They may not like the connection to be made, but we don’t see Boschendal, Graham Beck or L’Ormarins going 100% organic as fast as humanly possible, do we? Clearly there’s a creed being followed here – perhaps, even, a crusade being fought? But before we get sued, let’s get back to the wines… because the proof of the growing is surely in the tasting…

In fact, it’s as much in the looking and telling as the tasting. If you prefer your wine to come with a story, you’re home and dry. Each of the carefully chosen seven-strong new Avondale range has a name and a story – and a beautifully crafted label to match. So, if you’re not yet acquainted, may I introduce… Armilla, Anima, Cyclus, Camissa, Samsara, La Luna and Navitas. Not a varietal in sight, in the names at least. And that’s partly because four of them are blends, and not always conventional ones. But mainly because it appears to be Grieve’s intention to entrench not only the spirit of the way they naturally farm (Cyclus, La Luna etc) but also to imbue each wine with its own unique character, while also retaining design cues that are uniquely Avondale.

More practical factors unite the range too: they’re all cork-sealed (no screw-tops here) because that is the greenest and most natural way. They’re also all low in sulphur, packing less than a third of the sulphur of their competitors: good news for asthmatics. But no amount of story-telling or vinicultural rigour will overcome wines that simply don’t taste good.

Being more a white wine fundi than a red one, my judgement may be skewed towards the charming Chenin-based Anima (R163 ex cellar) and the 100% Chardonnay bubbly Armilla (R179), while the quirkily honeyed Camissa (R122) rosé comes in third. Given time, Cyclus (R204), the equally unusual Viognier, Chenin, Chardonnay, Semillon and Roussanne blend, may grow on me: perhaps it’s too early to tell. Of the reds, the Samsara Syrah and the La Luna Bordeaux Blend are the best of the bunch – already intriguing and many-faceted, there is no doubt that they have been lovingly created and are the cream of the natural crop. As they should be at their rather elevated prices – R277 ex cellar. Navitas, the upcoming Shiraz-Mourvèdre blend – to be released only in November this year – is a mystery still to be revealed, along with its no doubt less-than-bargain price.

Because, to close, let’s be clear. A winery that charges R122 for its rosé – even it is composed of Muscat de Frontignan and Mourvèdre – is headed in one direction: premium, gold card, top end, no question. For me, I’d need to taste some of their wines against the lofty competition they have in their sights. Can their Anima, for instance, be better (and better value) than Beaumont’s sold out 5* Hope Marguerite at R28 less? I wonder. But then, the FMC from Ken Forrester, a king of chenins, costs R260. Whichever way you look at it, you have to admire them for aspiring in that direction. And, more to the point, you can’t but be convinced of their far more focused integrity and determination in wanting to produce a select range of truly fine wines that just so happen to be naturally grown and vinified. And finally, to return to the marketing thing, I tip my hat to their names and their designs – their unique story. I wish them well with the telling of it, far and wide…

Avondale Wines, Lustigan Rd, Klein Drakenstein, Paarl. 021 863 1976. www.avondalewine.co.za

“Jonathan’s approach to farming now takes into account all aspects of the natural environment, from the tiniest microbes in the soil to the position of specific star clusters in the night sky. He uses no chemicals – all the imbalances in the soil that lead to pests and diseases are addressed using natural remedies. When the destructive pests or problems occur, Jonathan makes use of nature’s solutions such as ladybugs, Peregrinus, and natural bacterias (sic), while any snails are kept in check by his squad of fluffy white ducks.”

OK, so they did invent a word in ‘bacterias’ but they aren’t the first to do so. However, you do get the picture – and either you buy into it or you don’t. Organic is quite a binary thing, I find. You either go the whole hog or not at all. Now you may balk at the night sky bit – and the phases of the moon, too – but there is no doubt that Grieve believes in this, the biodynamic aspect of his approach. What’s more, he says he can prove that applying natural pesticides at full moon improves the health of his vines: something called a Sapmeter tells him so. Ours not to argue as the wines, as we’ll see, provide some evidence of the success of the BioLOGIC approach as well.

