Valentines Market at the Oudtshoorn Wijnhuis from 9h30 – 13h00 on Saturday, 11 February.

For more information, please contact the cellar at 044 272 8660 or wijnhuis@scv.co.za.

During the months of February and March, De Krans Wine Cellar, situated in the quaint little town of Calitzdorp alongside the well known Route 62, will once again offer visitors to the area the opportunity to pick deliciously sweet Hanepoot grapes. This fun-filled picking experience will take place from 8 February to 3 March 2012, and will be made available every day (except Sundays) from 08h00 until 16h00.

 
Grapes cost R4.90/kg and visitors are welcome to bring their own containers. Alternatively containers can be purchased at De Krans at a minimal cost.
  
Picking grapes can lead to visitors working up a hefty appetite, and to cater for this need Vygieshof Home for the Aged will be offering delicious braaivleis meals on Wednesdays and Saturdays, between 11h00 and 14h00. As these meals have proven to be extremely popular in the past, booking is essential.
  
For more information on the farm and other wines in their range, please contact Helet or Bessie at the farm on 044 213 3314 or dekrans@mweb.co.za.

Calitzdorp Cellar has just released their Shiraz 2010. The wine was made from selected grapes from a specific vineyard and aged for 12 months in 300 litre oak barrels.
  
The fruit, tannins and acid are nicely balanced and this serious wine has traces of peppery spices. The bottle has a screw top to be easily served with venison, meat dishes.

For more information, please contact the cellar at 044 213 3301 or info@calitzdorpwine.co.za.

From the first of January 2012 no new bottling of South African Port may be labelled as Port. Instead all SA produced port-style wine will in future be labelled as Cape Pink, Cape Ruby, Cape Tawny and Cape Vintage to describe a particular style. Producers may continue to sell product bottled and labelled as Port prior to 1 January 2012 in the South African market through all existing channels whilst stocks last.
  
For many years the members of the Cape Port Producers Association (previously the South African Port Producers Association) have focussed on improving the quality of Cape Ports. Many local and overseas wine experts reckon that South African Port is by far the best in the New World and as good as the best from Portugal.
   
Although Port may not be used on labels, South African Port Producers will still advertise their products as Cape Ports and Calitzdorp will still be known as the Port Capital of South Africa. The Cape Port Producers Association will also recommend that all South African wine competitions refer to the product as Cape Port (for Cape Ruby, Cape Tawny and Cape Vintage) on their entry forms.

  
Dave Hughes (Chairman - Port panel at Veritas) and Carel Nel (Chairman – Cape Port Producers Association)
   
  

Cape Port Producers feel strongly that Cape Ports have a great future and furthermore that South Africa table wines made from the same Portuguese red and white cultivars will be something that wine lovers are bound to seek out. Cape Portuguese Red blends and single cultivar wines have a unique and excellent quality profile and combine extremely well with food.
   
The 2012 annual Cape Port Challenge organised by the Cape Port Producers Association will for the first time include table wines produced from Portuguese cultivars as an innovation to celebrate the unique characteristics of these wines.
   
For more information regarding port and the Cape Port Producers Association, please contact the chairman for the association, Carel Nel, at 044 213 3326 or boplaas@mweb.co.za. 

Meet the winemaker: Boets Nel is the co-owner and winemaker at De Krans Wine Cellar in Calitzdorp. He has a passion for wine and nature, loving what he does.
  
His favourite wine from the cellar:
The Touriga Nacional with its’ spicy pepperiness, chocolate and good structure. Goes well with ostrich fillet and karoo lamb. He loves a glass of Cape Tawny or Cape Vintage Reserve after dinner – just the way to end a day.
  
Facts about Boets you probably did not know: He developed a love for nature and the wild life of South Africa and visit at least once a year some of the Nacional Parks to recoup and experience God’s wonderful creation with his wife, Teresa.

  
Boets Nel of De Krans