Dinner this evening at the Yellow Door Kitchen in Hong Kong and bumped into Charles “screaming eagle” Banks who tells me Mulderbosch and Fable Wines (formerly Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards) have left the Cape Classics stable. To drink, a mediocre Aussie Riesling from the Clare Valley and an oxidized 2006 Cabernet from McLaren Vale. Unfortunately chef Lau Chun was in Macau or we’d have told him his Aussie wines sucked. Fortunately Chas was able to offer us a glass of 1995 and 1985 La Mouline from Guigal.  So dinner was no hedonistic desert.

Charles Banks

Losing Charles will come as a big blow to Andre Shearer, leading distributor of SA wine in the USA, who was instrumental in getting Chas to invest in SA. Chas reports he’s also opened a wine bar called Amo Eno in central Hong Kong which we hope to report on tomorrow. Chas will be back in SA next month with his parents to celebrate 50 years of their marriage. What better place to mark this joyous occasion than on Mulderbosch, the about-to-be world renowned producer of future classic Chenin Blanc.