In the meantime, the wasps, ducks, bacteria and weeds that protect and provide nutrition for the soil all work in concert with the biodynamic approach and the careful matching off all the above, especially the weeds, to terroir. The result is what looks like a series of rather unkempt overgrown, weed-ridden vineyards – particularly at this time of year when the weeds are no longer flowering and are dying back in a particularly straggly way.

The point is, of course, that they are not weeds at all, but carefully chosen ground cover that either feeds nitrogen into the soil (legumes) or provides cooling mulch cover or attracts beneficial insects. We’re just used to the ascetic scorched earth minimalism of conventional chemical farming, is all. Actually, the carefully matched ground covers between the vines look rather, well, rustic and charming, if a little unkempt. But if the result is healthier and more naturally nutritious grapes, well, who are we to complain?

Equally, the now tried and trusted – and more than a little over-marketed – charm of the snail-mowing ducks cannot be denied. Complete with, in Avondale’s case, Duck Cage (a wire-netted reservoir to keep out the considerable number of natural predators in the neighbourhood) and Duckmobile (which they happily march up into each morning, once trained to connect snails with the sound of tractors), their place on the Grand BioLogic Farm Tour is assured. Even if their long-term survival isn’t. Had you noticed that duck was appearing more and more on menus? I have to tell you there might be a connection…

Of course, the most important connection in all of this is the link between the way the grapes are grown and what appears in the bottle at the end of that committed and painstaking process.

(Read on in Part 3 to find out how the wines echo the vines… BioLOGIC 3: You can taste it in the wines…)

Avondale Wines, Lustigan Rd, Klein Drakenstein, Paarl. 021 863 1976. www.avondalewine.co.za

Coming from advertising as I do, that campaign unfortunately suffered from the initial curse of all gimmick advertising: you remember the ad but you have no idea who it’s for. Of course, once you’ve made the connection, as I’m sure many people did over time, it does stick. Then the question is: does it create the impression you want it to? Do you want your brand to be remembered for ever and a day for those naked people amongst the vines?

But we weren’t there to discuss the merits or otherwise of their advertising. I was there to discover exactly what makes Avondale tick – and, more specifically, in a world awash with wine, what makes Avondale unique?

Of course, what Avondale is famous for is farming the “natural” way – which was what that advertising campaign was all about. A few years down the line, though, the trend towards organic farming that Avondale started has become a little more established and there are a lot more players in that particular vineyard.

And that’s what Avondale has noted and acted upon, defining a very particular niche for themselves as not just organic – as much of what they do is – or biodynamic, but a unique blend of the two they call BioLOGIC (capitals intended).  That term has now been registered and its unique combination is what it now wants to bring to market, along with a significantly streamlined range of just seven wines.

So what is this BioLOGIC thing? Is it also a gimmick, a new one to replace the naked people wandering the Avondale vineyards? It seems not. It seems it’s been a long road of patient discovery for proprietor, viticulturalist and co-owner Grieve. What’s more, for once, the professionally presented and written press release puts it pretty well.

(For more information on Avondale, wait for our next posting: BioLOGIC 2: Organic grows up, coming soon…)

Avondale Wines, Lustigan Rd, Klein Drakenstein, Paarl. 021 863 1976. www.avondalewine.co.za

Not the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, thank goodness…

Solms Delta is not Boschendal, you see. It doesn’t have the pristine Cape Dutch Manor House, nor the slightly stuffy restaurant, nor the rather prissy La Pique-Nique – but rest assured it goes back almost as far in time (1690 vs 1685). And from that vantage point, it has catapulted past most of the local – and national – wine industry in its tackling of the thorniest of the thorny issues: namely, business and land ownership. The farmworkers at Solms-Delta are equal shareholders with the Solms and Astor Families. No lip service here, then.

And you can feel that at the Oesfees. It is undoubtedly and unashamedly a community occasion and, indeed, the farm ensures that local wine farm workers are invited to the event (we sat behind the Graham Beck contingent), but also that young and old, of all hues and lingos, are welcome. I do suspect I was in the minority as an English-only speaker, but I didn’t feel any the less welcome for it.  My partner, who is Afrikaans-speaking, felt right at home.

