open spaces and high dark skies of the Karoo where he grew up
He described it: "It is like someone you know who is not totally attractive, but has a great personality"

It was then time to light our candles when the mood changed and we knew we were going to be able to sing along soon




Next came a song we all know well, a song that uplifts. William Berger and Thembeka Mguni and the UCT Jazz choir
gave us a lovely sentimental version of Edelweiss from The Sound of Music

Pop and Jazz were in fusion with Zoë Modiga and Matthew Mole
singing Gershwin's You Can’t Take That Away From Me! together
Matthew might have looked a bit tentative at the beginning, but he was really good at it
Another side to a talented musician

And the audience loved the fun interaction they had on stage

Mezzo Soprano Monica Mhangwana, joined by William Berger,
sang a beautiful and moving rendition of The Prayer

They sang in both English and Italian and their voices together harmonised so beautifully
It made us think of what is going on in the Ukraine

and the Ten Tenors joined in at the end

To get us all up and dancing Thembeka Mguni, the UCT Jazz Choir and JazzArt dancers
did some well known Tina Turner numbers


Thembeka singing Proud Mary

The audience dancing enthusiastically, everyone on their feet and really enjoying the evening

Mezzo Soprano Monica Mhangwana singing Libiamo Ne' Lieti Calici (the drinking song) from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi

The Ten Tenors as the chorus

joined by William Berger 

The orchestra rocking it!

The finale - the entire cast and audience singing We Are Family 

The audience asked for, nay demanded, MORE and then The 10 Tenors performed an encore of Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini. There was another song called Don't Stop Believing, which not many of the audience knew and the concert came to an end. One of the best, and lots of praise to the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, who held it all together with their wonderful versatile performance. Thank you all at RMB for the invitation

You never rush for the exits after Starlight;
there are so many people who do and the queue of traffic to get out can last an hour
So the bar stays open and we fancied some of that marvellous Vergelegen MMV bubbly
Sadly, the bar we went to didn't have glasses, so it came in 500ml plastic beakers!
What is the correct glass to drink bubbly from? Not this one

Yes, these ones are the right ones (we prefer them to the ubiquitous flutes which kill the wine’s nose)
We went to the next bar and enquired and they generously supplied us with these
A lovely end to a superb evening
Then we left to go to the overnight accommodation in the area that we had booked on line with Booking.com
 Midnight is far too late to drive back to Cape Town

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Friday, March 18, 2022

Tasting the Veritas Awards Golds and Double Golds

We were invited to taste the Veritas Double Gold and Gold award winners at the offices of Deloitte in the Waterfront. This is the first award tasting we have had for over two years and it was rather strange at first to be with so many people. It was also a sign of a return to normal life and everyone there showed their enjoyment. Luckily the crowd was small, (they did a series of tastings over a few days) and the space was good. We tried to taste carefully on our own, not get into groups and it was such a great experience to be BACK in BUSINESS again. There were some excellent wines to taste, a few surprises and a few familiar brands that always rise to the top. The wines are all tasted blind at the competition tasting

Warmly greeted by Elsabe Ferreira who is the background organiser of Veritas. She always does a superb job

We began the tasting with the unusual white varietals
and were delighted to see two familiar faces behind the tasting counter,
Anzel Rheeder and Suzanne van Dyk from Darling Cellars
It is sad that these varietals do not often earn Double Gold;
they are so interesting and many of them might be our future, with the increase in global warming

The Jordan Riesling, 93 points and Double Gold, was excellent;
fresh and full of lovely crisp fruit and honey, with just a hint of the terpenes to come
The Stettyn 2021 Chardonnay Pinot Noir has lovely full flavours of fruit, honey and caramel

Van Loveren 2021 Niel's Pick Colombard has a pretty floral nose and flavours of green figs and guava
The 2021 Hedgehog Colombard from Orange River Cellars is rather green and grippy
with passion fruit, English gooseberry & guava
Great Expectations 2021 Colombard from Goedverwacht has lots of guava and fig
It is good to see this cultivar, once the most planted in SA and used mainly for brandy,
coming back as an interesting wine grape

Ghost Corner 2018 Bowline is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon
It "ties the knot between the two grapes" says the farm. A blend with character and depth and a hint of wood
Double Gold for Frans Smit of Spier for his 2018 White, a Bordeaux blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon
Lovely aromas of fig leaf and elderflower, full and crisp on the palate with lasting classic flavours,
some creaminess and just a hint of wood on the end, 18/20
Boschendal Suzanne Sauvignon Blanc, full of the classic fig and green flavours and aromas
with lovely richness on the palate, 17/20

Spier 2 Creative Block is a blend of 94% Sauvignon Blanc and 6% Semillon and impresses every time
It has tropical flavours with hints of asparagus, a lovely fullness on the palate and some minerality on the end
We know that the Darling Cellars Winemakers Selection Sauvignon Blanc Chenin is great
It is crisp with good layers of fruit; we bought a case when we tasted it at a recent visit to the cellar
Exceptional quality and value for money too

