Friday, September 16, 2022

Not only daisies - a day in the Postberg reserve, West Cape National Park

A fine day beckoned at last; it has been a very cold and wet winter. So, with a friend to share the fun, and a picnic, we drove up the West Coast to Postberg, the privately owned nature reserve which is managed by SA National Parks and is part of the West Coast National Park. The flowers are spectacular and, if you can, go and see them. It’s about an hour and 10 minutes to the entrance on the N7 from Cape Town and we need to let you know that, once you are in the park, it is quite a long slow drive (because of the wildlife) before you get into the flower area

A male bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus) grazing on a hillside just outside the park


Houseboats on the Langebaan lagoon; one of them is for rent on Booking.com

A boat tied up at anchor on the Langebaan lagoon

Zaluzianskya with morning dew
These tiny night blooming flowers are only about 5mm across. Also known at Drumsticks

A bontebok calf and a ram who is scratching an itch under his cheek


An angulate tortoise (Chersina angulata) sunning itself on a bank, recently out of hibernation

Monkshood orchid, Corycium orobanchoides
a tuberous perennial, which can reach 45cm in height. The species name orobanchoides literally means “like Orobanche“, and refers to the flower spike's resemblance to some members of the genus Orobanche
Monkshood orchid is native to flat, sandy areas of the southwestern Cape

A Cape bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis) in the bush

A grazing bontebok
Bontebok were the only antelope we saw that day,
but the park also has duiker, eland, gemsbok, red hartebees, steenbok and zebra


Cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) in a flower meadow
They are also known as Tick Birds, because they climb aboard and pick off the pests from the cattle and antelope

Wild Red Pelargonium
Pelargonium is the second largest genus (after Geranium) within the family Geraniaceae, plants native to South Africa which are now seen all over the world. This is an unusual one

The main difference between Pelargonium and Geranium is the shape of their flowers; the two upper petals of Pelargonium flowers are different from the three lower petals, whereas the five petals of Geranium flowers are identical. Pelargonium and Geranium are two plants of the same family



Flowers and Rocks
Yellow, white and purple daisies below a rocky hillock, with a cloud of blue flax flowering in the distance

Purple and White flowers on a hillside

White rain daisies, gazanias, yellow Cape beach daisies and purple asters spread across a wide area

A profusion of spring flowers

A Postberg Panorama
This photograph has been awarded an Inspiration gold star by YouPic
https://youpic.com/.../postberg-panorama-by-john-duncan-ford



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Monday, September 12, 2022

In MENU This Week. Cape Winemakers Guild tastings, The 2022 Trophy Wine Show Public Tasting, Vinimark Trade Show

A blanket of flowers covers the veld at Postberg 

After a dearth of public wine tasting opportunities, suddenly we had three within days of each other. Wonderful opportunities to taste superb wines and to catch up with people, many of them friends, whom we have missed for two years. Spring is making its way into our lives. It’s still not warm enough to do without a fire, but the chill is receding and we can look forward to summer. We hope the weather is being good to you and that you may have a chance to see the spectacular spring flower display. We’ll show you some next week

Cape Winemakers Guild 2022 tutored and public Tastings

The prestigious 2022 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction will be held on Friday, September 30th from 17h00 to 20h00 and on Saturday, October 1st from 9h00 to 15h00. It will be Virtual and Live from the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, hosted by Strauss & Co. Should you wish to attend and bid or watch the auction live on line and bid from anywhere in the world, please contact them to register, browse or bid. www.strauss.co.za

The CWG Online Protégé Auction will be from September 26th to October 3rd at 19h00. Consult the Strauss website for details. Read on…

The 2022 Trophy Wine Show Public Tasting

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the results of the Trophy Wine show sponsored by Investec, and on the 24th of August we were able to taste some of the winning wines (Trophy winners, Gold and Silver) at the Westin hotel. We were keen to sample the Trophy wines which were available to taste and to chat to the farms about the wines. The tasting was open to the public. Read on…

Vinimark Trade tasting

Another large trade wine show this week. Vinimark, who held their Wine Trade Fair at the CTICC, represents some prestigious Cape Wine farms as well as some successful commercial brands that appear on many wine lists. One cannot possibly attempt to taste more than a fraction of the wines available so one listens to others about what they have been tasting and what is worth trying, as well as finding wines that have won recent awards. Read on…





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Cape Winemakers Guild 2022 tutored and public Tastings



The prestigious 2022 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction will be held on Friday, September 30th from 17h00 to 20h00 and on Saturday, October 1st from 9h00 to 15h00. It will be Virtual and Live from the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, hosted by Strauss & Co. Should you wish to attend and bid or watch the auction live on line and bid from anywhere in the world, please contact them to register, browse or bid. www.strauss.co.za

The CWG Online Protégé Auction will be from September 26th to October 3rd at 19h00

Consult the Strauss website for details

We are always extremely grateful to be invited to the tutored tasting
of the wines that will appear at this year’s Cape Winemakers Guild auction

The tasting was held on August 25th at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town

Members of the wine industry, media and other interested parties are invited
and each winemaker presents her/his wine at the tasting