The enormous bar tents help, with all manner of Solms-Delta potions on offer at reasonable prices – from R15 to R30 per glass, if memory serves. This is dangerous, it must be said, because you want to taste everything, and there is no formal tasting venue at the Oesfees – in other words, you buy a glass, or you taste someone else’s. That’s a bit of an omission, I’d say, but I understand that indulgence in the fruits of the harvest is kind of what the event is about… hence the ‘babalaas factor’.

Food can help here and there were lashings of lekker local fare – the quaintly named Brijani being one. Partner said his was cold but tasty; mine, supped later, was a better temperature and equally good.  I also tried a not-very-Afrikaans lamington from the Koffie en Koeksisters tent (one of a dozen food stops called, amongst other things, Love at First Bite and Lickable Delights: hmm). Excellent. The wines I’ll get to later…

Valiant and Vastrap among the Vines

The Oesfees is, after all, first and foremost about entertainment and this fourth iteration of the event, apparently bigger and better than ever, had no shortage of same. MC’d by the evergreen and ever-ebullient Soli Philander, an eclectic array of musicians and dancers disported themselves from 11am to 10pm on the two side-by-side stages (music and dance, often simultaneous, which was a bit disconcerting – much waving of heads from side to side).

I understood very little of what was going on on stage  (although I noticed Soli spoke in English most of the time, so at least I had a sense of what was coming and going). My partner was entranced to have his photo taken with Valiant (aka Ian Roberts, who even I recognised). So it was quite clear that a fun time was being had by all – indeed, there were some characters that were having fun all over the place, and falling about a bit with it. But no one seemed to mind – indeed, it seemed to be all part of the rich tapestry of life as it is lived along this rather pretty valley.

So would I recommend you go next year? Absolutely. Far less pretentious and far less crowded than its targeted simultaneous rival, Africa’s Grandest Gathering (Africa’s Greatest Misnomer?), the International Jazz Festival. Far better views. Genuinely local music and dance. Much better wine and food. And all at less than a fifth of the price. No contest.

And as for the wine, well, you can’t have everything. I’m becoming a bit of a Chenin Blanc addict and I’m afraid Solms-Delta couldn’t indulge me, although I liked the quirkiness of their Amalie blend (Viognier, Roussanne & Grenache Blanc) the most. At R95, it’s not a bargain but then it’s a more distinguished tipple than either the easy-drinking Vastrap white blend (Chenin, Semillon, Riesling: R55) or the rustic Langarm red blend (also R55, ex-cellar), which was a bit rough, we thought.

Further up the range are some more curious concoctions: Hiervandaan (R108) and Africana (R174) both have dessicated and unusual components (Carignan, Grenache and Mourvedre in the Hiervandaan, for instance) and then there’s the Shiraz fizz, Cape Jazz (R55).

Nothing if not innovative in all that they do, the wines at Solms-Delta take some getting used to. But much like the entertainment and the ambience at the Oesfees, there’s absolutely no question that everything that happens at this genuinely progressive farm is done with a great big heart firmly in the rightest of places. It’s well worth a visit just for that.

Solms-Delta Wines: call them on 021 874 3937   or email info@solms-delta.co.za or visit www.solms-delta.co.za.

Solms-Delta range: Africana Shiraz 08 4.5*, Hiervandaan red blend 07 4*, Lekkerwijn Rosé 09 4*, Koloni white blend 07 4.5* (3*), Amalie white blend 09 4.5*, Gemoedsrus fortified port-style 4.5*.

Solms-Astor range: Langarm red blend 07 3.5* (2.5*), Vastrap white blend 09 3*, Cape Jazz Shiraz sparkling 3*.

Ratings and details are taken from the 2011 Platter Wine Guide and the Wine Magazine ratings database, where applicable (these ratings in brackets).

It’s taken me nearly 20 years to reach Robben Island. It’s been waiting. Winking at me across the bay at night – visible now from my home in Tableview across Cape Town’s Table Bay.

So what does Robben Island hold for the jaded and cynical visitor in 2011? Well, certainly some surprises. The first thing is that the ferry (when operating – another of the management’s failings: they don’t understand the concept of maintenance) is modern and spacious and, thank goodness on that hottest of days, air-conditioned. However, top tip, if you want to ride on top in the wind and sun and risk instant sunstroke, get there early. The top deck fills up quickly, leaving the remaining passengers with no option but to stay inside for the 20-minute journey.

