Sorry Joaquim Sá and Portugal - I mean Bairrada if course.

Called in at the Leeu Passant cellar in Franschhoek today. Vintage 2019 looking good for the ⁦The Mullineuxs⁩ team. Last of the reds now in. Andrea here drawing me a sample of dry cinsaut. Mmmm.

Good to be back in the Swartland after what seems a long absence. The road to the Paardeberg even more rutted than usual, though!

Eben Sadie on his Paardeberg farm on the field he cleared of bluegums & rocks & prepared for planting a vineyard later this year - 11 white varieties for Palladius.

Danie & Hugo Carinus - that rare thing, grapefarmers (excellent ones in Stellenbosch & Swartland) who understand & drink fine wine. And clever enough to get Lukas of Vanloggerenbergwines to make wines for their own label. bit.ly/2U0kPez

A new commercial wine auction for S Africa. Are there enough top-end, long-lived wines in sufficient quantity to make it long-term viable? Do genuine winelovers really want a new level of speculation & investment? I rather doubt both. bit.ly/2DeLJKi

First fire of the year. Jack seems pleased enough.

Old bottles being opened by ⁦Wine Wizard⁩ for the tasting before his ⁦@omtrophywines⁩ competition begins tomorrow.

Some old wines to be tasted shortly.

The famous Stellenzicht Syrah 1994, drinking well still, though during our. With Zandvliet Shiraz 1976 (not so nice) & Fleur du Cap Shiraz 1973 (rather good, really).

Monotone & monoculture "means boring" says viticulturist Jaco Jaco Engelbrecht Engelbrecht. Field blends are on the rise in exciting quarters of Cape winegrowing. bit.ly/2HbB5WZ

The first delivery of wines for tasting for the next ⁦Platter's Wine Guide⁩ guide. A bit scary to realize how many more there’ll be over the next 2-3 months.

Tim James: The relative joys of younger and older wines winemag.co.za/tim-james-the-…

Sometimes I think l could eat cheap sweet chocolate and drink good brandy until I am sick. Fortunately, no doubt, I run out of one or the other before I can test my idea scientifically.

South Africa’s first qvevri wine, from ⁦Avondale Wine⁩ From chenin but there’s also a red. Both really really good.

A delicious bit of modern Cape history: Avondale Wine 's launch of the first wines made here in Georgian qvevri (buried clay pots), with that stony purity & freshness brought by clay as fermentation & maturation vessel. bit.ly/2Z7LUjg

About to happen: the launch of #leeupassant at the chic new space at ⁦Chefs Warehouse Cape Town⁩.

Eben Sadie putting out the bottles for lunch after a tasting today of the forthcoming new Sadie Family releases. A triumph over the drought - but mostly pitiful quantities.

Sadie Family winemaker Paul Jordaan with the bottles of 2018 Old Vine Series & 2017 Signature wines, tasted today but to be released only in a month or so.

The majority of wine drunk in South Africa is sweet (& cheap; don't know about cheerful - not to me). The health warnings should be less about alcohol or sulphites than sugar: “This wine will rot your teeth and make you fat”. bit.ly/2ZKi9F8