The Cape Town suburb of Newlands should be renamed Slanghoek for the welcome it gave to the 250 snakes who turned out for the Cape to Canton Chinese new year festival this afternoon at the Vineyard Hotel & Spa. Here are some of the Chefs who steamed up a storm with spinach dim sums from Haiku firm favourites with snake charmer Jonathan Steyn.

The camp lion (below) did not scare Rothko (22 months), son of Gerard Holden and Migo Manz at all.  Brandy of the day was the Uitkyk 10 year old that worked like a charm with the artisanal blends from Honest Chocolate while as expected, the cold brews from Espressolab were hugely popular.  Made from beans grown at high altitude, caffeine was not an issue as the coffee plants do not need to deploy as much poison as defence against pests.

In the wine department, Vrede en Lust Chenin Blanc 2012 was such a hit, the farm sold R10K worth of wine.  Owner Dana Buys was not complaining.  At Edmund Hung’s South China Dim Sum Bar, the Durbanville Hills Pinotage impressed, as well as the Orchestra Bordeaux blend from KWV.

The guest list included Professor Wu Quinlong (above, left) of the UCT Confucius Institute plus a deputy vice chancellor. There was the president of Bisquit Cognac and the largest Chinese tour operator in Cape Town.  Chinese elevator music was provided by DJ Andre (below):

All in all, a most auspicious start to a celebration destined to become a fixture on the SA wine and brandy event calender.