Funniest Wine Tasting Ever!

Click to watch the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/cJ61uNyrTOw

Cabin fever during the lockdown has hit hard! We decided we need to have a little bit of fun! Watch our wine tasting during the lockdown for a proper good laugh!

For your own sanity, try doing your own wine tasting at home and have a little fun.

How to do a wine tasting at home, you ask? its simple, just pour wine in different rooms and drink them. Or another wine tasting at home idea, is you can get your partner to pour the wine and you could do a blind wine tasting at home and try guess what the wine is. Enjoy!

If you're looking for fun things to do during lockdown or quarantine, or if you're just bored at home, this is definitely an option.

Do you have any suggestions of things to do when you are bored at home? Please comment below!

New YouTube Channel!

So seeing that I have a passion for both wine and adventure, it became a little crazy and somewhat of a nightmare having various YouTube channels and splitting videos up! Hence I have created a new YouTube channel which showcases the best of both worlds, Wine and Adventure! The new channel is called "Ricky G."

So please do subscribe to ensure you don't miss out on any awesome, fun and informative videos, by clicking on the link below!:

Ricky G - YouTube Channel

  

The Wine Oak Review - 2013 Mooiplaas Sauvignon Blanc

Diploma Module 3 - The Final Frontier...

So it's been just under 2 years since I headed down this track, in the quest to quench my desire for wine knowledge. I have just completed my final module (Module 3 - Wines of the Old World) of Diploma at The Cape Wine Academy. The final exam was written last night and now all that is left to do is hold thumbs in the hopes that I passed and then drink, I mean taste wines like a thirsty mad man over the weekend, as practice for the practical tasting exam on Monday! This I shall have no problem studying for! hahaha

Module 3 was very interesting as we covered various old world wine producing countries including: Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and Israel. I learnt a tremendous amount and it was fantastic learning not only about the various grape varieties and wine styles of these fantastic countries, but also about their cultures and history. I have decided that over the next few years, international travels will be planned around visiting the wine regions of all these countries, as its all good and well learning about them on paper and drinking their wines too, but now I need to experience it! 

Enjoying a Riesling in the Mosel, a Chasselas near Geneva, a Tokaj Aszu in Hungary, a Chianti in Tuscany, a Port in the Douro or a Tempranillo in Rioja, sounds damn fantastic to me! It will be such an experience to convert this knowledge into unforgettable and much appreciative experiences. We all know how much better a wine tastes in its natural home setting in the vineyards...  

I will admit that Module 3 to me was the most challenging of the 4 and it felt like a system overload at times, so my advice, start revising way in advance if you write this exam! 

There are many different words, regions, wine styles and quality categories for example to learn in each particular language.

So what next? Masters perhaps?? oh the love of the grape makes you do crazy things I tell you ;)

To start a wine course and to see the list of courses the Cape Wine Academy has on offer, visit their website at: www.capewineacademy.co.za or contact them on 011 024 3616.

     

Competition Time! - Win Tickets to the Winestyle Summer Winedown in Jozi

Hello Winos! 

Happy new year! I have a good feeling that this is going to be an excellent year with hundreds of liters of gorgeous wine and many exciting blog posts, so let's start 2014 with a bang! How do we do that you ask? With a competition!

I'm giving away a double ticket to the Winestyle Summer Winedown taking place in Kyalami, Johannesburg at Tintswalo Waterfall Estate on 7 - 8 February 2014! The Spring Winedown held in September was a great success once again and definitely becoming a popular event on the calendar. So bring your sun block, hats and thirsty selves to enjoy some of the many wines on offer. I think some cool climate Sauvignon Blancs and refreshing Rosés will be the order of the day for my drinking pleasure... What will yours be?

So how do you win these tickets? 

Simple! First person to leave a comment below, wins! Fastest fingers first, Go!

Press Release: 29 November 2013

WineStyle’s  Summer Winedown!

Celebrate the Summer in style.

On the back of our successful Summer and Spring Wine Parties in Cape Town, and our 2 recent Winedown events in Joburg, we are bringing the fun back to Gauteng by popular demand on the 7^th and 8^th February 2014!

This is not just another average wine show –  we are offering you the opportunity to taste some of the ‘Best of the Best’ and to rub shoulders with the wine professionals involved in creating your favourite wines -  all on the backdrop of the gorgeous Tintswalo hotel @ Waterfall Estates.

Come dressed in your Summer whites & unwind & relax – amazing wines to taste & buy – live music & delicious food. Buy a few of your favourite bottles, grab a seat on the lawns, order some food & enjoy the day with friends or family. Also remember to bring your dancing shoes! It is a wine party, after all!!

Guests also get an opportunity to purchase these wines, at a special Winedown price. So come and stock up your collection!

A ticket gets you entrance and a tasting glass, to roam around and taste for free, buy wine by the glass or bottle, order some delicious platters, picnic style tapas or sushi, find a spot on the lawn and relax with friends and family for the day.  Come dressed to our theme; “White with a touch of Bright” and stand a chance to win prizes for best dressed!

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to celebrate the Summer season, with this premium wine event in Gauteng.

•        Venue: Tintswalo Waterfall – Kyalami, Gauteng

•        Date: 7^th & 8^th of February 2014  (Friday 5.30-10pm & Saturday 12-7 pm)

•        Dress Code: White with a touch of Bright

•        Tickets:  R120.00 per person, including a glass
Tickets available at Webtickets  and at the door

Link: http://webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=407928056

For any further information please contact Jeanne or Kalinka  - www.wine-style.co.za

Jeanne@wine-style.co.za / kalinka@wine-style.co.za
This is the event of the season and we hope to see you there! 

