Mentzendorf wine shippers Klein Constantia at the London Wine Fair

At the London Wine Fair. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

This wine may be new to you or some of the people you know, but it has been around for a long time. The wine was drunk by Napoleon and previous royalty. Also by Jane Austen.  

You can visit the vineyard which is said to be one of the prettiest in the world. Between two oceans, which adds to the appeal of the location and its beneficial effect on the wines. The place is only 20 mins from Cape Town.  

60% sauvignon blanc white.

My favourite wine from there is the sweet wine. Very more-ish.

They are on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.

Useful Websites

https://www.kleinconstantia.com/

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South African wines Kleine Zalze what does it mean?

 I went to London Cru, a London Wine venue, which you could hire for Christmas parties, weddings and other events.

Angela in London Cru.

London Cru Mural in the alley. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

AWE

AWE, the Association of Wine Educators,  was introducing Kleine Zalze wines. 

Zalze Wine

Zalze means little salt. The German for salt is salz. Their website explains.

We saw the wine maker from South Africa on an overhead screen, telling us about wines, which we tasted.

Klein - meaning

 I recalled that Klein means small in German.

And presumably the same in Dutch and Africaans which is based on Dutch which arrived with the Dutch East India Company.

Q & A

After the presentation by the winemaker, live on Zoom, they had a question and answer session. I write about wine and food, restaurants and factory and windery visits.

Wine and Food Matching - South African

 I asked about wine pairing with food. "Which South African food would go well with South African wines?"

Cellar master R J Botha said,  "The white wines would go with yellowtail fish, and sachimi. The red wines would go well with brai."

I queried, "What's brai?"

"Barbecue,"

Tips For Those Attending Events - Note To Self (and Note to Whom It May Concern!)

1 No need to take water. Copious carafes of water are provided.

2 Tasting sheets were given. But no pens. So take yyour own. Maybe a spare one for your colleagues, or

 just to be thoughtful and helpful and gain kudos with others who knew you had to bring a pen but forgot.

3 The main room is a wwindery and wineries are cold. Wear warm clothes.

4  (Or take a hot drink,a hot toddy ask them to start with a hot punch. Or have coffee nearby first.) This may afect you on arrival. You will also be drinking chilled wines. When you move next door for a reception with a large number of people the temperature will go up.

5 The wine tastings I have attended usually have no feed before or during the wine tasting. Wine tastings sometimes take place with no food before during or after. Sometimes there is no food at the start even if food appears later. Some people take a biscuit or sandwich which they eat surreptitiously shile waiting for the event to start. For energy, for healthy, to avoid getting drunk. and to stay sober.

6 When I present slides on Zoom I am often told to use larger font and less text. On watching this presentation, I had trouble reading the paler coloured fonts. I suggest black bold and larger fonts. What you can read clearly on a laptop, may be hard to read when the picture alongside on the large screen appears paler.

Join the London Cru mailing list to get 10% off your first purchase.

Directions to London Cru

The nearest station is West Brompton. On exiting from the station, turn left across the bridge. Then first left. London Cru is in an L shape alley opposite a pub. The wwall of the alley has a mural with the words London Cru. Cru stands for brew or batch of ie in a particular style, eg in Cru Bourgeois.  Cru classe second class wine, not wwinteries, wwines, by a wine, then 3rd, fourth fifth, and lower class wines are Cru Bourgois in Brdeau.Three secion of cru, so 8 levels of classification on the banks. (the 5 growth are left bank.)

Useful Websites

https://londoncru.co.uk/

https://www.kleinezalze.co.za/

https://wineeducators.com/

Films For The Holidays - And Films On Winemakers

Christmas holiday films are often repeats. For a Christmas present for yourself, or somebody interested in wine, several films with wine themes are interesting to watch, download or buy. Need a film for Christmas?  If you are a member of Prime, Amazon offers next day delivery.

(In alphabetical order.)

