It's all in the nose

A friend of mine once likened Rust en Vrede to the smell of a pizza box and a new radio control car.

Really wine is all in the nose, and what smells and odours you relate wine too. A wine is such a subjective thing... But as long as its great to drink, then fantastic.

The below cartoon explains it perfectly:

And a big apology about not writing more... like an idiot I've given up meat and wine for lent; it truly has been a task which I've struggled with.

On the up side I can now smell as soon as a bottle of wine is opened within 15 feet of me, because my palate is yearning for a good merlot.

I look forward to critiquing a lot of great wines as soon as I can. There are a lot of wine locations and wines themselves that Sian and the rest of the crew (along with me) are desperate to check out, and for me to write about!

Cheese goes with Wine... no, really! :)

April 26, 2008
2008 SA Cheese Festival
Let the best of SA cheese seduce you

Allow the earthy scents of cheese to lure you to the country?s major cheese event ? the SA Cheese Festival which will be held from 25 to 28 April 2008 on the historic Bien Donn? farm nestled in the countryside between Paarl and Franschhoek. Young and old will be sure to enjoy this farm-to-table cheese experience.

Enjoy a magnitude of legendary champion cheeses and discover daring new varieties paired with delicacies such as wine, olives and freshly baked bread in a country market atmosphere. Visitors will be afforded the exhilarating opportunity to compare our local cheeses to their French counterparts, imported especially for the festival. South Africa?s most celebrated food personalities and cheese-makers will be there to let you in on the most scrumptious cheese secrets, while demonstrating new trends of the cheese world. All of this included in the entrance fee of R75.

Tickets for this delectable event will be available from 1 February 2008 at Computicket outlets countrywide and online. Senior citizens will be able to enter for a mere R45 and children 12 years and under enter free. Numbers are limited so do not hesitate to put the 2008 Cheese Festival in first place on your to do list.

The gates will be open from 10:00 to 18:00 from Friday to Sunday and from 10:00 to 16:00 on Monday 28 April. For more details, contact the organiser, Agri-Expo, at tel 021 975 4440, e-mail cheese@agriexpo.co.za or visit www.cheesefestival.co.za.

Pinotage to go with Thai

Sian and I made some awesome Thai food this last weekend, and Sian paired with a great Devon Hill 2004 Pinotage.

After some bowls of red and green Thai curry, the  pinotage tasted sweet and almost like a dessert wine; obviously it wasn't, but the interesting pairing really opened up some new flavours from tasting the wine.

I don't know what it costs a bottle, but I can say its well worth it, being a fan of Pinotage, as I am, can be really difficult at times because so much of it out there has something of the 'cardboard box' as Louis would put it: Devon Hill's 2004 Pinotage certainly does not!

Read more about this great little winery at their site: http://www.devonhill.co.za/

or at CapeVin: http://www.capvin.co.za/devonhill.html