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Wine
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Are Wine Bargains A Good Thing? I Think Not
27 Feb 2013 by Jasmine Stone / 11 Comments
I had a new wine experience this past weekend. I wish this meant tasting a new exotic variety, or an ancient vintage, or even just a good Pinotage. But no, it was far more banal than any one of those, it was a trip to the Wade Bales Society wine sale.
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Harvest Time Is Here – Spend A Day Falling In Love With Wine
22 Feb 2013 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
I do not lay awake at night wondering about the permutations of whether Oscar Pistorious shoots with or without prosthetics, I do not toss and turn weighing in my mind the quality of Lindiwe Mazibuko’s State of the Nation Address rebuttal, nor do I consider whether Vernan Philander can bowl better. No friends, I ask myself how can I get more people drinking wine
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Facebook “Friends” The Wine World
20 Feb 2013 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
We LIKE this. A new Facebook online store has been developed encouraging their US users to buy and send gifts with just a click of a button. Remembering birthdays used to be a daunting experience until these guys came along, and now they making something like purchasing wine just as easy.
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The Best Value Pinot In The Country, And Musings On Old Wines
15 Feb 2013 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
This week’s column may come across as slightly schizophrenic. I have some thoughts on older wines and a wine recommendation. They are totally unrelated.
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Today You’ll Learn – How A Wine Judging Panel Works
08 Feb 2013 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
Wine judging is a strange endeavor. As weird, I imagine, as the judging at country fairs of jams, tarts, cakes, flower arrangements, and whatever other product of pastoral hobbies are put forward.
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Riesling, You Need To Drink More Of It
24 Jan 2013 by Jasmine Stone / 8 Comments
Riesling. What a grape. I wonder how much you’ve had? Probably not enough. I know I haven’t. The wines of the Riesling grape are hard to have too much off. It is another type of wine in South Africa that is on the up, if a bit slower than Riesling lovers would like; but then all things vinous are slow.
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The God Of Wine’s 6 Wine Commandments For 2013
17 Jan 2013 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The God of wine – Bacchus – called me on New Year’s Day for a talking to atop the rather benign Bottellery Hills. He gave me six commandments to give to you. So listen carefully, young and old.
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Terroir(ble) Tendencies
07 Dec 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 3 Comments
Terroir. It’s time we had a chat about it. Is it complete marketing hogwash? Is it the holy grail of fine wine making, so, in fact, total hogwash? Is it a real thing that winemakers should strive toward? Wait, hold on Harry, wtf is terroir.
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Nederburg’s Summer Pop Up “Red Table” Restaurant Is Tres Cool
07 Dec 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Nederburg has created a novel restaurant for the summer, open from Wednesday to Sunday until the end of April. Called the Red Table, it offers locally-sourced fresh, light bistro-style food in a relaxed and gesellige atmosphere. The menu has been devised to match the farm’s rich and varied range of award-winning wines. What makes it […]
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Welcome To Your New Friday After-Work Habit!
29 Nov 2012 by Seth Rotherham / No Comments
Forget about starting the weekend by schlepping home and collapsing on the couch. Rather enjoy spectacular views of Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean at one of Cape Town’s hidden gems! Zero parking hassles and pure chilled vibes.
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House Of The Week – Your Own Income Producing Wine Farm In Franschhoek – R39 Million
29 Nov 2012 by Seth Rotherham / No Comments
You can make big cash from a property like this. Apart from the prestige of having your own wine farm, this chunk of earth sports 10 luxury suites, conference facilities, wedding venue etc. You’ll be rolling in it… Check out these killer pics..
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What Makes Good Wine, Good?
22 Nov 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 8 Comments
What makes good wine good? A devious little question. A question that sits around a corner with its foot held out hoping you trip. It’s a question however, that I am bound to try and answer.
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The “No Such Thing As Bad Wine” Myth Will Be The End Of Us
19 Nov 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 15 Comments
Here’s a wine column in two parts. First a response to nagging complaint against people like myself, that we should be quiet about the huge amounts of people drinking truly atrocious wines, because, you know, so what. To balance it out, I will suggest some great bargain wines to drink as well.
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Drinking With The Suits – Notes From A Hyper Corporate Wine Contest
09 Nov 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
If you haven’t noticed, it’s full-blown awards season in the wine industry. You can shake the proverbial stick and more than likely poke a winning winemaker’s eye out.
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Platter 2013 Launched: Worthwhile Christmas Present, Or Just More Ratings Nonsense?
02 Nov 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The 2013 Platter guide has been released and the five star wines have been revealed. Are the five star wines that good? Is the Platter guide the vinous present to buy this Christmas? Harry Haddon finds out.
