-
2oceansvibe Columnists
-
Top 10 El Cheapo Wines For Christmas
30 Nov 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 6 Comments
Every week @realtimewine publishes their top 10 trending wines for the week. I read last week’s list and responded, a little cheekily, with this tweet. Real Time Wine challenged me to put together a better list. I agreed. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel to be honest. Since I have entered the wine […]
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Naming An Unchanged Springbok Team
04 Oct 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
2oceansvibe’s sports columnist, Sean Wilson, debates the controversial perils of what happens when you name an unchanged Springbok team. It’s something a Bok coach hasn’t done since 2009.
-
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.
-
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 […]
-
The Merits Of T20 Cricket
13 Sep 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
2oceansvibe’s sports columnist, Sean Wilson, considers the merits of the shortened, shortened game, ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup that gets underway next week.
-
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.
-
Argentina Vs Springboks: What Did We Watch?
27 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, is today staring the recovery process from the hangover that the Springboks’ performance gave him this weekend. The Boks delivered what was a decidedly lackluster performance against Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday, that’s for sure.
-
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 […]
-
The Rugby Championship – Should We Use Bonus Points?
22 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, has been crunching the numbers. The bonus point numbers to be exact, and whether they serve any relevance.
-
Kevin Pietersen’s Text Messages: Would You Want To Know What He Said?
15 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 8 Comments
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, has this week found himself wondering what kind of a team player KP really is, and if “textgate” was just a convenient way for the England and Wales Cricket Board to end their relationship with him.
-
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 […]
-
Travel: Meandering Through Malta
11 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 3 Comments
Malta. Middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Occupied for hundreds of years by marauding Ottoman Turks, Crusaders, the British – you name it. Some country you know has probably made an attempt at conquering the cluster of three islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino. Malta is not a destination that you think of when contemplating a […]
-
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.
-
Do The Proteas Suffer From Second Test Syndrome?
02 Aug 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, considers the odds of whether or not the Proteas will be able to end another jinx that has been plaguing the team in recent times: whether we can win the second test of a series.
-
Another Weekend Wine Trip: Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
31 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
It seems we are on to a good thing with these little wine trip columns. So here is another one. It’s in a similar area to the last one, but just a touch further down the road. This week I’ll be giving you a guide to the Hemel en Aarde Valley.
-
Choosing An Airline: Legacy Carriers Vs Low-Cost Airlines
31 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Michael O’Leary of Ryanair – the world’s most profitable airline – says that Ryanair does three things well, no more, no less: “We arrive and leave on time, we give good fares [read: competitive], we do not lose your bags”. It’s a winning formula!
-
Super Rugby Semi-Final: The Table Toppers Meet The Underdogs
26 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, mulls over the important aspects of this weekend’s upcoming Super 15 semi-final between the Stormers and the Sharks.
-
Imagine If Hashim Amla’s Innings Really Was “Timeless”
25 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, considers the records Hashim Amla and the Proteas may have been able to achieve had they been playing a “timeless” test match. Haroon Lorgat, the recently deposed ICC CEO, suggested that the future World Test Championship may be decided by means of a “timeless” test (i.e. the contest will last […]
-
The Revolution Must Start Now
24 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
It is patently obvious that the brand of rugby that the Bulls play is not the way forward for the Springboks. It is vital that Heyneke Meyer ensures that the personnel he selects for the Rugby Championship can play a game that includes intelligence and momentum created from flair and creativity.
-
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 […]
-
England Test Series: The Drinking Game
20 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
To maximize your enjoyment of the much anticipated test series between South Africa and England, here are some guidelines for a drinking game to play with your friends while watching it.
-
Top Traveling Tip: Beware The “Added Value” Trap
20 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” In this day and age of every airline in the world looking for ‘added value’, this quote could not be truer.
-
Things We Learned From The League Phase Of Super Rugby
19 Jul 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
2oceansvibe’s bi-weekly sports columnist, Sean Wilson, considers what we have been able to glean from a totally new format of Super Rugby – the league phase.
-
-
-
2oceansvibe Partners
-
-
