Monday 19 November 2018
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Turn Your Black Friday Blue At Allée Bleue This Year!

De Wet Hugo, who is in charge of the “blue Friday” at Allée Bleue on 23 November.

“Every wine producer has a few hundred boxes of wine of various price points and styles lying around in the cellar, and when an opportunity like Black Friday comes around it’s the perfect chance to clear out some of the old stock to get the cellar ready for the 2019 harvest or just sell out on overruns of certain wines, in one go,” says De Wet Hugo, GM of wine at Franschhoek Estate Allée Bleue.

Friday, 23 November, from 10h00-16h00 will be a hive of activity at this family-owned farm as keen wine buyers will be directed to the Black Friday sales area to order, pay and collect their purchases there and then.

The wines selected include Methode Cap Classique’s, whites, reds, blends and even some multi-award winning wines with discounts of 50% and more per bottle.  “This is the perfect opportunity to stock up on quality wines for the summer and we look forward to sharing more than 10 000 bottles with the public at once-in-a-lifetime prices,” comments de Wet.

Wines are only available in 6-bottle boxes and payments have to be made on the day.  No tastings will be offered as the wine has been kept in optimum conditions in the cellar throughout.  Cash and credit cards only.

“It’s definitely first-come first-served and obviously only whilst stocks last, so it’s best to arrive early!  Make a day of it and book a picnic afterwards or have breakfast in the Bistro from 08h00 before you hit the sale,” suggests de Wet.

Franschhoeker rooting for hydroponics

Hydroponically grown lettuce at the Cultura Fresh farm

There’s a farm near Klapmuts that has the capacity to grow 1 500 000 heads of Iceberg lettuce annually. It’s not Old Macdonald’s farm, it’s Franschhoeker Dr Herbert Henrich and partners’ Cultura Fresh farm.

The company was established in 2015 when Dr Henrich became aware of the possibility of doing hydroponic farming locally. He acquired the professional skill he needed from two gentlemen who are experts in hydroponics and marketing and went on to find a 7.5 hectare farm in Klapmuts. Work started in 2016.

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Atkin Plaudits For La Bri Trio

International wine writer and British Master of Wine (MW) Tim Atkin’s 2018 SA Special Report made happy reading for the team at La Bri. Three of their wines cracked the 90 out of 100 points mark. Illustrating the versatility of the team the acclaimed wines include a white, a red and a Méthode Cap Classique.

La Bri’s MCC, Sauvage La Bri 2012, was awarded 91 points by Atkin. This follows on last year when their maiden bubbly, the Sauvage La Bri 2011, was also awarded 91 points by Atkin and cements La Bri as a producer of fine MCCs.

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Stellenbosch First African Local Authority to Map Heritage

Heritage resources such as the Franschhoek Town Hall have been mapped and a plan for their conservation is being drafted.

Stellenbosch Municipality is far advance in a project to identify, classify and digitally map its rich and diverse heritage resources. The municipality contracted with the Cape Winelands Professional Practices in Association (Pty) Ltd in 2015 to execute this heritage project – the first of its kind in Africa and one of only five worldwide.

The value of heritage resources has been highlighted repeatedly since 2009, when the Cape Winelands was placed on the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. Heritage resources are also major contributing factors to the local economy.

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Leeu Estates Named SA’s Leading Wine Country Hotel by World Travel Awards

Leeu Estates is located between the Franschhoek River and Dassenberg.

For the second year running, World Travel Awards has named Leeu Estates, the Leeu Collection’s flagship property in Franschhoek, as South Africa’s Leading Wine Country Hotel. The award was announced at the lack-tie gala that celebrated all the African winners in Durban, on 6 October 2018.

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La Motte Recognised As Tourism Destination of the Year

Toby Megaw’s ‘Wine Bearer’ welcomes visitors to La Motte

International Tourism Day was celebrated on 27 September. The Cape Winelands District Municipality used the day as a fitting opportunity to announce the winners in its annual Mayoral Tourism Awards. La Motte Wine Estate was recognized as the winner in the category for Tourism Destination of the Year.

“We are honoured to receive acknowledgement from our local authorities. It is recognition of this kind that motivates us to further enhance our offering,” said La Motte CEO Hein Koegelenberg. “There is no denying the importance of tourism in the Franschhoek Valley and we deliberately focus on working together to ensure the whole community benefits”, continued Koegelenberg.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Alderman (Dr) Helena von Schlicht, Executive Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality focused on the theme for 2018’s Tourism Month: Inclusive and Quality Growth of the Tourism Sector through Digital Transformation. The theme aligned with that of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) and highlights the need for increased investment in digital technologies to create an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship in tourism.

www.la-motte.com | 021 876 8000

Text: Editorial Desk | Image: La Motte

Fire Consumes Recycling Depot

Fire destroyed the shed used by Green Spot Recycling

A fire on 4 October destroyed the La Motte facility used by Jocelyn Van der Ross’s Green Spot Recycling.

Several tonnes of sorted recyclables that were awaiting collection by a processing company went up in flames along with the corrugated iron and wood shed in which they were stored.  It is not clear how the fire started.

