Annandale road out Stellenbosch way gently meanders its way past numerous wine estates. Stop in at a few of them by all means, but do keep on going because where Annandale road runs out you’ll discover Haskell Vineyards. I visited recently along with other wine media to celebrate their 20th birthday. Originally called Dombeya, the estate was acquired in [...]
Phew, we’ve made it – tomorrow is officially the first day of spring! And while I can’t pack away the thermal undies and electric blankie just yet, the mere thought of spring is enough to get me celebrating. But there’s more to 1 September than Spring Day – it also happens to be national Cap Classique Day! So I’ll be [...]
Eternal optimist that I am, I start smelling spring from the second week of August. Of course winter isn’t nearly done with us, expect her to give us a smart smack or two yet! It’s nothing that I cannot survive with a glass or two of good red wine in my hand. Quite fitting then that we’ll be celebrating [...]
Ask wine lovers about South African wine regions and chances are many would do the obvious and talk about the Boland – Stellenbosch and Paarl, possibly Franschhoek. I’m guilty myself of giving the cooler coastal wine regions less attention. Rather shortsighted of course, because these regions produce exceptional wines. The Hemel-en-Aarde valley close to Hermanus is one of our cooler [...]
I don’t often post vegetarian recipes because stats don't lie and what mine show me is that my readers adore meat recipes – the redder the better! As existing on lamb chops, boerewors and steak is not the cleverest lifestyle choice, I’m for once making a meatless Monday exception. I pack lentils with plenty of good-for-you veggies and I give [...]
Last Friday I had the kind of lunch every remotely serious foodie fantasises about – a meal dedicated to the wonders of the truffle. Renowned the world over as ‘black gold’, these oddly-shaped, knobbly, wart-looking fungi are a rare treat indeed, because unlike in Europe, they used to be pretty much unavailable in South Africa. That all changed a [...]