I am always reminded how lucky Capetonians are when I take a trip out to the Constantia wine route. No more than 20 minutes out of the city centre is a world-class wine region – the oldest in South African and soon celebrating its 350th year.
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the team at Constantia Glen – a relative newcomer in the space, with some delicious wines and big ambitions. “We aim to make the best wine we can,” said Jeremy Nel, Constantia Glen’s marketing director.
Constantia Glen is located practically at the top of Constantia Neck – which gives it a couple of hours of extra sunlight through the saddle compared to some of its neighbours, while still benefitting from the cooling False Bay breeze. It has released four vintages of an award-winning Sauvignon Blanc, and plans to launch its Bordeaux-style red mid-next year.
No expense has been spared in the cellar – which is a shining, gleaming surgery of a place. The attention to detail is phenomenal – grapes are crushed straight into the tanks for fermentation, and each block of vineyards has its own tank where it is looked after separately. Intervention is kept to a minimum and the grapes and wine are handled extremely gently.
I had a taste of the newly released Sauvignon Blanc 2008. Its predecessor is selling for a whopping 55 pounds in some London restaurants – and the team have high hopes for this vintage as well.
The minerality of the wine is striking. The vineyards are planted in a mica-rich granite soil and this comes through very clearly in the wine. The minerality is then rounded off with a delicious fruitiness – plenty of guava, gooseberry and lemongrass.
This guava flavour and fruitiness seems to be a feature of 2008 cooler-climate Sauvignon Blancs. My tastes tend to the overwhelming zestiness and green pepper that was a trademark of many 2007 varieties. But I know a lot of people were tiring of that – so this style is going to be a winner for them.
In terms of food pairing, winemaker Karl Lambour, is spot on when he suggests this wine would go well with a beef carpaccio, served with capers, olive oil, herbs and freshly ground black pepper. Sushi would be another great choice.
The wine is not cheap at R110 a bottle from the cellar, but also not overpriced in its category. It is available from selected restaurants and fine wine shops in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Only around 1,000 cases are produced and the 2007 is sold out. Visits to the cellar are by appointment.
Ed’s note: We are very lucky to have the OK from John and Lynne Ford to publish their Main Ingredient newsletter on the Wines Online Blog. Main Ingredient offers gourmet foods, ingredients and fine wines. It has won Eat In guide’s Outstanding Outlet for the past three years. You can find them at: Shop 5, Nedbank Centre, 15 Kloof Rd, Sea Point 8005, Cape Town, South Africa. phone: +27 21 439 5169, or find them online.
COMPETITION!
Tickets for a FREE BRANDY TASTING MATCHED WITH FOOD. Alchemy of Gold will host an exclusive tasting of international award-winning connoisseur South African brandies for our customers on Monday, November 24th at Dish Food & Social in Gardens from 18h00 for 18h30 till approximately 20h30, served with gourmet canapés prepared by Andrea Foulkes and her team. They’ll start us off with a lovely brandy cocktail and then we will taste a collection of brandies, each of which has won at least a gold medal at London’s International Wine & Spirit Competition or International Spirits Challenge. Some are trophy winners and have been rated the best in their class. Both these competitions are considered amongst the most important in the international spirits industry.
There is no cost at all for this tasting, but, in order to qualify for a place, you need to enter our competition: spend R200 at Main Ingredient in the next week and you will win one free ticket to this tasting. (R400 for 2, R600 for 3, etc.) Hurry, because there is space for only 14 individuals or seven couples, and first come is, as always, first served!
PLEASE, as a special request, could we ask that if you do get a ticket, make sure that you really do attend. We have had several no shows for our evening wine tastings and it is so disappointing, because we have had people on our waitlist who would have loved to have been there, but we believed that we were fully booked. Lynne went to a lot of trouble making lots of food to go with our tastings and it is not great to have food wasted. If you find that you can’t attend, please let us know and we will make sure someone who is really keen to be there takes your place. People who had not turned up were, sadly, those who had booked on email and therefore had not paid in advance – if this continues to happen, we regret that we will only be able to take bookings in the shop.
