Delarey

Ding Ding Ding....I believe we have a winner. Perfect for the cold weather!

That looks like the labels I see on the South African shelf at Tesco or Morrisons in the UK. As much as I try and punt SA wine overseas, its damn frustrating that the wines that make it to retailers shelves over there are almost always bulk wine that gets bottled on some label with an African motif. Maybe that was an export order that got cancelled under lockdown.

Is that the one with a cock on the label?

John E. Lewis: ”I distrust camels, and anyone else who can go a week without a drink.”

Shannon Sauvignon Blanc from Elim tonight.

Here’s one from Facebook my wife asked me a while back. If you were given R10 million for never drinking a drop of alcohol again. Would you take the money?

Well spotted! I did miss a day in July 2018 when I was sick so can’t claim an unbroken streak anymore.

Does it sound bad if I admit that I drink wine almost every day?

Eikendal Charisma. Damn cold in the Cape tonight!

You live in the wrong part of the country. Here in the Boland they typically have decent glassware and more importantly, it is not frowned upon to bring your own wine. Even Top 10 restaurants like Terroir just add corkage when you bring your own wine. I have seen several of the Stellenbosch upper class rock up with something special from their home cellar. Just be sure to bring decent wine otherwise you look like a bit of a d!@k.

I am totally sold on the benefits of Riedel. A friend of mine have a set of two of almost every possible cultivar Riedel glass you can think of. Makes a HUGE difference. I have however realised that the zoo I live in would not gel well with the price of Riedel glasses. It will just lead to tension. My solution was to buy decent quality cristal glasses from Crystal Direct. I go for a long stem glasses that can be used for both white and red and then I buy bulk. Last time I bought 48, which then gets me wholesale prices and lower stress levels when someone breaks a glass.

One of my all time best purchases was a Liebherr Vinothek wine cooler. Got a crazy bargain on gumtree from a guy who emigrated. It takes about 200 bottles I think. Apart from perfect maturation conditions, it is awesome to drink red wine at exactly the right temperature in both summer and winter. It makes a HUGE difference.

Anyone who have done W2W would know this one. Not sure how I got up in the mornings, but it sure went down well in the evenings on those bean bags.

Pinot is probably my favourite cultivar, but the price point for a good one excludes it from being a daily drink. My favourite SA red wine is probably Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak, but there are a few others that are in a similar league. Sadly I have to admit I once preferred La Verge Pinot over Galpin Peak in a blind taste (most people at the the tasting did the same). Peter Finlayson said something very interesting in explanation: "in a blind tasting, sugar is very seductive". Same reason why Pepsi outperformed Coke in blind tastings.

Which South African Pinot is your favourite?

Looks like Breede River Valley is a firm favourite here (Robertson, Springfield, Nuy, Alvi's Drift). I've been to most wine festivals in the Western Cape and Wine-on-the-River in Robertson is my absolute favourite. We've been going every year for the last 10 years and it has become one of our "must do" activities every year.

Touché!

I looked around on the threads, but could not find one dedicated to interesting wines. I'll kick things off then. So much interesting wine out there, and I am always looking for undiscovered gems. Not meant to be a wine snob thread this, but rather one to discuss interesting/tasty/valueformoney/unique wines at any price point. Here is my Sunday drink which I got from Longridge in between the two lockdown stretches. They had a special of a free case of their Chardonnay when you buy two cases of this one. A wooded Sauv Blanc is not that common in SA, but this one is really amazing.

I am not a runner myself, but stumbled upon this documentary movie yesterday. Not sure if it was mentioned here before, but definitely worth a watch. Never heard of the Barkley Marathons, but it seems intriguing. "Where dreams go to die":

ENTP perhaps?

Very sad. My wife was giving me daily updates on the search for Harvey from Facebook. Ever since Jay Pritchett got Stella I’ve been on the hook for a Frenchy. RIP Harvey Another “famous” Frenchy passed away recently as well. “Drama” from the Seth Bike Hacks youtube channel.

She had a fire in her eyes that scared me a bit. I said to my wife that I definitely don’t want to get on her wrong side....

The dirt he had on powerful people is just one piece of the puzzle. You add to that all the coincidences around his death: taken of suicide watch just weeks after “attempting suicide”, cameras turned of, guards sleeping. All of this with the most high profile prisoner in the country. Just too many coincidences in my bookMaxwell’s dad was a Mossad/MI6 agent...

A bit of a gruesome thing to do to rank pedophiles, but since you mentioned it, Jimmy Savile actually eclipse Epstein in my book (if that is possible). Both bastards died without their victims getting justice. Really hope the Feds turn up the heat on Prince Andrew. An angle that was not explored sufficiently in the Epstein documentary is the Mossad one. Personally I think he was murdered and to accomplish that would have required Intelligence level involvement. That part we will probably never know.

Damn that is a cool hammer!