Sunday, August 15, 2021

In MENU This Week – Duimpie Bayly RIP, Old Mutual Trophy Spirits, Hout Bay and Big Bay beaches

Evening conversations on the beach at Camps Bay

Two important announcements, one extremely sad and distressing to all who knew Duimpie Bayly. A father of the modern South African wine industry, he died on Wednesday 11th August. Our tribute to him is part of this week’s issue. On the same day, the results of the 2021 Old Mutual Trophy Spirits competition were announced and details of that are also part of this week’s MENU. Other than that, while we have a couple of stories from the end of the week which will be part of next week’s MENU, we continue our stories of the magnificent beaches which we enjoy here in the Western Cape. We hope you’ll enjoy them and join us in celebrating the life of a giant in South African wine

Francis "Duimpie" Bayly RIP

Francis Carr Bayly, the son of a Karoo sheep farmer, became one of the fathers of the modern South African wine industry and one of its most important participants. His departure leaves an enormous void. Our thoughts are with his wife, Sue, and his family 

He was given the nickname Duimpie (Little Thumb in Afrikaans) because he was the smallest boy in his dormitory at St Andrews in Bloemfontein. The small boy grew into an immense personality. Read on…

In Great Spirits! The Results of The Old Mutual Trophy Spirits Show 2021


The results of the 3rd Old Mutual Trophy Spirits Show were announced on Wednesday 11 August. The website results page also hosts the media release and lists the Trophy and Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners, and the full list of results with scores. The Awards Photo Gallery hosts the trophy and winning bottle combinations; as well as all the gold medal bottle images. Read on…

Hout Bay beach

A day trip to Hout Bay to take a meal to a friend whose family is quarantined away from him; first, we had a lovely walk on the beach in a clear midwinter day. The Sentinel mountain was facing incoming rainy weather for the next day. Read on…

Big Bay Saturday

We needed another quick and safe escape from home and the day was really lovely for mid winter, so we headed off to Big Bay on the Blouberg shore of Table Bay for a bite of lunch. 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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In Great Spirits - The Results of The Old Mutual Trophy Spirits Show 2021


The results of the 3rd Old Mutual Trophy Spirits Show were announced this afternoon, Wednesday 11 August. You can find them here: OMTSS 2021 Results as well as on the @oldmutualtrophyspirits Instagram and Facebook platforms, and on YouTube.

The website results page also hosts the media release and lists the Trophy and Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners, and the full list of results with scores. The Awards Photo Gallery hosts the trophy and winning bottle combinations; as well as all the gold medal bottle images.

There are 15 Trophies and 8 Gold, 39 Silver and 49 Bronze medal winners.

The scores are calibrated as follows:

Trophy: 95 points and over – the highest scoring gold medal in its class
Gold: 95 points and over (superlative, world class)
Silver: 90 – 94 (excellent, spirit of distinction)
Bronze: 85 – 89 (good to very good)

The animation will remain on the site and the social media platforms for you to watch at any time hereafter. 

The judging panel for this year’s competition comprised industry experts, award-winning brandy masters, veteran international spirits judges and a new wave of cocktail and mixology mavens. The 2021 judges were Dr Caroline Snyman, Pieter de Bod, Neil Paterson, Kobus Gelderblom, Kurt Schlechter, Mare-Loe Prinsloo, Bradley Jacobs, Dave Gunns and Julian Short. Show convenor Michael Fridjhon was Chairman of the Judges.

Pour yourself a glass of something delicious and celebrate the #OMTSS2021 winners. Cheers!

Janice Fridjhon and The Old Mutual Trophy Spirits Show Team



Posted by MENU at 3:40 pm 0 comments

Francis "Duimpie" Bayly RIP

Francis Carr Bayly, the son of a Karoo sheep farmer, became one of the fathers of the modern South African wine industry and one of its most important participants. His departure leaves an enormous void. Our thoughts are with his wife, Sue, and his family 

He was given the nickname Duimpie (Little Thumb in Afrikaans) because he was the smallest boy in his dormitory at St Andrews in Bloemfontein. The small boy grew into an immense personality. 