Our next tasting, SERIOUS SAUVIGNONS on November 19th – a selection of some of the best and rarest Sauvignons Blanc including Ataraxia, Cape Point Stonehaven, Cederberg Ghost Corner, Constantia Glen, Diemersdal 8 Rows, Elgin Valley, Oak Valley, Saronsberg and Springfield Special Cuvée is fully subscribed. We have a few names on the waiting list in case there is a cancellation.
The second Think Pink Tasting was a great success and we had enthusiastic feedback on all the wines. We started the tasting with Jean-Luc Sweerts’ MC Square La Vie en Rose Pink Bubbly and then went on to taste 11 more Rosés, tasted in order of alcohol content. The tasting sheet is attached so that you can see what we tasted. De Grendel, Morgenhof, Buitenverwachting and Zandvliet were the most popular wines.
Jean-Luc also produces the wonderfully lean French-style MC Square Chardonnay and supplies of this are starting to run low. We have procured some of both the 2000 and the 2001 vintages from him and, sadly, there will be no more because the vineyard in Franschhoek, source of the grapes, has been recycled. DO let us know quickly if you would like some of this very special wine, which is in our attached product list.
One of the dishes Lynne prepared for the tasting this week was an open tart, which is quick to prepare and was well received.
Spinach, Tomato and Feta Tart with Smoked Olive Oil
1 roll of cheese and herb pastry
1 bag of Swiss Chard, washed and chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
3 rounds of feta and black pepper cheese
12 small Roma tomatoes, cut in 1 cm slices
2 T fresh marjoram, chopped –
Smoked olive oil
Line an oblong baking tin with baking paper and roll out the pastry to fit the tin. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 190ºC. Wash the chard and cook it quickly in a covered pot with the garlic and some salt. Drain well. Strew this onto the pastry. Crumble on the feta and then add the tomato slices. Sprinkle on the marjoram and bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is crisp, but not burnt underneath. Remove from the oven and drizzle with the Smoked Olive Oil and serve.
If you don’t have smoked olive oil, use Extra Virgin and some smoked salt. We have them all!
SUBSTITUTION
Many recipes for pasta and pizza call for ham. We know that some of our customers don’t use ham and, by accident, we have discovered a good local substitute – and, no, it’s not called Macon. We had some slices of ‘chipped’ smoked beef in the fridge and it went really well on top of a cooked pasta dish we had with Puttanesca sauce.
New in store
The amazingly rich Italian Truffle Salt has been soaring into shopping bags and out of the door! We still have some, but do come quickly if you want it for Christmas presents, because we know it is very popular and we are not sure whether there new stock will arrive before the end of December.
We have a few of the French Syrups and, hopefully, our Duck Fat and Confit de Canard will have cleared customs by the end of this week and the full range of syrups (cassis etc.) will soon be here. We were told that the ship arrived a week ago, but Customs is very slow at this time of the year. Phone us to find out if we have it before you come.
Smoked Spanish paprika is in short supply and, if we run out in the next week, there is unlikely to be more before early December, so join the queue! And the amazing garlicky chilli Prego sauce is back on our shelves for those who are addicted, as are we…
Recommended Events:
Wine Concepts will stage the seventh “Finer Things in Life” champagne and bubbly festival at the Vineyard Hotel and Spa in Newlands on November 14th. Guests will be treated to one of the most impressive selections of champagnes and MCCs ever seen in this country. More than 30 cuvées will be on show, accompanied by fresh oysters, rare cheeses and fine chocolates. In tune with the theme of the ‘Finer Things in Life’, elegant fashion and rare Italian motor cars will share centre stage. As in the past, proceeds will be shared with the Kids with HIV Foundation to support their pioneering work, bringing children with that horrible condition the hope of a normal life. Tickets for the “Finer Things in Life” Champagne Festival can be purchased for R230.00 per person from Wine Concepts, phone +27 21 671 9030 or email newlandshop@wineconcepts.co.za, or you can buy them at the door on the evening.
If you can’t get to that one, or if, like us, you cannot have a surfeit of sparkling deliciousness, you can join the Cap Classique Association and WINE magazine on Tuesday 25th November at 18h30 for a tasting of the top-scoring South African sparkling wines in the 2008 Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge, presented by winning wine maker, Elunda Basson at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. This will be repeated on Thursday 27th November at 18h30 at the Hyatt Regency in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and again on Tuesday 9th December at 18h30 at the Riverside Hotel in Durban North, when it will be presented by Cape Wine Master and MCC expert Jeff Grier of Villiera.