Ghost Corner 2018 Semillon was superb and a classic example of this grape, 18/20
Very satisfying, crisp and mouth filling
3rd Time Lucky 2019 from Buitenverwachting Cellarmaster Brad Paton is very enjoyable;
peach and honey notes on a drier palate, with wood on the end
The 2021 Viognier from Arra is very shy on the nose, but full of the classic peach flavours on the palate

We were excited to see and taste the Danie de Wet Chardonnay which is a classic
The De Wetshof Bon Vallon Chardonnay 2021 is also excellent and very popular
Very French in style with lovely rich Robertson fruit and clean crisp flavours, 19/20

Three more good Chardonnays which all reflect the different terroirs in which they were grown;
Constantia, high Stellenbosch and Robertson

Three more, Almenkerk from cool Elgin and Saxenburg and Kleine Zalze from warmer Stellenbosch

The Tokara Chardonnay was a wow!
Delicate nose and powerful on the palate, excellent layers of flavours with a wood note on the end, 18/20

Philip Engelen of Brooklands House and the Cape Town Club,
Angelo Casu of Grand Dedale Country House and Michael Pownall of PMR Hospitality Group;
all enjoying an opportunity to enjoy great wines in good company

The de Wet Chenin Blanc had a classic Chenin nose, concentrated and complex on the palate and worth its double gold
We need to find some!
The Simonsig Chenin Blanc is clean, green and zesty, so enjoyable

Three more excellent Chenins

Bennie Howard CWM, Vice Chairman of Veritas welcomed the guests

Four excellent Cap Classiques

Some favourite Cap Classique marques
Lynne loves really dry Chardonnay Blanc de Blanc and Laborie has been top of her list for a long time

When it came to tasting the red wines, sadly, we ran out of steam and time
and could only taste a few before the session ended
Many regrets, perhaps next time we must only taste the double golds,
instead of starting at the beginning and trying to get to all of the wines

Yes, we do believe that putting award 'gongs' on the bottles helps to sell them
Here are some of the Shiraz blends with Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier blends that are so popular and delicious

The blank white one is Le Bonheur Estate Barrel Selection. But why would you design a label that cannot be read?
Speaking as former wine merchants, labels need to jump out at you from the shelf; they need to outsell competitors 
Roodeberg has always been an iconic South African wine; good to see KWV still winning awards


Merlot was well represented in the Veritas awards this year

Merlots have improved so much, no longer are they full of mint and dry tannins, we love the riper fruit and the careful winemaking


Four more. We know the Monro is excellent and Landskroon is one we will try to taste soon

Cinsault is back in favour, and the new style wines are fresh and fruity and so enjoyable
We only found one Pinot Noir and presume that not many of our phenomenal Pinots were entered. Why?
We think the direction in which Pinot Noir is going is straight up to the top
Or did the panel not appreciate this wonderful grape?
It was good to see a Grenache getting a double gold
This One Formation is from Boland Cellars with grapes from the Paardeberg and we must get some to taste soon

We are loving the wines produced from Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot;
the winemakers are able to do wonderful things with these southern Rhône grapes
Wines full of elegance, rich fruit, excitement, wonderful aromas, good structure and class
If wood is used judiciously, they will last and have a long future

Pinotage did well this year

Some are familiar, some we have yet to discover


Four excellent award winning Shirazes

followed by three more

Well done to Nuy; their Muscadels have always been superb and are very affordable
We have always found that they go on to improve so much with age, especially the red Muscadel
We tend to keep them for ten years before opening, which enhances their richness

The de Krans Cape Vintage Reserve (Port) is superb - but who is drinking much port nowadays?
We need to encourage people to rediscover these wonderful port style wines and dessert wines

and two richly rewarded Museum class beauties from Boplaas with well-deserved double golds
and a 2020 Nederburg Noble Late Harvest

Some more treasures for drinking with dessert, cheese or after a good meal

Two excellent Museum Class Sauvignons Blanc,
one a real favourite of ours, the 2014 Rhinofields Sauvignon Blanc from Durbanville Hills
and one we bought a lot of when we were visiting the UK, the Kleine Zalze Family Reserve
Also tasted was the vintage Desiderius Pongrácz Cap Classique wine

More Museum Class winners; Durbanville Hills Tangram white blend 2016,
De Grendel’s excellent Op die Berg Chardonnay 2017
and the Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Chenin Blanc 2013

Two of our best Chenin Blancs, and another excellent Sauvignon Blanc. We think the Spier 21 Gables is one of the very best Chenins available, so full, layered and complex

Four Museum Class double gold winners

and four more, two double gold, two single gold medals

The full list of Gold and Double Gold winners



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