Barrington's International Vineyard Leasing

As a wine lover and enthusiast I am always on the lookout for new and upcoming events and specials that have anything to do with wine. These most often centre on festivals or wine and food pairings or tastings. This week I stumbled upon something so innovative and unique that I just had to give it some airtime, or in this case, bandwidth!


Barrington’s International is a company that has been advising on, managing and selling leases for vineyards in South Africa since 2007. What this means in a nutshell is that anyone with a bit of capital to play with, can effectively lease a section of a picturesque Western Cape Vineyard as an investment and reap the benefits in monetary profits, wine payouts, or a combination of both.

This is something so fresh and unique and would definitely be something to boast about on the golf course or at a dinner party!

For all the juicy details on how to go about getting your own piece of heaven, just go to the website. www.leasingvines.com or drop me a mail at julesu@iafrica.com should you be interested.

Simply Stunning, Simply Steenberg

Driving through the gates of Steenberg Estate is a rather surreal experience. On entering, all the sights and sounds of the bustling suburb of Tokai and the surrounding businesses are left behind and you are transported into the beautiful, tranquil and scenic world which is Steenberg Estate. Steenberg Estate is situated just off the M42 on Steenberg Road and is a stone’s throw away from the other great Constantia Wine Farms. Lush Vineyards surround you as the take the quick drive to the Wine Tasting venue which is situated just above the working winery. There is ample parking available just outside the entrance even though is it a hive of activity inside


The interior is striking, modern influences predominate the wine tasting area with the centrepiece being the tasting counter which in itself is a work of art. Suspended above the counter are 2700 resin grapes, green grapes complete with pips and red grape skins.

Tasting is done at the counter as well as outside. It was a beautiful Cape Winters day so I jumped at the chance to sit outside surrounded by spectacular water fountains and green rolling hills. There are two choices when it comes to tasting. One can opt for the Classic Tasting which consists of nine different wines, three Klein Steenberg varieties as well as six Premium range Steenberg varieties. The other option is the Ultra Premium tasting which offers tasters the chance to sample the best of what Steenberg has to offer for a R50 tasting fee, redeemable if you choose to buy one of the wines in this category.

The tasting attendants were very helpful and always wore a smile. It was quite busy when I arrived and half way through the tasting I seemed to swap to another server, Zelda. Both were very knowledgeable on the selection of wines on offer and had no problem answering any questions I had. The Klein Steenberg range is a wonderful addition to the Steenberg collection. Winemaker JD Pretorius has succeeded in producing great quality wines which are incredibly reasonable and would go down a treat at any lazy Sunday lunch.

A highlight of any tasting at Steenberg has to be Bistro Sixteen82 which completes the new Bistro-style cellar door restaurant and wine tasting venue. This restaurant is a lovely addition to the wine tasting experience and I highly recommend the afternoon Tapas on offer which are artfully put together and taste sensational.

I was very pleasantly surprised at the overall experience, the views are breathtaking, the service is top notch and the wines are deserving of their high reputation

Overall Rating: ****
Open: Monday - Friday: 09h00 - 18h00; Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays: 10h00 - 18h00
Service: 9/10 knowledgeable, attending and pleasant
Ambience: 9/10 Spectacular setting, missed on rainy days
Value: 7/10 Klein Steenberg range is a winner
Quality: 8/10 Well-rounded wines

Weather, or not

I think it is safe to say that Winter has definitely set in for Capetonians. In the past 3 weeks, the weather Gods seemed to be rather confused as to which season they were in as we were pelted with rain for a full week and then suddenly, had 5 glorious days of sunshine and what came very close to summer temperatures(Well close enough!). With that said, I think they have come to a general consensus that we are not in Autumn anymore and have progressed onto Winter.

I also think its safe to say that this Winter is going to be one very wet and windy affair. Unless you are one of those crazy  individuals who actually likes the cold, rainy, damp and depressing season that's is Winter, you will need something to keep you going until winter is over and spring warms us all up once again. That something to me is a nice rich glass of red. It warms the cockles of your heart and makes winter seem bearable. Sitting with a glass of red in hand with a roaring log fire (or historic bubbling oil heater in my case!) by your side will no doubt ease the unpleasantness that is winter.

That in mind, week 2 of my wine recommendation challenge will be on red wine, namely Pinotage. This was a rather selfish decision on my part I must admit as I am most looking forward to a glass of Diemersfontein Pinotage, the original 'coffee/chocolate'  Pinotage. For more on 6 other Pinotage wines, keep reading from June 7th-June14th. In the meantime, pull out those heaters, happy huggers and hot water bottles, its going to be a cold one!