And, if that were not enough, you’ll have another opportunity when Franschhoek will once again play stylish host to their annual Champagne festival on the weekend of 6th and 7th December. The 2008 Franschhoek Cap Classique and Champagne Festival, sponsored by Investec Private Bank, will showcase an array of celebrated Cap Classique producers as well as some of the finest French champagnes.
Jordan wine estate will hold their Open Day on Saturday, 29th November between 10h00 and 15h00. Relax on the lawn with family and friends to the sound of local community band, the “Stellenzicht Music Project”. A selection of food and wine will be available during the day.
Elgin’s Open Gardens started last week, but you will still be able to visit them this weekend. More detail about all these events is available on the websites if you click on the highlighted and underlined event names above and below.
Our wine tasting this Saturday will feature the wines of Catherine Marshall, who won her spurs as a garagiste with her Barefoot Wine Company. She has moved into a more elegant, deliciously feminine style under her own name with her excellent Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and her beautifully presented Myriad dessert wine.
Our Weekend Pavement Market:
A double bill, again! Audrey Grobbelaar will bring her home bakes and fresh produce from Robertson on Friday and Nelle will be with us on Saturday from Wolseley, with her freshly laid, backyard chicken free range eggs, home-made pies and breads and cookies and whatever fresh produce they have been able to pick. If you want wonderful naturally produced food, this is where you’ll find it.
Ed’s note: We are very lucky to have the OK from John and Lynne Ford to publish their Main Ingredient newsletter on the Wines Online Blog. Main Ingredient offers gourmet foods, ingredients and fine wines. It has won Eat In guide’s Outstanding Outlet for the past three years. You can find them at: Shop 5, Nedbank Centre, 15 Kloof Rd, Sea Point 8005, Cape Town, South Africa. phone: +27 21 439 5169, or find them online.
WEIGHT
We are dying to sit out on our deck and enjoy a warm evening of al fresco eating but it’s just not quite there. Perhaps a Sunday lunch is better to aim for just now. We are in summer food mode though. One of our customers has lost a huge amount of weight, as he has started eating lots and lots of fruit (and vegetables), so we are trying to move in that direction as our middles have expanded alarmingly this winter. We have both passed our health checks with flying colours, but both doctors did suggest losing the middle age spreads!
Last night, for friends, Lynne made cheese soufflé, a salad niçoise and we ended with baked Amaretti nectarines (no cream). We love this season when the soft fruit starts to appear, although, as usual, we bemoan the really dreadful strawberries we are getting. They are huge, cold, glassy and do not have much sweet flavour – we are cutting them up small to have with pawpaw and melon (and home-made muesli) for our breakfast – the bread has been foresworn.
Here is a lovely easy Sunday lunch recipe for you to make in the hope that we can all sit outside this weekend. Artichokes are just coming into season and, if you can be bothered to cook them and take off all the hard outside leaves, it is really worth it. This can be prepared the day before.
CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES
8 Chicken pieces or one chicken cut into pieces
1 t salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t sweet smoked Spanish Paprika
2 T flour
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
150g mushrooms, quartered
2 t fresh thyme leaves
175 ml good chicken stock
3 T medium sherry
1 can of artichoke hearts or 6 – 8 fresh cooked artichoke hearts
Coat the chicken pieces in the salt, pepper, paprika and flour and brown gently in the olive oil. Remove from the frying pan and put into an oven-proof casserole. Add the butter to the frying pan and quickly braise the mushrooms with the thyme, then add them to the casserole. Cover with the stock and the sherry and cook, covered for 40 minutes. Tuck in the artichoke hearts 10 minutes from the end.
INFLATION BUSTING
We are always fascinated at the table that appears in the newspapers each month, comparing the prices of a basket of food and other commodities, at four of our big supermarket chains. We note that some of the price increases are huge and some of the price drops for the period are correspondingly huge and we suspect that the supermarkets are trying to engineer their baskets to appear the lowest by making huge cuts on one or two products, while others go up alarmingly. If they just took a small percentage of everything and kept the prices steady, don’t you think we the consumers would take them more seriously?
