The news that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has banned those gravity-defying skyscraper scalers like Philippe Petit has yet to be imitated by Cape Town. Last night, Alex Dale and his Higgs Bosonesque red blend called Gravity, put on a spectacular aerial performance (in magnum) in the penthouse of the Old Mutual erstwhile head office in Darling Street, above the Somali call centre entrepreneurs and alfresco pissoirs of downtown.

Billed as “our celebration of Cape Wine 2008”, his penthouse party was in direct competition to the official opening event of the three day Cape wine haal uit en wys extravaganza at the Convention Centre. Cape Kontrei Cuisine went down across town at Groot Constantia and was billed as “twenty of the Cape’s finest chefs using fresh local produce to prepare exciting regional and fusion dishes, matched with the best local wines.”

My party pooping partner, sommelier to one of the magnificent twenty with magnificent embonpoint, had us in stitches recounting CKC planning meetings consisting of 16 beer-swilling chefs and her own boss despairing of the hearty wines he’d been allocated and around which he was to build a menu.

While imported purveyors of Cape culture like Harald Bresselschmidt did celebrity turns under Constantia marquees, I bumped into some old friends of Alex and made some pleasant new acquaintances: Brillat Savarin, Coulommiers Graindorge, Fourme D’Ambert, Comté, Affidelice Au Chablis, Reblochon, le Pie d’Angloys and Sainte Maure de Touraine. For while its only right and just to celebrate Cape wine (and even the SA stuff sometimes), celebrating SA cheese is another culture entirely.