Arriving on Robben Island is telling. There’s a souvenir shop right there on the key (to capture tourists returning to the ferry en route home) and a couple of old boats hanging around that you hope you won’t have to make the trip home on. And a fleet of buses, to which you are directed in a fairly vague way. We chose a bus whose host was more than entertaining – we suspect we got lucky: he claimed he had hosted Mandela and Obama on the very same bus and was full of stories about them and other aspects of the island.

Of course, those stories are mostly sobering – the leper colony, the church, the gun emplacements, the threatened wildlife and so on – but there are lighter moments: the World War 2 gun batteries only completed in 1946, for instance. A tad late.

This is all told to you on the bus – no aircon in sight, be warned: take lots of water with you – as it drives you past Robert Sobukwe’s house, through the village, past the gun batteries and to the quarry where prisoners hacked away for no practical reason.

All this is diverting and informative – and allows the staggered bus groups to rotate between the island tour and the prison itself.  Which is what, in the end, we’re on Robben Island for.

A whistlestop tour of the whole history of Robben Island:

The problem, unfortunately, is the very sausage machine process required by the back-to-back tours to the island. Although it’s sobering and appropriate to have an ex-prisoner as a guide, you do need some time to take in the stories portrayed by the objects left in each cell in the one block. And you don’t get it. The chance to contemplate, for yourself, in your own time, what this barren island prison represents, is denied you.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. Nor does it make the trip meaningless. The stories are there, not least the stories of the guides themselves. And, of course, the island’s history goes way, way back before the 1964 inauguration of the political prison. Indeed, one of the more controversial interpretation’s of the island’s history – John Greyson’s 2003 movie Proteus – tells a seldom-told gay history, as does the locally-created South African gay history brought out in 2000, Apostles of Civilised Vice.

If you want a more conventional view, there are changing and permanent displays at the Mandela Gateway Museum back at the Waterfront. And then there are the many, many books. And it may well be that there are films, books and other memorabilia available at the Souvenir Shop – but by the time we were being herded, fairly unceremoniously, back to the waiting ferry, the shop was closed. Again, an administrative failure on the part of the island’s management.

So going to Robben Island is a flawed affair – the time management, the herding, the missing exhibits from the prison cells – but it is an essential part of a visit to Cape Town (check out www.21thingstodo.co.za for more ideas). It makes you think of where the country’s come from and it is, of course, a critical reminder of where it might yet return if man’s inhumanity to man isn’t kept in check. A warning to its current political masters, if they have ears to hear. Lest they (and we) forget…

It costs R200 per person to go on the three and a half hour Robben Island Tour. The ferry departs from the Mandela Gateway at the Waterfront four times a day – sometimes with extra trips in summer. And if you go over lunchtime, take your own lunch: there’s precious little option to buy food on the island (although maybe the shop offers something: who knows?). And lots of water if you go in the summer. Finally, leave your preconceptions behind and bring along your  questions. It’s not often you get the chance to ask questions of a prison’s ex-ex-prisoners. In fact, it’s probably a unique opportunity. So take it.

You can book by calling 021 413 4233 or email rimbookings@robben-isand.org.za.

My friends and I had been planning a Stellenbosch wine meander for weeks, however finding an entirely free day was getting harder and harder. But, driven by our love for all things ‘vino’, we successfully managed to postpone all our responsibilities and set off to explore the beautiful Stellenbosch wine region.

Pulling off the N2 on to the Baden Powell Drive (R310), our first stop was Vergenoegd where the gravel road curving round a pond laden with geese and ducks and leading up to the manor house served as a fitting welcome. The white bungalow-styled building is classic Stellenbosch in style as is the welcome offered by the staff at this gorgeous wine estate. Samantha was our cellar door host for the day and exceptionally knowledgeable about her wine. She walked us through the light Runner Duck range and then their revered reds. What struck me the most (on top of the ’03 Merlot) was the ’02 Shiraz. It was complex, smooth and well aged. What a start to our morning! With the sweet taste of port echoing on our palates we set off for the next indulgence.