Help has already been forthcoming from several quarters. Asked what she most needs Van der Ross said that they need a digger loader to clear the site of the burnt-out shed, so they can start storing materials there again. Construction materials – particularly corrugated iron sheets and tar poles are also needed.

When the Tatler visited, Van der Ross and her staff were working in the open air. “Fortunately they understand,” said Van der Ross about her staff.  “We’ve struggled before and we’ll survive this too,” she added.

Anyone able to assist Green Spot Recycling can contact Jocelyn at 073 587 6132.

Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Darious van Rensburg

Winners of Franschhoek Regional 2018 Prestige Agri-Awards Announced

FLTR: Gertrude Jacobs (Western Cape Department of Agriculture), Christie Davids (Agri Worker of the Year 2018) & Pieter Van Zyl (Shoprite)

The 5th annual Prestige Agri-Awards recently took place at Leopard’s Leap Family Vineyards, where the winners for the sought after titles were announced. The initiative, previously known as the Farmworker of the Year competition, honours excellence in the province’s agricultural sector.  In doing so the competition is able to acknowledge farmworkers, who make a significant contribution to our country’s economy, for their hard work.

The competition is co-sponsored by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and the Shoprite Group, with the latter being involved with the initiative for the past seven years.

A winner, runner-up and second runner-up were selected in each of the eight categories. The winners in the respective categories are as follows:

·       General Worker: Elizabeth Gertse (Anthonij Rupert Wyne)

·       Tractor Driver: Isak Buys (Mont Rochelle)

·       Irrigation Specialist: Keenan Carstens (Boschendal)

·       Technical Operator: Vusumzi Cekiso (Leeu Estates)

·       Animal Production: Ralph Valentine (Boschendal)

·       Foreman: Stoffel Van Rooy (Leeu Estates)

·       Junior Management: Cornel Paulse (Glenwood)

·       Middle Management: Christie Davids (Anthonij Rupert Wyne)

A special award was presented to Danie Cupido of Mont Rochelle, who received the Agri Worker with the Best Potential for 2018 award.

From here on the winners in each category, as well as the regional winners, go through to the provincial adjudication, after which the 2018 Western Cape Prestige Agri Worker Winners will be announced at a gala event on 3 November at Nederburg Wine Estate.

Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Supplied

Coffee man

Coffee roaster Jommo Nkunika shows off another finely roasted batch.

Walking towards the entrance of the Big Dog Café the same thought always pops into my head: I wish that aroma could be bottled! The aroma in question varies a bit; sometimes it’s a bit fruitier and sometimes more chocolatey, but it’s always enticing. Regulars will know that the source of the aroma is the Terbodore Coffee Roastery that one passes on the way to the café. The roastery is the domain of head roaster Jommo Nkunika. The Tatler paid him a visit to find out a little about what he does.

Jommo, who seems to wear a permanent smile, has been with Terbodore Coffee Roasters for five years.  He started in the production team doing things like loading and offloading and packaging. Like cream, he rose to the top and was soon training as a roaster, before eventually becoming head roaster. It is clearly a role he relishes.

Terbodore hand roasts all their coffee; nothing is automated. This means Jommo has to keep a sharp eye on what’s happening to the beans in the roaster and keep meticulous records to maintain consistency between batches and ‘vintages’. As a wino, I was struck by the similarities between blending coffees and wine. Like grapes, coffee beans vary based on the varietal, their origin and the particular harvest’s growing conditions.  All these factors and even the ambient temperature and humidity in the roastery have to be considered to ensure that any particular blend tastes the same from one year to the next.

Like winemaking, coffee roasting is part science and part art. It is clear from watching Jommo control the roaster that he has successfully mastered both parts.  There is no time for slacking.  Between feeding the hot belly of the roaster with a fresh batch of beans; controlling the temperature; visually inspecting the roasting beans; listening to and interpreting the crackling of the beans; emptying the roaster; cooling the beans and writing down every detail in a log book there is barely time for, well, even a coffee!

The coffee-drinking public will be happy to know that they can share in Jommo’s coffee wisdom by making a booking for Terbodore’s “Cupping Experience” on Friday afternoons at 15h00. (Reservations essential, max 8 pax)

Jommo may have been raised on a Malawian tea plantation, but today he’s truly a coffee man.

Text & Image: Editor

Old vines a special feature of the South African wine industry

Basil Landau’s Semillon block, planted in 1905, is one of SA’s oldest vineyards.

“An increased focus on South Africa’s old vines has elicited world-wide interest in the country’s wine heritage and the industry itself, with wines made from fruit sourced from these heritage vines proving their mettle,” says André Morgenthal of the Old Vine Project (OVP).

He says that membership of the OVP has grown from 10 members late last year, to over 40 now, including a number of cooperative producers, with over 80% of old-vine wines represented within these systems.  The rising interest in the OVP has also been seen at tastings in London and Canada, supported and organised by Wines of South Africa (WOSA), as well as locally at Klein Karoo Klassique and the US Woordfees.

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Siegfried Schäfer T. 021 876 3460
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