"It's SHOW Time"

That’s right, we can hardly believe it ourselves, but there’s only 2 weeks to go until The Wine Show opens its doors at the Coca-Cola dome in Northriding! The Show is on from June 4th to 6th.

Now in our 5th year, you’ll surely not want to miss this years Show. There’s well over 500 labels on show for you to taste and buy, and all sorts of fun to be had. Make sure you miss the queues at the door by booking your tickets ahead of time via computicket. Click here to buy your tickets now.

This year there’s absolutely no excuse to risk yourself or others drink-driving. Goodfella’s, the drive-your-car-home-for-you service are at the Show and waiting to serve you… but you MUST be preregistered. Why not click here now to register and book your ride home?

Have you ever tasted a white Pinotage? No? Well, you should… it’s delicious. Mellasat Vineyards from Paarl are on stand B29 and produce just a few barrels each year of a hand-made white Pinotage that usually sells out before bottling. Pop along and have a taste with wine-maker and owner Stephen Richardson. Following on the “unusual whites” trail you must also take a turn at stand C1 where Zandberg are showcasing SA’s (and possibly the worlds) first white Merlot. Wine Extra hadn’t tasted this intriguing wine at time of going to press, but we’ll be making our way there for sure.

Golf fans will be excited to learn that The Goose Wines (co-owned by Retief Goosen) are manning the full-swing virtual golf machine at stand C33 and are running an exclusive competition at The Wine Show to win an all expenses paid trip to Fancourt, including golf, a visit to The Goose Wines estate and helicopter trip! And if that wasn’t enough, the wines are blerrie delicious too!

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Garagiste Wines

It’s often the biggest room in the house, but has one of the most mundane of uses. Or does it? The “garage” is usually the storage room for our cars, but for many it’s also HQ for our hobbies and passions. Be it a work-bench for DIY, a dark-room or studio for photography, a practice area for your drum kit or a safe-haven for your speedboat. It would seem the “garage” is also a place to make great wine, too!

The word “Garagiste” literally refers to the garage (yes, where you park your car) and came into common use in the 1990’s when referring to artisanal wines being produced in Bordeaux, France, by mavericks bucking the rules and regulations governing the production of classic Bordeaux wines.

The wines were good… often garnering more “Parker Points” than famous Chateaux and commanding even higher prices than their famous neighbours.

One might argue that it isn’t surprising. Small volumes, attention to detail and “hands-on” wine making are synonymous with great wines.

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Click here to meet the team

Nothing Cheesy about the Polo or Bien Donné

Being a regular on the social scene, I often get invited to all kinds of events. Some are cheap and cheerful, others are sophisticated and some just plain dull. Recently, however, I had the most fabulous fun-filled weekend any girl could wish for.

It started off with the Sabrage Masters Polo day (the horsey kind, no connection to Volkswagen) at the stunning Val de Vie Polo Estate located between Paarl and Franschhoek. I could SOOO see myself living there!

Now, let’s just get this straight, I knew absolutely nothing about polo, except that it involved hot guys in tight pants on horses, who hit a ball with a rather long croquet-type stick…
Soon after arriving, I picked up a pamphlet explaining the rules and all the jazz about ‘chukkas’ (rounds), handicaps and committing a foul by ‘crossing the line’.

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Wine Laid Bare 2010

We have been inundated with entries for the Wine Laid Bare photo competition, which is staged annually in aid of breast cancer awareness. Hundreds of photographers and would-be models collaborated in an effort to make it to the top twelve, which will be included in the 2011 calendar.

“We’ve had some of the country’s leading fine art photographers clamouring to enter the competition and the competition has been fierce. This has been an incredible display of photographic genius and the judges were highly impressed with the innovative concepts, styling and flawless execution. It was also really encouraging to see that the competition was appealing not only to professional photographers, but also to amateur photographers and models from all walks of life,” mentions John Woodward, organiser of the competition.

A star-studded line-up of celebrity judges will be amongst the panel to make the final decision of which twelve entries will grace the pages of the 2011 calendar. 5fm DJ Sasha Martinengo as well as leading cast members in the Egoli movie such as Darren Kelfkens, David Rees, Leandie du Randt and Lerato Motau cast their votes for their favourites.