Things are not going well for the Franschhoek Literary Festival and its ill-fated Wine Writers Prize. First they rehire radio personality John Mayhem as judge after he so spectacularly melted down last year after behaving in a scandalously unprofessional manner. Next prize sponsor Vinimark (through their Porcupine Ridge brand) is exposed in Die Burger for selling carbonated wines labelled as MCC when they were not. Funny thing to do when you’re the SA agent for Bollinger Champagne. And now the Franschhoek guest house of local social media mouthpiece the Whale Cottage Blog is exposed as a dirty dodgy dive on TripAdvisor. A word of advice to the belligerent whale from FaceBook:

Mandy Davison from Cape Town attended the FLF and it was a tale of woe at the Franschhoek Whale Cottage. “At the literary event, I asked a few locals if they’ve had any complaints about Whale Cottage and they laughed ‘everyone in town is trying to have her closed down,’ said a local business man. Another said that she is banned from many restaurants as she is a ‘nightmare’. A nightmare was exactly what our stay was like! I resent the fact that I paid money to be abused but knew it would be a losing battle trying to reason with this dreadful woman!!” Strong words which the FLF organizers may wish to take to heart if they recommend places to stay in the village for FLF 2015.

Disclosure. The author did not enter the Franschhoek Wine Writers Competition and doesn’t even know what the winner looks like.