The most glamorous Master of Wine (surely Mistress?, ed.) around is Debra Meiburg who really embraces her stellar qualification, styling herself DebraMasterofWine.com. Recently returned from Stellenbosch, where she was filming a TV series, Debra reports that she was told Haai! (“shark”) is Afrikaans for “Hello!” Someone obviously has a sick sense of humour after the recent fatal shark attacks in False Bay, with shark cage diving a popular diversion laid on for visiting Masters of Wine, along with golf.

Debra, MW

Debra gets her revenge in her April newsletter with a lekker snotklap in passing. After raving about Argentinian Malbecs, Debs notes “South Africa, on the other hand, is still a hit-or-miss proposition when it comes to wine with some total stunners, but also some washouts. Never mind, the scenery is such a knock-out that I will strive to return to South Africa every year to sip my favourites while beaching, quad-biking, heli-riding, hiking and photographing of all manner of boks (antelope).” Dontcha just love the use of beach as a verb?