A Pinotage of South Africa

Usually I stick to my Cotes du Rhone but occasionally I venture out to the *new world* and then I discover some amazing wines such as the Pinotage:

Beautiful tree

It's small but it's real and it is wonderful. It will be planted where it can live for many years.

One night in Helsinki

One night in Helsinki was very cold. No snow but a chilli wind at about 0 Celsius.

A journey through the musical history of Iceland

Tonight we headed into town after work to have dinner in Soho. We later were going to see what films were showing in the cinema, so we headed to our favourite cinema, the Soho Curzon. Again, as is always the case, they had a number of good movies on the schedule, but by coincidence we happened to be just on time for the 6.40pm screening of the The Screaming Masterpiece and how happy were we when we found out that tickets were still available. It promised to be an interesting experience, especially because Daniel Agust the former head of Gus Gus was there to perform a couple of solo pieces. It was great. The documentary was a detailed review of the history of popular Icelandic music. Insight was given into why Icelandic music is so very different. A few scenes were really funny. For example, they showed the "house party" that was hosted by the Icelandic President...

Definitely worth watching. The film was followed by a Vodka reception in the foyer with another live performance of an Icelandic band, whose name I missed.

Chateau Petrus

Petrus, one of the world`s rarest and most expensive wines was virtually unheard of 30 years ago. It was only when the Mouiex family bought a half share in the property in 1962 that its true potential began to be fully realised. Petrus is now under the direction of Christian Mouiex and oenologist, Jean Claude Berrouet.


Petrus's 11.4 hectare vineyard is located on a plateau on the highest part of Pomerol in the far east of the appellation. The topsoil and the subsoil at Petrus is almost all clay (in neigbouring properties the soil is a mixture of gravel-sand or clay-sand) and Merlot flourishes in this soil. Petrus' vineyard is planted with 95% Merlot. The vine are unusually old and are only replanted after they reach 70 years of age.

The grapes are hand harvested only in the afternoon, when the morning dew has evaporated, so as not to risk even the slightest dilution of quality. The grapes are fermented in cement vats and the the wine is aged in 100% new oak barrels for 22-28 months. It is bottled unfiltered.


Petrus is extraordinarily rich, powerful and concentrated, often with characteristics of chocolates, truffles, Asian spices and ultra-ripe, creamy, black fruits. Petrus is usually approachable after a decade or so in bottle, but the wines from the very greatest years will continue improving for many more years.

My answer to your Bordeaux Andy ;)