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.
It’s been a week since Heineken announced that they will be bringing the Skyfall Bond girl – Bérénice Marlohe – to South African shores for the South African premiere of the film on 22 November. Apart from being delightfully French, Bérénice is also the face of Heineken’s Crack the Case campaign. Bérénice, who plays the […]
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.
October was a good month. And one of the best things about it was the launch of a certain annual publication, much adored by the South African public, literate or otherwise. So we think it’s only fitting and fair that we take a look back at the Sports Illustrated South Africa Swimwear Edition 2012 Launch […]
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 latest inductee to the 2oceansvibe Boss Hall Of Fame is none other than a beer downing boss, but, the boss might not want to replicate his achievement with the “world’s strongest beer”.
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.
Entries now open for a Friday fit for a king on 26 October. Open to residents of Cape Town and surrounds. Where were you last month when Jack Daniel’s and 2oceansVibe treated Johan and his mates to an afternoon of whiskey rounds, and cutting his own record at an exclusive recording studio? You missed the entry call? […]
You may have heard of the pornstar martini cocktail – it’s all the rage in Cape Town at the moment. A bar in the UK added a new twist to the popular drink, adding liquid nitrogen to give it that cool, smoky effect, falling down the rim of the glass. This proved problematic to a UK teen who ended up in hospital as a result.
This year’s We Love Real Beer Craft Festival will be the fourth time the festival has been run, and as always, in the spirit of the ‘small guy’, things look to be bigger than ever on the independently brewed beer front.
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.
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 […]
This is why you don’t tempt fate. Or use stupid sayings. Or tweet whilst driving. Or tweet while driving drunk, while “going 120 drifting corners.” This is the fate that was suffered by a Canadian rapper and his friends recently, after deciding to have a little too much fun.
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.
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 […]
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 […]
To celebrate the launch of their sizeable new ½ litre cider, Savanna is giving you the chance to win big by turning your everyday mundane moments into breaking news. All you need to do to enter the competition is visit the Savanna Facebook page and post your Big News headline on the Savanna Big News […]
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 […]
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.
COMPETITION CLOSED! Entries now open for some Jack movie magic on Friday 3rd August Alright, here’s the deal. It’s winter, the bitterest season of the year, and you’re about as far from the annual holiday as you possibly could be. Johannesburgers, you’ve been working hard. You KNOW you’ve been working hard. WE KNOW that you’ve […]
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 […]
It is with great joy that De Grendel Wines can now announce the launch of the De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc in more than 160 Waitrose outlets around the UK. The De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2011 is drinking extremely well now, showing amazing freshness with loads of tropical and passion fruit flavours just exploding on the palate.
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.
Everything has to start somewhere, that’s just how it works. Jack Honey is no different. In fact, Jack Honey needs one of nature’s most important assets: the bee. Without the bee, there could be no honey in Jack Honey, and that would make the world a lot more boring, friends. Jack Honey is beautifully rounded, possessing the […]
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.
You’ve heard about Jack Honey, haven’t you? You’d be doing yourself a serious injustice if you hadn’t. Now, there’s always a good story behind every bottle of Jack, and it goes without saying that’s no different when it comes to Jack Honey. Only, there’s a bee keeper this time. A master bee keeper, who naturally […]
Entries are now open for an epic Friday on 6 July in Cape Town and Joburg – that’s right gang, this time we’re spreading the love! We’ve always felt that life was too short for a five-day workweek. Much like the folks at the Jack Daniel Distillery, who celebrate Fridays with an age old tradition […]
You’ll have to excuse the pun, but after seeing the King Bee, The 2oceansvibe Media Compound was literally buzzing with excitement. Yes friends, it just got a heck of a lot more real around here. And YOU, Jozi, could be one of the first people in South Africa (only the SECOND COUNTRY IN THE WORLD to get […]
THIS COMPETITION IS CLOSED IN CAPE TOWN JOHANNESBURG IS STILL OPEN!! You’ll have to excuse the pun, but after seeing the King Bee, The 2oceansvibe Media Compound is literally buzzing with excitement. Yes friends, it just got a heck of a lot more real around here. And YOU could be one of the first people […]
We just received the awesome news that Jack Honey is coming to South Africa! And we’re giving you the chance to win one of the first bottles in the country! Make sure you listen to The Bailey Schneider Show on 2oceansvibe Radio between 14h00 and 15h00 later to catch Seth Rotherham interviewing Jeff Arnett, Master […]