It's in the Mix

I have always been a single variety wine kind of guy, perhaps because I assumed that all the good stuff goes into single variety wines and blends are made from the leftovers. 
In some instances, this may be true when it comes to mass production of blended wines, but this is not the case at all when quality blends are produced. The purpose of blending is to combine 2 or more wines and make them better as a whole. Now this doesn’t mean that you can just go and add good wine to any old plonk to make it better, each wine has to contribute positively to the whole in some way or form.


There are several reasons why a winemaker may want to blend wines: 

• To enhance the aroma
• To improve the colour
• To add or minimize flavours and tastes
• To adjust the pH
• To lower or raise acidity
• To raise or lower alcohol levels
• To adjust the sweetness of a wine
• To correct a wine with too much oak flavour
• To raise or lower levels of tannin

Wine blending really is an art and quite damn fun too. If you and your buddies are into wine, invite them over and have an evening of blending, not cake mix, but bottles and bottles of the vino and to make it even more interesting, make a competition out of it.

That’s what we did at a Cellar Rats Tasting a couple weeks ago at Luca’s Pizzeria in Sunninghill, an Italian Restaurant with great ambiance and wine selection. The always hospitable Luca, judged the final blends and obviously my team, consisting of myself, Kimce and Christopher, won! With a Cape blend theme in mind, the winning blend contained: 50% Pinotage, 30% Shiraz and 20% Merlot and the wines used were: 2008 Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage, 2009 Fleur Du Cap Shiraz and 2010 Excelsior Merlot.   

I was absolutely amazed at how just the slightest amendment to these percentages made a world of difference to the final product. When one studies the intricacies of the blending beast, quite a few factors have to be taken into account as the effects thereof are highly elastic (slight change in an input = sharp change in result, for you non-economically inclined folk). Such factors may include: vintage, alcohol percentage, acidity, tannic structure, level of wood maturation, residual sugar, weight, balance, flavour and aroma of the wines.

All in all, lots of wine was consumed and it was an interesting evening ending off with a dance routine, which hopefully does not end up on YouTube, as well as one of the committee members ACCIDENTALLY, almost kissing another guy goodbye. Hahaha... 

Luca’s Pizzeria is located at Rivonia Crossing Shopping Centre on the corner of Rivonia and Witkoppen Roads.

Cellar Rats Wine Tasting Club meet on Wednesdays at 19:00 at the Morningside Country Club (Tennis Clubhouse) www.cellarrats.co.za

Wine tasting with a Difference

I will definitely be very keen at giving this a try. I think this wine route will be very busy and popular as drinking and driving will not be a problem, although walking or standing after the tour, may cause a few problems...

Franschoek to implement new tram service

A new attraction is on track to becoming a tourist icon in the Western Cape.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram arrived at its permanent home this week when a crane lowered it on to tracks near the Franschhoek Cellar.

The Franschoek Wine Tram will take tourists through the winelands from the end of September, taking passengers on a two to three hour tour, that will include wine tastings and other activities.

"Visitors will be able to take in the scenery, the wine and the vines," said David Blyth, general manager of the Franschhoek Wine Tram. He said the project had been 10 years in the making.

The trip, at a leisurely 18km/h, will include a narrated guide to the history of the area and wine cultivation in the Franschhoek Valley. It will use old SA Railways lines.

The Franschhoek branch line opened in 1904 and Blyth said the tram would assure its preservation.

The "Fran tram" was built by Prof Engineers, an SA company that specialises in equipment for the rail and mining industries.

Modelled after a late-1800s open-sided Brill tram, the low-emission vehicle will seat 30.

The Argus

Wine Tasting in the Winelands

I came across quite a funky website, which will benefit all us jealous Gautengers when it comes to exploring the numerous Cape wine farms. If you like me and enjoy wine and know a bit about it, but do not know your ass from your elbow when it comes to the Winelands, then this website is for you! I don't know about you, but reference to Table Mountain (as awesome and amazing as it is) when it comes to directions, is a little cumbersome. I mean how many times have you heard that famous line in that tone deaf, chilled accent when asking for directions: "Just like drive towards the mountain hey." And then what?!  

My suggestion: Go to www.wineandonly.com and plan your whole trip to various wine farms before you even leave our glorious, polluted, taxi infested and impatient Gauteng. Like I rate wines, these guys rate wine farms for their suitability towards: Family, Friends or Couples and fill the missing link which is a necessity. The "wine farm reviews" include useful information such as:

• Maps and a geographical location of the wine farms by area or wine routes
• The style of the wine farm and who it would suit i.e. couples, family, friends etc.
• The varieties of wine available at the farm
• Which facilities and activities are catered for at the farm i.e. cellar tours, wine safaris, spas, museums etc.
• Dates and times when the wine farms are open
• Fees and contact details
• and even decent photos so that you can get a feel for the place before arriving! 

My next trip to the Winelands no longer seems so daunting and I'm quite eager to put this available info to the test. I'm thirsty already!...

Win Tickets to WineX Sandton - Rand Merchant Bank Wine Festival

RMB WineX is a great way to relax with friends and enjoy an evening tasting some of the more than 1000 wines available from the 250 Cape producers who exhibit at South Africa's premier wine event.

Come and meet local and international winemakers, taste their current releases and learn about the latest trends in winemaking, glassware, coolers (home storage) and wine racks. 

Sponsored by Rand Merchant Bank, WineX is the premier public event on South Africa's national wine calendar and draws thousands of wine enthusiasts every year.

To stand a chance of winning 2 tickets to the opening day of this premier event on Wednesday 26 October 2011, simply post your favourite wine related joke to this post below. In order to qualify, you need to either follow The Wine Oak on Twitter or "LIKE" The Wine Oak Facebook Page.  

Competition ends on on Thursday 20 October and winners will be notified by Friday 21st October. 

So get the jokes flowing, to enjoy a great wine festival!