Not wanting to drive too far, we chose Meerlust, less than 3km away. The tasting room certainly has an old feel to it with ancient leather seats and copper spittoon-like structures scattered around. On the walls hang collectables from all the countries the owner has visited. We were graced with service from the friendly and charming Trish. Out of the five masterpieces she had for us to taste, the ‘05 Rubicon was in a league of its own, rich and elegant on the palate – truly a South African iconic wine.

It is obviously crucial to maintain momentum while on a roll of great wines such as those tasted above, thus Rust en Vrede was the natural next choice. The tasting room smelt as tasting rooms should, of maturing red wines and boasted large steel vats towering supreme in the back of the room. We were directed outside and seated on cushioned stone benches and tables overlooking perfectly manicured lawns sloping gently into rows of vines and a strip of dense forest rising from the other side of the valley that opened up into vast fields of vines and prehistoric hills in the backdrop. Each wine was exceptional. However, their explanations were scripted and short.

All good things come to an end and the last wine stopover we made for the day was at Waterford. Tales of chocolate and wine pairings had found their way to our ears and we were instantly hooked on the idea. The entrance to the estate resembles a Spanish hacienda with a straight sandy road lined with fruit trees on either edge leading up to the centre of the huge manor house. Waterford offers two kinds of tastings, either a three wine pairing with chocolate or a full run of their 11 wines. I alone proved brave (or alcoholic) enough to take the latter while the rest of the group enjoyed their wine and chocolate pairing outside next to the fountain. The easy drinking range, Pecan Stream, was delightful while the more serious Estate wines held their own against the others of their calibre that we had tasted that day; the Jem certainly lived up to its name. Aided by friendly and knowledgeable tasting room staff, James and Matthew, our tasting experience at Waterford Estate was fun and relaxed.

A day filled with tasting great wines at some of South Africa’s premier estates does not come cheaply but it is all worth it for the experience. On the drive home, we debated the destination for our next wine excursion – look out for our Constantia Valley experience, coming soon. Follow us on Facebook to stay in the loop of our adventures in South Africa’s wine country and pick up a copy of the Wine Tourism Handbook to plan your own South African wine adventure!

Summer’s here and the interminably long winter seems like a dream! And as the weather warms up and the desire to be out of doors increases, 21 Things To Do in Cape Town is starting to look at content for next year’s guide. Cape Town has always been a fantastic outdoor adventure destination and Capetonians always up for something new so we hope you will help us fill out options for visitors to our beautiful city.

Taking the leap has never been so easy with companies such as Abseil Africa with their controlled descent of 112m down from the top of Table Mountain, a more energetic and adrenaline fuelled trip than the trusty cable car but one that allows you a rather heightened viewing experience of Cape Town’s beautiful beaches and city centre!

You need to head out of the city for the longest bungee jump in the world with FaceAdrenalin, recognised by the Guiness Book of Records you will find this jump off Bloukrans Bridge just outside of Storm’s River in the Garden Route the ride of a lifetime.

Skydive Cape Town promises you a bird’s eye view of our fair city however if you feel the need for some support in the air perhaps try tandem paragliding with Parapax.

For those who prefer to remain on solid ground or at least relatively close to it there is Frixion Adventures that offer canyoning and kloofing expeditions or for a wild ride book with Kamazoo Quad Rides for a trip through the vineyards at Dellrust Wine Farm in Somerset West.

Feeling the urge to get on the water? Frixion again will put you in the right direction with river rafting and coasteering options or go down deep to hang with the Great White sharks (in a cage, of course) with the Shark Zone.

One thing that we do all know about Cape Town is that you can never predict the weather so keep CityROCKs details close by and on those rainy days head to this indoor climbing gym with its bouldering cave, lead wall and 10m high climbing area.

So what else is out there? Plenty I am sure, write to us on Facebook to let us know what adventure outdoor options in Cape Town we are missing!

The Test Kitchen is likely to be one of the must-try Cape Town restaurants this holiday season as its ingredients are more than promising

Because this is not, let us be clear, a leafy vineyard, mountain-viewing location in the Cape Winelands: it is more urban, red-brick chic, complete with very visible ‘stainless steel and steam’ open-plan kitchen, testing away as you look on.