The Good Food and Wine Show

This past Saturday I spent the day at the Good Food and Wine Show where exhibitors of all kinds filled the halls of the Cape Town Convention Centre. After receiving my Gift bag and taking a peek to see what surprises it contained (Countless pamphlets and a packet of rice!), and getting my wine tasting glass I began making my way around the hall. This was somewhat of a process in itself as it was packed to the brim with eager tasters and foodies all wanting to get in on the action. From sauces to saucepans, anything and everything to do with food and wine was there for the taking

As it was so well attended, it was unfortunately quite tricky to actually taste the tantalising treats on show and therefore I missed out on many of the products available. That said, one such product that stood out had to be “Pesto Princess”. Beautifully clad in enchanting fairy wings, these lovely ladies (and man!) were showcasing their scrumptious assortment of pestos and pastes that were utterly delicious! So delicious in fact that every time I walked past their store, they were rapidly replenishing their tasting pots with more colourful assortments of appetizing condiments.

Something that was rather entertaining was the “Get fresh with BBC lifestyle” area where keen cooks where testing their talents on recipes by some of the most famous chefs. I was able to sneak a peek while Indian cuisine connoisseur Reza Mahammad was instructing his students on how to cook the most succulent seared tune and rice dish. He is fantastically flamboyant and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him.

Moving on to the wine exhibits, I was pleased to see a large contingent of vineyards that were unknown to me. This was a good thing as it allows the smaller wine farms and boutique cellars that are located further afield a chance to showcase their unique varieties. One that stood out to me was “Four colours” wines (pictured left). Their wonderful exhibit and unusual but beautiful bottles impressed me and that was before even tasting their wines! Although very reasonable, their wines were lovely and light and good value for money. Definitely a wine I will be buying in the future.

The only disappointing part of the show was the fact that I didn’t get to speak my mind to Gordon Ramsay, or even catch a glimpse of him for that matter, but with all the lovely products on show I completely forgot about it. So for all of you who got to see Mr. Ramsay in action, you are some lucky buggers! For all of you who didn’t, don’t stress, he is on BBC Lifestyle EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!

All-in-all the show was a great success and very entertaining. From cocktail masters to master frother’s, anything one would wish for to do with food and wine was brilliantly showcased under one roof. I will definitely be back next year.

Good Food and Whine

As many people know, the Good Food and Wine Show is coming up this Thursday the 13th of May running through to Sunday the 16th. From seeing what was on show last year I am very excited to see what they have up their sleeves this year. As well as a host of other world renowned chefs including Pâtissier Eric Lanlard, chocolate wizard Willie Harcourt-Cooze, Italian supremo Giorgio Locatelli and Flamboyant Indian chef Reza Mahammad; the infamous Gordon Ramsay will be gracing us with his presence. Here is where my whine comes in. By purchasing a basic ticket for R70 (R80 if bought online), the public get at great gift pack and entrance into the exhibition where one can see these fabulous chefs in action cooking up a storm. But Oh No, in order to catch Ramsay in action, we get charged more than four times more (R300) for 15 minutes with the man himself! To put it mildly, I find this rather frustrating!

I understand that Mr Ramsay is incredibly well renowned and it is a once in a lifetime chance to view the man’s culinary genius in action, but can that too not be said for the host of other incredible chefs who will be there? It puts a bitter taste in my mouth, but not sour enough to put me off the show completely. I am so looking forward to seeing the chocolate wizard, Willie Harcourt-Cooze and the marvellous Indian cuisine Queen Reza Mahammad

My plan is to casually peruse what’s on offer at the show, while keeping a beady eye out for the notorious Ramsay. When I have him in my sights (hopefully not with 20 body guards in tow!) I will let rip with a few of my thoughts about his arrogant and insensitive attitude, maybe adding a swear word or two in for good measure as he seems to understand these more than the English language as a whole! Well as I say, that is the plan anyway. Of course I would love to see Ramsay cooking up a storm, but being a lowly student, I do not feel that he deserves a huge pay check for it! I am Sorry Mr Ramsay.

I am also excited to see the range of wines they have on offer and cannot wait to taste some of South Africa's finest wines. So, until then, I shall prepare my speech and look forward to seeing the chefs who find joy in showing the public their art without taking an arm or leg in the process! Watch this space to see if I succeed in my mission impossible together with my thoughts on the show.

One small step

OK, so here it is my official blog and the first post of many to come. So Writing a blog was never something I had actually considered as it scares the life out of me to think people are reading your personal thoughts, but alas i had to remove myself from the rock i was living under and face the music as they say.

After being blatantly told that I had no future in the field of wine journalism as I had no writing experience, as well as being told, and I quote "writing does not run in my blood" together with"I have no passion for wine" I scraped together what was left of my ego; cooled myself down to a simmer and began the process of creating a blog. So this will help me prove (I hope!) that yes, shock horror, I do have a passion for wine and writing!

That said, I am still rather apprehensive about all this, but after meeting a couple of bloggers in the flesh I realize they are pretty awesome people and the best thing, they're all human and normal (I'm using normal very loosely in this context!). So it makes me feel all the more comfortable when stepping into the world that is blogging.

So that's it folks, my one small step into the world that is blogging has been made (and I have survived!). Who knows whats to come.........just wait and see!