The first Australian documented wine import to the U.K. was made in 1854.  Australian wines have therefore officially been available for 154 years!

Can you believe it?!!!!!

The South African Wine Industry was started by the Dutch who landed there in 1652.

 In 1655 they planted vines sourced mainly from  France, Germany & Spain but also as far afield as Brazil.

 In 1659, in fact to be exact, on the 2nd of February 1659 they made the first cultivated South African Wine; and then had a very boozy party with lots of singing and slapping each other on the back!

We seem when describing wines to relate them to  womanhood; here is a classic!

"It combines grace with vigour; associating  firmness and strengh with finesse and delicacy. All these contradictory  qualities make an admirable synthesis of unique generosity and complete virtue."

On appreciating Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Beze. (Gaston Roupnel).

From time to time wine makers find it all too tempting to add things to their  juice convincing the imbiber with terms such as sophistication or elaboration of the product. The reality of this practice is that they are making adjustments  for that which nature left out  in that particular year; ie. lack of sun, too little or too much water or simply over cropping of the vines.

 In the Middle Ages, wine was sweetened with honey and flavoured with spices in order to hide its deficiencies. In the eighteenth century should your grapes be of a bad or meagre kind what you did was to mix in a quantity of Pigeons' dung in order to give the wine a spirit that nature had denied. Now we know why every major chateau had a pigeon loft!   It adds a new dimension to tasting "lime" in the flavour of the wine me thinks!

It has always been believed that the "Traditional  Method" of making sparkling wine was discovered by Dom Perignon around 1695 and this led to the production of what we now call "Champagne". In actual fact the process was found by Christopher Merret, a glass maker from Somerset who in 1662  presented his findings to the "Royal Society".

 English Sparkling Wine is now very good indeed and in our opinion none better than those from Ridgeview Estate in Sussex. See our wine list for details and visit Christopher Merret for more  info.

 p.s. please don't tell the French!