Carrie Adams: First wine-tasting on BizNews soil

By Carrie Adams

“Water, water everywhere / nor any  drop to drink” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The floods have wreaked havoc of monumental proportions in Natal causing our esteemed leader to declare a national state of disaster – whatever that means? I will leave those details to my learned colleagues on the BizNews desks who are churning out top drawer commentary (on everything), in case you haven’t noticed.

However, the natural default in Carrie’s Corner is to wine so I’ll focus on what I have been doing in my world whilst the rest has been on Easter (or equivalent) break. I was invited to chair the judging panel on the Cabernet Franc Challenge down in the Cape last week. It took place at Vrede en Lust which is a really beautiful farm. Visit if you haven’t already. We offer some of their wines in the BizNews Shop and I think that by now you all know they offer good value for very high quality wines. The Cabernet Franc challenge was brilliant and of the 40 odd entries, there was hardly a single wine that I would not recommend. The results will be out soon but look for all the known offenders: Holden Manz, Chamonix, Raats, Rainbow’s End … Speaking of Holden Manz – we are in the process of signing up this gorgeous little farm in Franschhoek into the BizNews store. Gerard Holden (I chatted to him and you can listen here) entertained me to a very private tasting (just him, his winemaker and myself) in the cellar whilst I was in the Cape – fabulous wines coming out of that space so hopefully, by the time the month of April is done, we will have all the homework done and the HM wines in the store for your pleasure.

The 11th May is an important date for us. We are hosting our first ever wine tasting at the BizNews Head Offices in Bryanston. There’s a link that you can click on to reserve your ticket and there are only 24 tickets left. Some insider trading has put paid to 6 of the 30 available tickets so if you feel like an hour or two of Dawid Nieuwoudt and myself, then get clicking. Dawid is one of South Africa’s most successful and innovative winemakers. He is involved very high up in the Cederberg (SA’s highest vineyards), where he produces fabulous wines including the now famous Ghost Corner labels that have won international acclaim. The Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc as well as the Semillon bagged best wines in their class in the world at the International Wine and Spirit Competition last year. We are talking really heavyweight wines here and I would highly recommend an evening with one of South Africa’s very best. I know we will have great, informative fun – Dawid is world class.

I very much look forward to meeting some of you at this first tasting of ours.

In the meantime spend some time in the shop and start filling up those winter cellars. We have a long (and seemingly very dark) winter ahead of us. I know wine will help.

Happy sipping,

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(Don’t forget to sign up to the BizNews Wine Club for some Carrie treats)

(Listen to Carrie’s Corner on Spotify by clicking here)

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