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Swartland Revolution 2012 – A Wine Street Party Of Epic Proportions
01 Nov 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The time is almost upon us. This weekend Riebeek Kasteel will be bathed in fine wine. It’s the third edition of the Swartland Revolution. The wine festival put on by Swartland producers which has seen a massive sucess over the last two years.
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Spier Revisited – A Middle Class Wet Dream
26 Oct 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 3 Comments
I have made jokes about Spier in the past. It’s not hard. They have cheetahs and more tourists than you can shake a stick at. The jokes have never been that fair. So I thought I should visit again, to recalibrate my idea of Spier.
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The Day I Was Humbled – A Wine Competition From The Inside
23 Oct 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
I have mentioned in one or more of these columns that I am not exactly a fan of wine competitions. In this column I report back on the challenges I faced when helping judge in a recent local competition.
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The Worst Wines I Have Tasted This Year
21 Sep 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 10 Comments
Every now and then I get sent some wine. I never tire of this. Even if the wine is insipid, badly labeled, and I have to get my panga out of storage to hack through the multi-layered coating of bubble wrap I am happy. I love free shit. I don’t care that I will probably chuck it away soon after opening; it’s the pure and simple joy of opening something that you know you didn’t pay for but is yours. This feeling lasts but a fleeting moment, but oh, it is sweet.
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The South African Chenin Story Continues
14 Sep 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 9 Comments
Is South African Chenin any good? According to two international writers it is, and it isn’t. Frustratingly for local producers, mixed messages are being sent out. Locally we have been all “Yeah SA Chenin is the dog’s bollocks!” and then given a full-on smack-down by international writers: “Steady on there Saffas, your wines are definitely […]
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South Africa’s Liquid Gold
12 Sep 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
I always forget about brandy. When I want a spirit straight, I end up choosing whiskey. But after a recent tasting of brandies by Distell, I am going to have to start changing my ordering tactics.
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De Grendel Restaurant Up For KLINK Award! Show Your Support!
12 Sep 2012 by Seth Rotherham / No Comments
The joy of being a 2oceansviber is you have embraced the 2oceansvibe brands and you understand your life is better because of it. Because we refuse to compromise – and neither should you! That is why we support our partners at all costs. And so we ask you, the 2oceansvibers, to get behind our wine […]
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Living With Wine Part II
24 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 5 Comments
I have done two of these posts in the past and I thought I would do another. I made this decision for two reasons. The first is because they are simply fun to write, and secondly because I enjoy poking fun at the hoighty-toighty world of wine, where food and wine pairings are touted as […]
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Wine: A Big Ballsy Bargain
13 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
It’s a big, rich wine and it’s a bargain. I prefer the latter to the former, but it’s such a deal I thought it worth writing about. Everybody loves a good bargain. That’s the appeal of flea-markets and second-hand shops. I recently found awesome steam-punk styled salt ‘n pepper grinders for R100. The joy of […]
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The Good And The Ugly: Two New Local Wines
10 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
Two wines delivered to me recently seem to show the two sides of South African wine at the moment sits. At least on the supermarket shelf side of things. The one showed progression, innovation (sort of), deliciousness and consideration; the other was a lesson in the typical, the normal and the unsurprising.
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The Digital Life Of South African Wine
21 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Everything must go digital. That’s what it feels like anyway. I reckon if the Luddites were around today they’d probably have blogs. I have had two digital vinous experiences over the last week or so that I thought were pretty interesting. The ubiquitous “digital”. You want to go on a trip? Blog about it. Hey […]
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Radio Lazarus: A Vineyard Reborn
12 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 5 Comments
I took a trip out to a vineyard that is being lovingly restored by a winemaker bent on making authentic, great South African wines. It lifted my spirits, it made wine worth writing about.
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Wine Trips: Botrivier
06 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
It’s time for another wine trip. This week I am taking you out on the N2 over Sir Lowry’s Pass and town into the lush, green, pastoral valley of Botrivier. This region usually gets bunched in with Walker Bay and Elgin. But, I believe, it deserves it’s own column and trip.
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Is There Room For More Wineries In South Africa?
14 Jun 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 5 Comments
This week I answer a reader’s question: In a crowded wine market such as SA, is there still space for any new entrants? And if so, how should you approach things to ensure you aren’t destined for the scrapheap of failure?
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The 2oceansvibe Radio Melrose Arch Studio Launch – The Night In Pictures
13 Jun 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
2oceansvibe Radio recently launched our Melrose Arch Studio to much fanfare in Johannesburg. The launch of the studio was our way of answering the desperate cries of our many thousands of Johannesburg listeners who, since being liberated from Morkels ads, “hump days” and “no repeat workday” radio were craving a stronger taste of the Vibe. […]
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