Lynne was outraged last Thursday to be charged R15.95 for a loaf of low GI bread from Woolworths which, very recently, used to sell for R8.95. Then this week, at another branch of Woolies, it was R11.95. That takes some explaining and she is waiting for some feedback from their customer line. And a wholesaler in the same business tells us that the price of flour is now coming down…. Hurray!
Stock News:
We have some excellent Chinese shops in Sea Point now, so we tend to send customers wanting Chinese foods to them, but we still have a demand for some of the more special products like Shao Xing rice wine, lime leaves, rice vinegar and mirin. So we’ve put a selection of these back into the shop.
The Protea Hill Farm vinegars and oils are moving fast and we have to replenish frequently. More products from Fynbos Fine Foods should arrive today and we are trying to persuade them to reinstate the very popular Peri peri sauce, asked for by so many of you.
Shiraz remains very popular and we have some really special wines from this grape, such as the very elegant Rhône-like Catherine Marshall. Rosé sales have improved since our last tasting and our stock levels have risen accordingly. Remember that, even if we don’t have a wine in stock, we can usually get it for you at fairly short notice, so ask us and we will give you a price – and order it for you.
SPECIAL WINE TASTINGS
Our second Think Pink tasting, next Tuesday, 4th November, is fully subscribed and we have had to close the list. We will be repeating the three most popular wines (De Grendel, Morgenhof Fantail and Ridgmore), with a new selection to make up the 12 Rosés. Please Note: these tastings do have to be booked as we can only accommodate 22 people if we have only one bottle of each wine.
The tasting after this one will be SERIOUS SAUVIGNONS – a selection of some of the best and rarest Sauvignon Blancs including Ataraxia, Cape Point Stonehaven, Cederberg Ghost Corner, Constantia Glen, Diemersdal 8 Rows, Elgin Valley, Iona, Oak Valley, Saronsberg and Springfield Special Cuvée. None of them are in the economy class, but all will be very special wines, which we consider to be the current top Sauvignons, and perfect for celebrating the summer and the Christmas season.
The date, for your diary, will be Wednesday 19th November, but YOU MUST BOOK AND PAY IN ADVANCE as we anticipate that this tasting will be even more popular than the Rosés and it is our way of allowing you to taste before you buy very, very special wines which are not always generally available. There are a few places still available, so please phone Lynne (021 439 5169) to add your name to the list or email your booking as soon as possible. This tasting starts at 6 pm and finishes at 8 pm. There is a small fee of R25 a person payable in advance and snacks will be served to accompany the food. Bookings will be confirmed once the tasting fee has been received. Because of the limited number of places, we can only accept bookings for two places per customer.
Recommended Events:
Diarise the 14th November when Wine Concepts will host their annual bubbly tasting. More about this next week.
Jordan wine estate will hold their Open Day on Saturday, 29th November between 10h00 and 15h00. Relax on the lawn with family and friends to the sound of local community band, the “Stellenzicht Music Project”. A selection of food and wine will be available during the day.
Cape Talk Radio is hosting an awards competition for small businesses that their customers believe give good service. This may be a bit cheeky, but, if you think we’re doing a good job, please tell them at sba@capetalk.co.za
Our wine tasting this Saturday will feature wines from Constantia Uitsig, a consistently excellent producer. All have scored 4 to 4½ Platter stars and we will show you their Chardonnay, Semillon and Constantia Red, so come and enjoy a wonderful selection of wines between 10am and 1pm.
Our Weekend Pavement Market:
Another double bill. Audrey Grobbelaar will bring her home bakes and fresh produce from Robertson on Friday and Nelle from Wolseley will be with us on Saturday, with her freshly laid, really free range eggs (think backyard chickens), home-made pies and breads and cookies and whatever fresh produce she has been able to pick. If you want real food, naturally grown, this is where you’ll find it.
Ed’s note: We are very lucky to have the OK from John and Lynne Ford to publish their Main Ingredient newsletter on the Wines Online Blog. Main Ingredient offers gourmet foods, ingredients and fine wines. It has won Eat In guide’s Outstanding Outlet for the past three years. You can find them at: Shop 5, Nedbank Centre, 15 Kloof Rd, Sea Point 8005, Cape Town, South Africa. phone: +27 21 439 5169, or find them online.