What is it testing, you may ask? Well, for a start, it’s testing your patience a little with its rather new waitrons the day we ate there… but everyone has to start somewhere and the place had only been open a month. Still you might expect a little more knowledge of the menu and the wine list than we got at first.

However, maitresse d’ Angie Jacobs came to our rescue and explained a) about the new staff and b) about the way things work here at the Test Kitchen. And it’s not very conventional – well, not for those of us used to conventional starters, mains and desserts and a wine list that identifies what’s available by the glass…

Swiftly mollified by a selection of the wines we could have by the glass, all good and happily not the usual suspects (no Buiten Blanc or Waterside here), including a very palatable white blend from Joostenberg called simply Chenin Blanc with a touch of Viognier and a thumbs-upped red blend from Badenhorst Family Wines.

As there were three of us, we opted to try all three starters on the Test Kitchen’s menu and they were all notable for the subtlety and variety of their textures and tastes. You know how it is: you’re presented with something towery and petite with a few leaves and what looks like a splash of custard around it but, in fact, said custard is, in fact, a gorgonzola crema with bonito salt – who knew? Who, more’s the point, knew that, without said crema, the seemingly mundane combination of tempura cherry tomato and aubergine miso yaki (yes, you will need a food dictionary to interpret the menu) would have been just that – mundane. With it, it flew.  And the vegetarian tempura roll (tempura was the test for the day, clearly) with shiitake mushrooms, pickled ginger and coriander wasn’t far behind.  The Asian-style Beef Tataki was also very tasty but I have no idea what made it a Tataki (translation required, as above).

The mains included a Pork Belly (not entirely common on menus nowadays), a Hake Linefish dish (brave) and a Crispy Duck Bibimbab. The Bibimbab (a glossary follows) came with a Hoisin dressing and the Hake with a Citrus Vièrge (which I thought was French for virgin, but apparently not…).

We sampled the duck and the hake, which were fabulous both – again, that signature meld of textures and tastes to titillate the tongue (sorry, couldn’t resist) and, again, a selection of wines that more than complimented them, meant the whole was very much greater than the individual parts – which is, I guess, how a memorable meal should be.

We were generously offered a selection of the evening menu’s desserts and a taste of one of the other red wines they offer on that menu as well – the lemon tart and the Adam Mason “Khwezi” stood out – interestingly enough, it’s not to be found in Platter at all, so a rare beast indeed.

Points for the overall concept and experience? Pretty high, but not so high for the service. Let’s see what time and the season brings… (let us know on Facebook on new restaurants in Cape Town you have tested out this season…)

As for the evening meals, we’ll just have to save up -  R345 for 3 courses up to R750 for 7 courses with wine is a lot to ask but then the sort of quality on offer is not to be found just anywhere. The question, though, is whether that R345 for 3 courses is better than the experience at any one of the Reuben’s restaurants. We’ll have to get back to you on that… Check them out on www.testkitchen.co.za.

The Test Kitchen: The Biscuit Mill, Albert Road, Woodstock. Tel: 021 447 2337/reservations@thetestkitchen.co.za

A very amateur glossary:

Bibimbap or bibimbab is a Korean cooking style, which literally means “mixed meal” and this usually means a bowl of steamed white rice topped with a variety colourful vegetables and chilli paste. A raw or fried egg or sliced meat can be added to same.

Bonito salt. Appears to be a fish-based flavour-enhanced salt, so vegetarians should be aware of that, I guess, when it’s used in a vegetarian dish? Ahem…

Miso yaki. A marinade consisting of miso, mirin, sake, soy and sugar – a salt-sweet mix. Think choc-dipped pretzels. Or maybe not. But you get the idea…

And if you want to know what miso, mirin and sake are, please look them up…

Sous vide. Cooked slowly in a sealed plastic bag in a water bath for a very long time, at low temperature (hence the time required). Supposed to maintain the integrity of ingredients though not, one imagines, the integrity of the planet…

Tataki – Japanese-style searing preparation of various types of fish or meat, meaning “pounded” but refers to the ginger condiment served with the dish, which is traditionally pulverised with a pestle and mortar.  The meat is optionally marinated in rice vinegar before searing and then cooled with iced water or the same vinegar after searing.