After studying for a BSc at Stellenbosch, he joined Stellenbosch Farmers Winery in 1962, where he was employed to analyse wine samples in the laboratory. This helped to develop his interest in and love of wine and his next step was enrolling at the University of California, Davis, to study viticulture and wine making. He returned to Stellenbosch Farmers Winery with an American MSc degree and an American wife, Sue

At SFW, he was involved in vineyard selection and in negotiating contracts with grape-growers as well as in making wine. He was responsible for many of the wines which built SFW’s reputation as a producer of quality wines. Travels to other parts of the wine world improved his wide knowledge and helped to develop his very fine palate. At the inception of the Cape Wine Academy’s Cape Wine Master programme in 1984, he was one of the first three Cape Wine Masters with Bennie Howard and Dave Hughes

From his early time at SFW, which evolved into Distell, he became a Director of Distell as well as having influential positions on the boards of numerous important wine and agricultural industry bodies. He was an enthusiastic promoter of South Africa's red wine varietal, Pinotage. The SA National Wine Show (SANWS), presenters of the Veritas Awards, has announced that the Award for the overall Champion Wine of the competition, the Veritas Vertex Award, will be named the Duimpie Bayly Vertex Award in future. In this way he will be honoured for his immense contribution to South African wine, the SA National Young Wine Show and the Veritas Awards. He was a former Chairman of the SANWS 

He died at home, of a heart attack. He was 81 years old and always young at heart, as these photographs, the most recent we have taken of him, show. Undoubtedly, it was his gentle, loving nature and huge sense of fun that made him very attractive to women – many of the photographs we have taken of him are with women

with Sue, his wife of 50 years, at Plaisir de Merle, February 2020

at the 2019 Terroir Awards

with Blaauwklippen winemaker and Old Mutual Trophy judge Narina Cloete

with Maryna Calow, Communications Manager of Wines of South Africa

and presenting the awards with Bennie Howard CWM

At the 2018 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction with Johan Malan of Simonsig and Jan Boland Coetzee of Vriesenhof




At Meerendal, February 2020 with David Biggs, Bennie Howard and Dave Hughes,
the white-bearded men of South African wine

and being serious at the 40th Anniversary of the Cape Wine Academy in 2019

Receiving a special Honorarium from Beyers Truter
"in recognition of his Exceptional contribution to the development of Pinotage, South Africa's unique cultivar"

All the Cape Wine Masters who were attending the 2020 new Cape Wine Masters Graduation Luncheon at Nederburg
Duimpie has joined Allan Mullins, sitting next to him, at the great wine cellar in infinity
Two huge losses to the South African wine industry







Posted by MENU at 2:29 pm 0 comments

Saturday, August 07, 2021

Big Bay Saturday

We needed another quick and safe escape from home and the day was really lovely for mid winter
so we headed off to Big Bay on the Blouberg shore of Table Bay for a bite of lunch

Ice cold beers!

We picked Mozambik on the seafront as we had a very good experience of their food a few years ago
when we were in Ballito in Natal for a week
They have since spread down the coast and we had heard very good reports of their food. The menu has many delights

and more

John chose the 200g rump steak with the MozBBQ glaze and some superb crisp chips
Yes breaking our Banting diet for the day

Lynne decided to have two starters which were the combo of tender baby calamari with hot and spicy Peri peri chicken livers, absolutely divine. And one we had in Ballito and never forgot, the Prawn Bilene: 6 large peeled prawns in a creamy garlic, feta and cheddar cheese sauce. We will forgive them for not putting it under the grill this time, they were very busy. It's a lovely dish. Sadly, Lynne had to break her diet too, as the sauces did need mopping up with just one of the Portuguese rolls. The other roll was donated to someone in need

Our bill. Our Zimbabwean waiter Ngoni was superb

and entertainment on the beachfront by these roving acrobats

Time to walk off lunch, so down to the beach

This skilled pilot was doing what looked very risky manoeuvres out over the sea, obviously practicing
He went straight up then did a flip turn and came straight back down again! Over and over again. Hairy to watch

The Cape in all its glory on a good warm Champagne day in late winter with temperatures up to about 23ºC

Surf's up

Coming straight down!

