Autumn is my absolute favourite time of year. We are treated by spectacular displays of colours, while the days are still warm enough to venture out and be active. With mother’s day celebrations on Sunday, I would like to tell you a little story :

 

Long, long ago, there was a woman named Maria Magdalena Marais, who was suddenly widowed with three children to support and not even a proper home to live in. Resourceful and determined, she took over her husband’s work, completing the building of the manor house together with the help of their two teenage sons. They worked hard to develop a thriving farm and established over 80 000 vines and so began a legacy that has lasted until today, almost 200 years later.   Today that farm is called Neethlingshof and it is one of the most popular stopovers for visitors to the Stellenbosch winelands. The home she built is now a national monument. Her name has been memorialised in the estate’s award-winning single-vineyard Weisser Riesling noble late harvest wine, called The Maria, and forms part of Neethlingshof’s limited edition Short Story Collection. A champion trophy winner in the 2010 SA Young Wine Show, it a dessert wine of exquisite finesse.

 
To celebrate their 15th birthday, 96 Winery Road is offering free meals to all “May babies”. This means if you were born in May, you will receive a free main course for the month of May. This offer is valid for lunch and dinner, and limited to one meal per qualifying patron for the month of May. Old-time favourites like the classic Gatriles Duck and Cherry Pie, as well as the ‘Hollandse’ Pepper Fillet still has pride of place on the 96 Winery Road menu, but seasonal highlights are added regularly. The restaurant also boasts the honour of being the first South African eatery to be given “An Award of Excellence” for their wine list by the US published Wine Spectator magazine.
  
96 Winery Road is open from Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner and Sundays for lunch only. It is located on Zandberg Estate, Winery Road, off the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West. Call 021 842 2020 or visit www.96wineryroad.co.za.

Arguably South Africa’s most sought-after wine, the Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage saw its third release on April 12 when the 2008 vintage of this icon was once again made available in limited quantities. Only 1200 bottles will be sold through three Cape-based wine negotiants at R1 1 00 per bottle, inclusive of VAT.
  

Since the release of the inaugural Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2006 in 2009, this wine has generated tremendous interest among local and international wine lovers wishing to obtain the premium product from one of South Africa’s leading wine estates. Made exclusively from a small patch of Pinotage vines planted in 1953, the scarcity of the Kanonkop Black Label has also led to a secondary demand with eager collectors buying from willing sellers who managed to get their hands on a few bottles.   According to Kanonkop proprietor Johann Krige the idea behind the Black Label concept was twofold: “Firstly we wanted to make the ultimate Kanonkop wine. This had to be Pinotage, on which the Estate’s foundation was laid and a large amount of its recognition was founded,” he said. “The exceptional quality of the first two Black Labels – the 2006 and 2007 vintages – realised this, as the reaction from international wine critics, collectors and industry commentators exceeded our expectations.” The other reason behind the Black Label concept was to create a secondary market for a South African wine, something Krige says the local industry deserves. “The South African industry is making some of the best wines in our history, wines that are internationally competitive and deserve recognition as such. By providing limited-release wines of superb quality, the South African industry can develop a secondary market in which demand outstrips supply to the extent where a number of collectors and wine-lovers partake in a healthy willing-buyer, willing-seller scenario as is the case in the French industry.”