Gordon Newton Johnson, this year’s CWG Chair began the tasting. He said, "There is reason for optimism in 2022 as we reconnect and search for balance after the intrusion of the Covid pandemic. The industry has endured much over the past few years, yet continues to inspire creativity, transcend in excellence and capture the imagination of the wine world. The CWG is the embodiment of these virtues as they seek to be the vanguard of positive change and progress in the industry. The membership is ever evolving to exemplify the diversity and dynamism of our wines and the people who dedicate themselves to this art"

The pourers were all final year students from Elsenberg College, the future of winemaking!
And they were very practiced at pouring. It is a rather fast tasting,
although this year the winemakers did add more information and so took longer
which gave us time to taste properly and make notes

We tasted in the order of the winemakers’ photographs, from left to right:
Silverthorn Big Dog VIII Cap Classique 2017
De Grendel Wooded Sauvignon Blanc 2021
Bartho Eksteen Wine Estate Vloekskoot Sauvignon Blanc, wooded 2021
Beaumont Family Wines, Hope Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc 2020
Mullineux The Gris Semillon 2021; Warwick White Lady Auction Chardonnay 2020
Paul Cluver Wines the Wagon Trail Chardonnay 2021


Lynne made detailed notes and can report that this was probably the most consistent tasting we have attended over the years; the quality of all the wines is excellent and we scored very highly across the board. It will be an exciting auction




Of special note for her were the Vloekskoot Sauvignon Blanc, Paul Cluver Wagon Train Chardonnay, Newton Johnson Windansea Pinot Noir, David and Nadia Grenache Noir, Saronsberg Inner Circle, Boplaas Daniels Legacy, Strydom The Game Changer Cabernet Franc/Merlot, De Trafford Perspective, Delaire Graff Cabernet Sauvignon, Simonsig Heirloom Shiraz

Best wine on the tasting for her, scoring full marks was the Raats Family Stella Nova Cabernet Franc: Instant quality and savouriness on the nose draws you in, with incense oak and good fruit in the background. Rich on the palate, dark berry fruit shines and fills the mouth, then a dark savoury zing, wonderful long flavours, almost emotional

Jeremy Walker of Grangehurst and Jeff Grier of Villiera seriously involved in tasting

As before L to R:
Lismore Estate Vineyards Valkyrie Chardonnay 2021
 Gottfried Mocke Wine Projects Chardonnay 2021
 Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Windansea Pinot Noir 2020
Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noir 2019
David & Nadia Veiling Grenache Noir 2021
Luddite Oupa Mourvedre 2021
Ernie Els Wines CWG 2019

Francois Rautenbach of Singita Lodges and Johan Krige, CEO of Kanonkop, discussing what and how much to buy?!

As before L to R
Saronsberg Inner Circle 2019
Carl Schultz spoke for Boplaas Family Vineyards CWG Daniel's Legacy 2020 (Carel Nel was overseas)
Strydom Family Wines, the Game Changer Cabernet Franc Merlot 2017
Spier Frans K Smit CWG Special Edition 2018
De Trafford Perspective 2020
Hartenberg Wine Estate CWG Amphora Merlot 2020
 Raats Family Wines Stella Nova Cabernet Franc 2018
David Finlayson Wines Edgebaston Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2017

Neil Ellis Wines Jonkershoek Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
 Delaire Graff Estate Banghoek Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Miles Mossop Wines Maximillian 2019
Savage Wines Auction Syrah 2020
Simonsig Heirloom Shiraz 2020
Cederberg Teen Die Hoog Shiraz 2020
Kanonkop CWG Pinotage 2019

Richard de Vos and Norma Ratcliffe

Following the tasting we could go back to the foyer to taste some other wines entered into the auction
and a very good spread of finger food was provided

Carl Schultz of Hartenberg and Margaux Nel Coetzee of Boplaas


Erika Obermeyer and David Finlayson

Then back to the Convention Centre for the public tasting
Lynne was having problems with her arthritic hip, so she opted to go home to rest 

which meant a rather long walk for John through Convention Centre 1, right on the other side of the complex


crossing the Heerengracht via the curved bridge


and into Convention Center 2

The CTICC brings s huge amount of business to the Cape and needed to be expanded in 2018
They had a tough time being closed for business during the 2 Covid years,
but successfully acted as a hospital and a vaccination centre
when the pandemic was at its peak and hospital beds were in short supply

The wines on the silent auction were on show for people to bid on
all these very special wines are from previous auctions, and signed by the winemaker
The proceeds go towards supporting the Protégé programme

The auction wines were on the counters around the hall and the winemakers were showcasing their wines. Some also had wines from previous auctions to taste, as well as their contribution to this year's auction

It looked as though there was quite a lot of interest
 There will be another silent auction on the day of the auction

Boela Gerber of Groot Constantia and Joaquim Sa, MD of Amorim Cork

Richard and Mariette Kershaw
Richard is now a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild as well as a Master of Wine
His first auction wine will be shown next year, he told us

Bennie Howard CWM and Duncan Savage

Erika Obermeyer

Gary and Alex Jordan

Mark Pepper and Johan Malan of Simonsig

John Loubser

speaking to Rebecca Constable, Woolworths wine selector

Saboteur Crown Cork wine from The Luddite, Neels Verburg

A happy Niels Verburg

Andrea Mullineux

Negotiant Dane Raath with winemaker Alex Starey of Keermont, who has newly been elected to the CWG

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