BBC three part documentary series:
1 The Firm
Berry Brothers and Rudd, and Bordeaux wines. Berry Brothers have a large business, with olde world historic shop in central London, St James's Street near Piccadilly and the Ritz hotel. In timbered rooms they hold wine dinners and wine tastings, plus a warehouse like a small supermarket on an industrial estate in Southern England.
2 The Faith
Chateaux Margaux 2003, a note year. An English wine producer.
3 The Future
South African wine industry and winemakers ... ....

Bottle Shock
(The Judgement of Paris.)
 Steven Spurrier, a wine merchant, organises a blind tasting in which French experts choose an American wine as the top wine, to the consternation of the French and the jubilation of the New World. An actor plays Steven Spurrier, who later organised a replay of the contest. In 2014 my family met him when he was VIP presiding over a lunch in London, reproducing a famous meal.

Chateau Chunder

Mondovino
Spanish for wine world.

Red Obsession.
About China and wine.

Sideways.
The protagonist (main character) knocks Merlot and praises Pinot Noir, changing American tastes in wine.

Somm.
Somm is the official abbreviation for sommelier.
Documentary about Americans who are trying to become sommeliers.

 Tu sera mon fils.
French for You Will Be My Son. About a winemaker dis-satisfied with his son's work in the vineyard, so the father's will makes the oenologist (wine maker) the inheritor of the vineyard and its management.

On holiday I like to have a choice of fictional or factual films. Sometimes you need a film at the destination apartment when travelling. I remember watching films every afternoon in my cabin on a container ship which takes on fare-paying passengers. I caught up on Bruce Lee films, one starring him, and a documentary on his life and death.

In Chamonix, France, I had a cold and could not go out skiing so I watched three versions of The Titanic. I went into the video shop and asked for the film on the Titanic. They asked, "Which one?" I hadn't seen any of them and I had a whole day to fill whilst everybody else was out skiing.

In Singapore one summer every activity I planned to attend was cancelled because of the haze. Next time I think I shall pack a CD, or borrow one from a video shop, or download a film on wine.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spurrier_(wine_merchant)

South African Wine - what does this label mean? Bargain wines in Britain and wine tasting in South Africa ...

Fish Hoek means Fish Hook or Fish Corner in Dutch. It is the name of a town in the Cape area of South Africa. When the town was first founded selling wine was banned. Times have changed.

Pinotage is a grape. It is a South African grape, a cross between pinot noir and another grape which is now called Cinsaut but many years ago when first produced was called Hermitage, hence the last four letters of the name pinotage. 

Pinot noir is a black grape. Noir is French for black.

Hermitage is a French place name and was used by various other products until the French brought in appelation controlee (control of the name) so other people were no longer allowed to use the name had to find something new.

Rose of course means pink wine. What I like about this bottle is the raised fish bones on the botle above the label. The top of the label is wavy, like the sea.

We bought this for only £5.99 from Waitrose supermarket in London, England.
If you go to South Africa the wine region has many restaurants and vineyards where you can taste wines.


For more details see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinotage
http://www.pinotage.co.za/
http://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-385-pinotage (This article tells you about how the way you grow or train the vines affects the flavour.)
http://www.fishhoekwines.com/sa
http://www.awhaleofatime.co.za/fish-hoek.php (Fish Hook area history.)
http://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/westerncape/flagstone-fish-hoek-kumala-winery/
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g312665-d1764070-Reviews-Cape_Town_Wine_Tours-Milnerton_Western_Cape.html
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1722390-d2264993-Reviews-African_Story_Wine_Tours-Cape_Town_Western_Cape.html

Travelling to vineyards on the internet

Tonight I went onto the website of Hard to find wines and found a vineyard in South Africa with a hotel and spa.

Hard to find wines website
http://www.htfwines.co.uk


The South African vineyard and spa hotel:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/za/the-lanzerac-spa.

The joy of the internet is that everything is so much easier to find. Wine buffs can also try wine-search.com . A cynic says, 'nowadays there are no hard to find wines, only unusual wines, or never heard of wines - and there's a reason for that!'

Hard to find wines - such a clever marketing name.