A  microlight with 2 passengers over the beach. Not enough wind for sail gliders that day

Lots of people in the water, most in wet suits

An old familiar sight on Cape Town beaches is the Ice cream man with his bell to tell you he is approaching
It was heavy work pushing the card in the soft sand

Lots of activity

Shades of blue
For those unfamiliar with Afrikaans, Blouberg means "Blue Mountain"

Riding the waves. We counted 8 large ships waiting in the Roads

It's a lovely walk on the compacted sand

Two handfuls

Wishing they could run free

Does he love her? No, he then added an N to make it Jaden, his own name

Long skeins of Sacred Ibis flying out to sea, and a few gulls

Is it a bird! No, it’s a plane!

He has the day sorted, only the shade is in the wrong place ...

We loved this picnic scene but where were the celebrating husband and wife?

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Hout Bay beach

A day trip to Hout Bay to take a meal to a friend whose family is quarantined away from him;
first, we had a lovely walk on the beach in a clear midwinter day
The Sentinel mountain was facing incoming rainy weather for the next day

Sad to see the Chapman’s Peak Hotel and restaurant closed, but they are both open now, after the latest lockdown
Lovely sea views from both and great seafood at the restaurant

Great to see people out and enjoying themselves again. This looks like a lesson taking place

Lots of dogs and families enjoying the beach

And this chocolate Labrador was a wonderful retriever of her owner’s shots with the ball

An composite action photograph shows just how good she is

The sea temperature must have been sooo cold, but these children didn’t mind

Time to leave the water
We must admit that it is not somewhere we would contemplate swimming,
as the river does bring raw sewage down to the sea

"See what I have to show you Pa"

Sea reflections

Cosy blue mussels, Mytilus edulis

And white mussels, surf clam (Donax serra) are found here as well

So peaceful at noon

A close up view of the harbour and the homes of many of the local fisher folk above

A fishing boat going out to sea

A tourist boat that takes people to Seal Island
More than 20 years ago, John knew Nauticat very well, when it was sponsored by AGFA Film

and the fishing boat coming back to harbour with a crayfish catch. Winter is generally the snoek season

In synch

We have had a very wet winter (for which we are very thankful)
and we have not seen the river with so much water in it for a long time

Homes high on the hill with great bay views



One of our favourite restaurants, Dunes, to come to, meet friends and to bring overseas visitors
Simple but very good food and draught beer
We favour the upper terrace in good weather, but the lower when its windy and chilly
But not this day, we had our mind set on an Indian takeaway from the Indian Oven in the village

Sadly, the crabs on our coast never seem to get big enough to eat

What we don’t want to see on any beach, small pieces of plastic

and although the beach is regularly cleaned by the Council workers and concerned locals,
the small pieces slip through the net

Glass-bottomed Calypso, another tourist boat

Drumbeat II takes tours and is also available for charters

Heading for home

A winter picnic with fish and chips from Mariner's Wharf

And a bus load of enthusiastic young lads had just arrived
Don't know what the young miscreant on the beach had done to be chased!

The landmark bronze leopard of Hout Bay was sculpted by Ivan Mitford-Barberton who,
after creating it, donated it to the Hout Bay community
 The statue was placed on its rocky pedestal by the Divisional Council on 14th March 1963

Empty chairs and empty tables; luxury suites at the Chapman's Peak Hotel. Now open again
And we were off to buy our take away curry for our supper that night and then deliver supper to our friend

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