1. Google your grape of choice

It’s one of the easiest ways to educate yourself. The internet is a treasure chest of valuable information for anyone looking to become familiar with a topic. Not only can you buy wines and learn about them, you can get down to basics and find out how wine is made, why location matters and way more. Start off with a few from your region and do some research, find out about a few grape varieties and popular vineyards – you’ll soon start to see the basics come to light.

2.Taste testers

Go to a wine tasting or a wine appreciation evening in your area – you may have to pay a small fee but sometimes they’re free too. It’s the best way to get to grips with different flavours and textures. Once you’ve tasted a  dry white wine versus a semi sweet, you’ll start to understand the varieties a little better. If food is served, you’ll also gain an understanding about which ones go better with which wines. There’s nothing quite like a practical experience. Also – write down the names of the wines you like and go back to point one – research them!

3.Check out a wine farm

They’re usually open for functions and events, wine tasting evenings and selling, so pick a place and plan a visit. Once you get to see the work that goes into every individual bottle, it will enhance your appreciation significantly. Wine farms are also great places to buy wine on a budget as they sell direct instead of through a middleman.

4.Go to dinner

Find a restaurant that has an extensive wine list and take the plunge – you should have a few names stored away and ready to reference. An added bonus, you’ll enjoy reading the menu once you understand a little more and can order a good red wine with confidence.

1. Château d’Yquem

When it comes to white wine, this one is top of the list as most expensive – and rare too. It’s been tasted a total of three times and each time received five out of five stars. Bought by a private collector, the bottle was sold for more than R800 000 in London and will be on display in a bullet proof show case in Bali for six years. The lucky owner says he’ll open it once the time is up and share it with his wife and family in Paris, with a succulent menu to suit the occasion.

2. Romanée-Conti

Of the red wine variety, one bottle of Romanée-Conti burgundy wine is one of the most expensive ever. The price tag of almost R900 000 is probably in part due to the rarity of it – as there were only 600 bottles produced at the end of World War 2. The bottle was bought by a collector in America and has reportedly not been opened yet.

3. Chateau Lafite

This memorabilia wine sold at more than a million rand for a 750ml bottle – and that was in 1985. It is believed to have come from Thomas Jefferson’s wine cellar and even has his initials etched into the glass. Bought by Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes Magazine, the bottles have caused some controversy over the years as there has been some speculation about the authenticity.

4. Screaming Eagle Cabernet

One of the priciest wines ever sold on auction, this sat in a small cave and was aged in French Oak for about two years before being sold for charity, fetching about four million rand in the process. For that price, you could possibly buy a lifetime supply of your favourite South African wine, but it was for a good cause so…

1 head Garlic*, skin attached
2 teaspoons Soybean oil
230g Linguini, fresh or dry
2 tablespoons Soybean oil
3 tablespoons Shallots, minced
½ cup OWRC Chardonnay
½ cup Chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups (2 medium) Tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup Edamame (Whole Green Soybeans), shelled and cooked
½ cup Pine nuts, toasted
¼ cup Basil**, fresh, chopped
¼ cup Parmesan, grated

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut pointed top off garlic head, leaving cloves intact, and place on square of aluminum foil. Drizzle 2 teaspoons oil over cloves. Seal foil around garlic and bake at 200°C for 30 to 40 minutes or until cloves are soft; cool. Squeeze paste from cloves, mash and set aside.

Prepare linguini as directed on package; drain and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan. Add shallots and garlic paste. Sauté until shallots are translucent, stirring occasionally.

Add wine and chicken broth, bring to boil and simmer until reduced in half.
Add tomatoes and edamame. Cook 1 minute until warmed, stirring gently. Stir-in pine nuts and basil. Remove from heat; add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over linguini and sprinkle with Parmesan. Makes 4 servings.

* May substitute ¼ teaspoon garlic powder for the clove of garlic, if desired. Add garlic powder with the chicken broth.
** May substitute 1 tablespoon dried basil for fresh basil, if desired.

According to recent research ,  British women choose and buy eight out of every 10 bottles of wine that are drunk at home. The study also found that  a third of British women who enjoy wine as a treat at the end of the day admit that they prefer to drink it alone – in the bath.

The data, the result of industry research among more than 1,300 British women aged between 18 and 60, overturns common perceptions that

men take the lead in wine buying, and reveals that in many cases women are far more influential.
Six out of 10 women in Britain said they drank wine at least once a week. And the same proportion said they preferred red wine to white or rosé.

Most women said they enjoyed drinking wine because they liked the taste (80%) and because it went well with food (70%). But despite appearing knowledgeable about wine, the majority choose to ignore its health risks. More than half see it as a “healthier” alternative to other alcoholic drinks such as beer and spirits, while the same proportion said they were not deterred by the government’s health warnings.

When it comes to choosing wines, women said they were driven mainly by price (74%), followed by the type of grape (64%), the country of origin (55%) and more superficial trappings such as the label (42%). Six out of 10 (61%) said they chose wine on their own, with women in the UK noticeably more independent in their choice than their peers elsewhere in the world.

These study results will probably be much the same for the South African market as grocers become more significant wine retailers .

First there was a set of thunder and hail storms, the latter decimating some vineyards. Then came a gale-force South Easterly wind that ripped many a vineyard to shreds. And this was followed by cold winter rains, all playing havoc with the coming crop.
Many a winemaker has fled north to experience some decent weather!

Is this climate change? Nobody can be sure. But if it is, research has shown that the Cape’s traditional wine lands in the south-west are going to be moving north. Let’s hope the Northern Cape stays sunny and temperate as we are blessed to experience it!

Ingredients:
1 Bottle Oranjerivier Wine Cellars Shiraz, Cabernet or Pinotage
500ml Soda water
500ml Lemonade
125ml Brandy
2 Apples, 1 cup of strawberries, half a peeled lemon, 2 peeled oranges….actually, any fruit you like!Method:

Chop the fruit into bite-size pieces. Place the fruit in a glass jug and add the wine and the brandy. Place the jug in the refrigerator for at least one hour to allow the fruit flavours to mingle with the wine and brandy. Before serving, remove the jug and add the soda water and lemonade to the mix, as well as a couple of handsful of ice cubes.

Drink from wine glasses and get the taste of summer!

Refreshing, dry – yet fruity and sumptuous – it is difficult to believe such a great wine is being produced on the edge of the Kalahari desert! The reds are coming on in leaps and bounds, and I predict that in four years time Oranjerivier’s Shiraz, Pinotage and Cabernet are going to be serious competitors, punching above their weight in terms of price and quality.

I really hope this magnificent region gets the recognition it deserves. There is no wine region like it anywhere in the world.