Vièrge – the French version of salsa, made from chopped tomatoes, lemon juice or vinegar, chopped basil and garlic. And the word does literally mean virgin. The link? The ingredients are all raw, uncooked, and are simply left to macerate together. Hmmm.

Wine marketing on the whole still seems to be pushing the same elitist message that it has for years, punting the product as something more than what it is – a great alcoholic beverage to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. If we have any hope of building a real, sustainable wine culture in South Africa we need to make wine drinking and appreciation accessible to all. For this reason, the launch in Mzoli’s was a fabulous idea and a great success.

As a venue, the famous Mzoli’s is home to an eclectic group of patrons from local Gug’s inhabitants to tourists, groups out for their annual Christmas lunch and a few local white South Africans. And what we have been missing out on by not frequenting this very vibrant venue. A popular day and night spot that also happens to be a butchery, you buy your meat, have it braaied to perfection, buy your drink of choice from the surrounding shebeens and then sit back and relax.

I loved the atmosphere, casual and very informal offering the opportunity to make new friends and acquaintances. I loved the music that starts pumping out at twelve and carries on until closing encouraging patrons to dance before, during or after their meal! I loved the food (vegetarians beware, this is purely a destination for carnivores), the meat dishes available including steak and chicken were done to perfection over the mobile braai’s with a side dish of pap and chakalaka. I was not so wild about the toilets but that was the only blip on an otherwise fabulous day and an insignificant detail at that.

I loved the wines, in particular the Rawbones Butcher’s Block that was the perfect accompaniment to our meal. A juicy red blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc crafted by winemaker Pieter Visser, that definitely over delivers in terms of its very reasonable price of R55.00. The Rawbones Wishbone White for me was slightly too sweet but it was well made and fruity and a good partner for chicken, pork and other lighter meats. Rawbones Wishbone White retails at R45.00 also providing excellent value at this price point. The decision by Oak Valley wines to create wines of quality available at lower price points than there the top-end range is to be applauded.

The Butcher’s Block is aptly named both for the choice of launch venue and as a reminder of Oak Valley’s impressive reputation as a gourmet meat producer. They are home to a herd of free-range, grass fed Simmentalker cattle, acorn-fed, free-range pigs as well Wagyu cattle from which the famous Kobe beef is produced, famous for its tenderness that comes about partially because the cattle have their very own massage machine that is activated by a pressure pad!

Oak Valley has just given us one more reason to love them with the affordable, delicious Rawbones range, the perfect partners for South Africa’s favourite pastime, braaing. Let us know what you think of the new Rawbones range on our Facebook page.

For further information on the Rawbones Range visit www.oakvalley.co.za and for more information on Mzoli’s visit their Facebook page.

Breyani, the show, is a celebration of sounds that unmistakeably originate from the Cape. The 10-piece band that takes to the stage provide an electrifying, humorous and colourful performance of old classics, new numbers and adaptations.

Donveno Prins opens with a saxophone solo that sets the tone for the rest of the evening’s performance. Camillo Lombard on piano accordion plays off against Gammie Lakay on acoustic lead guitar, Jacques Steyn (formerly of DNA strings) brings the sounds of mandolin and bass guitar to the mix while veterans of the famous klopse bands of the Cape, Howard Links and Charlie Rhode entertain in style with the banjo, mandolin and guitar. The ghoema drum takes pride of place under the control of Loukmaan Adams who also will delight the audience with song. Rediscover the rich depths of Cape music with the fabulous voices of the Sonskyn Sisters, Ruth Hector and Elspeth Davids. With the irrepressible David Kramer as MC and sometime singer, the show presents an inclusive and entertaining overview of the blend of music that is so characteristic to the Cape.

This performance is a celebration of rhythm, instrumentation, vocal styling and language and above all homage to the depth and styles of music that have arisen out of the Cape. David Kramer received a Kanna Award for Exceptional Contribution to a Contemporary Music Production for Breyani, don’t miss out on the chance to see it while in Cape Town. And let us know what you thought on Facebook!

Venue: The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town

Dates: Monday to Saturday at 20:15 except the 24^th, 25^th and 31^st December. There will be a special New Year’s Eve show at 21:30 followed by a party in the foyer.

Book: online through Computicket.

Web: www.baxter.co.za