Annandale wine farm, near Stellenbosch
The Foot of the Helderberg Festival last weekend gave us an opportunity to visit a farm we hadn’t been to before. Annandale has a beautiful, quiet rusticity and takes one back to a less frenetic era. Good wines, too. We were also privileged to enjoy a vertical tasting of ten vintages of Grangehurst Cabernet Merlot as well as the current Nikela blend and Jeremy Walker’s excellent pinotage. The Grangehurst team always gives their visitors a warm and friendly welcome. Take the road past Eikendal off the R44 and treat yourself to a taste of some great wines. Or come and get them from us!
Isn’t the weather beautiful at last?
Our vegetable patch has suddenly got a move on and we don’t think we will have to buy another lettuce or any chard all summer long. There is a nasty caterpillar, which Lynne can’t spot, making holes in the broccoli leaves so war has been declared. Our onions, fennel and garlic are at last shooting up and the broad beans and peas are already in flower. We only wish the basil would catch up with the amazing growth spurt the tomatoes have had.
Which brings us to our roar of the week. WHY did tomatoes jump from R8 a kilo to R17 a kilo in one week? Was it because of the Jewish holidays that supermarkets decided to make a leap in price? We have been doing without rather than pay ridiculous prices and hope to find some in the country this weekend when we go to Robertson for the Wine on the River festival. Woolworths in Sea Point, all three branches, looked as though locusts had attacked them, they were so empty of fresh vegetables and fruit. They tell me they have distribution problems. Let’s hope we get some sanity back soon, the world wide stock market crash was bad enough..
PASTA SAUCE
As we have a relative from Australia staying with us, Lynne did a lot of advance freezer cooking and now is doing fairly ‘instant’ meals for evenings when we get back from touring. She has been trying out new and delicious recipes for pasta sauce and thinks you might like this one. She does the vegetables in advance so they are ready to assemble when we get home.
1 head of garlic – 1 red pepper – 20 small Roma tomatoes – extra virgin olive oil – 2 t finely chopped rosemary
30 stoneless black olives – 1 T Froggit Balsamic reduction – handful of rocket leaves – spaghetti
Turn on oven to 180ºC. Halve the garlic across the bulb and put on a roasting tray, cut side up. Halve the pepper, remove the seeds and put it on the tray. Halve the tomatoes and put them on the tray. Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, sprinkle over the rosemary and roast for 20 minutes. Take out the garlic which should be soft and the tomatoes and continue to cook the pepper until it is nice and soft and beginning to caramelise at the edges. Put it into a plastic bag, seal and allow to cool. The skin will then come off really easily. Cut into strips. When the spaghetti is cooked and drained, squeeze in the roasted garlic and add the tomatoes, pepper and olives. Pour on 1 T Balsamic reduction and the rocket. Add a good drizzle of fresh olive oil, season, toss together and serve with a delicious rosé.
Stock News
After a short break, while the customs sat on the importer’s shipment of frozen bakes, we have more pain au chocolat and plain and chocolate hazelnut croissants from Belgium.
Now the customs officers have been very slow and, we hear, extra methodical with our favourite Italian importer’s latest shipment. Bureaucrats fiddle while the world starves! So we had to wait patiently for the shipment of Italian products, including the wonderful, rich truffle salt. But the good news is that they are in town and we’ll have them on Monday. Enough for all the orders you have placed plus a little more! On the other hand, the importer of the lovely Italian stock cubes we’ve had has decided to discontinue them. So we’ll be looking elsewhere.
We have received more Spanish smoked paprika and sherry vinegar, Chefs@Work preserved lemons and Protea Hill Farm’s excellent Raspberry preserve and vinegar. After a longish break, we have saffron back in stock, but be warned that the price has doubled!
The popular Boekenhoutskloof Chocolate Block is back, so come and get it while stock lasts. The new release of the excellent Constantia Glen Sauvignon Blanc is becoming available, and we are taking orders for six-bottle cases. Another very good, expensive and rare Sauvignon is the Ghost Block from Cederberg Winery’s Elim vineyard, and we welcome orders for this superb wine, again in six-bottle cases.
We have had very enthusiastic reports about the Kalahari truffles from customers who have used them. We still have stock, so come and enjoy this unique, bargain-priced fungus. Fans of the Sense of Taste Prego Sauce will be glad to know that we have it back in the shop.
Twice in the last month, we have had fun evenings at the Fat Cactus Café in Mowbray. Lots of food, some really good grub at good prices and some not so good. Fabulous Chilli Bombs: green chillies stuffed with cheese and then deep fried in batter. Cholesterol nightmare but worth it once in a while. And excellent beef chilli – not mince but small pieces as in traditional TexMex cooking. Huge, well-prepared salads, but the worst waffle ever, overcooked, dripping in over-used fat rather than syrup and the syrup on the plate rather than over it – sent back as inedible. It’s a largely student population and quite noisy so if you like quiet dining this is definitely not for you.
On Sunday we had a superb lunch at 96 Winery Road which has a new menu but have kept one or two of their classics like the fabulous Duck and Cherry Pie. Superb service, very attentive and really delicious food. Ken Forrester’s wines absolutely complement the food and we loved the Chenin with Scallops wrapped in Parma Ham and his Shiraz Grenache with the Duck and the Gemsbok.
Bad food
We were at an excellent trade tasting of superb wines this week at the Radisson Hotel. Sadly, the canapés served were truly awful – so surprising for a 5 star hotel. Completely tasteless oily spring rolls and samoosas, pieces of cardboard overcooked steak and chicken on skewers with no flavour and something mushy (white sauce?) in phyllo pastry. We know it costs the organiser a fortune and we think they should refuse to pay.
Thinking Pink for Summer
Our tasting of pink wines next Tuesday, 21st October, is over-subscribed and we have had to close the list. However, we will repeat the tasting on Tuesday November 5th. Come and choose your favourite Rosé for summer. We will have lots of different dry rosés for tasting – wines we know you will like and we will offer some specials as well. Rosés go tremendously well with the style of food we eat in the Cape and we want you to experience them with us. Delicious snacks will be served while you taste. Places are limited so do book soon. There will be a nominal charge of R25 per person. The list for the second tasting is already filling up.
Recommended Events
The exciting open-air Robertson Wine on the River spring wine festival will take place from tomorrow Friday 17th until Sunday at the beautiful Goudmyn riverside venue. You can taste more than 300 wines from over 40 wineries and enjoy laid-back country hospitality. If you don’t want to drive, there is a daily bus there and back. Check the website for more information. We’ll be going there tomorrow evening and our friend Loraine will be in the shop on Saturday.
RMB WineX, an ‘absolute must’ on the Johannesburg wine calendar, takes place on Tuesday 28th to Friday 31st October. Entry prices are: Early Bird R80, Two-night Pass R140 and Three-night Pass R200 on sale until 26 October; thereafter and at the door: Tuesday R90, Wednesday and Thursday R100; Friday R120, includes a tasting glass and unlimited tastings. There is a special discount for group bookings (10 tickets or more) for Tuesday night only, booked via the organisers. More detail about all these events is available on the websites if you click on the event names above.
If you’d like to learn about cheese and cheese making you may be interested in a two day, hands-on, authentic Italian experience in home cheese-making on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November from 9am until 4pm each day at the Giggling Gourmet Cookery School in Cape Town. Contact Candice on 021 683 3633 or candice@getsmarter.co.za for any further information or assistance with travel and accommodation. Registration closes on Friday 24th.
Cape Talk Radio is hosting an awards competition for small businesses who their customers believe give good service. This may be a bit cheeky, but, if you think we’re doing a good job, please tell them at sba@capetalk.co.za.
Our wine tasting this Saturday
Because we’ll be in Robertson and Loraine will be alone in the shop, there won’t be any wines for you to taste. But they will be for sale as usual! We’ll taste again next Saturday.
Our Weekend Pavement Market
Nelle from Wolseley will be with us on Saturday, with her freshly laid, really free range eggs (think backyard chickens), home-made pies and breads and cookies and whatever fresh produce she has been able to pick. If you want real food, naturally grown, this is where you’ll find it.
THE BESTEST PUSS
Our week had a very sad beginning when we had to say goodbye to our best cat Tinkerbelle, she of the Pixie dust. She fought a long and hard battle against Feline Aids but there is no cure and her tiny body could stand no more. We shall dearly miss our daily snuggles.
I am always reminded how lucky Capetonians are when I take a trip out to the Constantia wine route. No more than 20 minutes out of the city centre is a world-class wine region – the oldest in South African and soon celebrating its 350th year.
