Quesadilla or Buritto?

Quesadilla or Buritto? Blonde or Brunette? Top or Bottom? Chenin or Sauvignon Blanc? So many Manichean choices in the modern urban life. But the first one is made much easier on Wednesdays at Orinoco on Bree Street where quesadillas and burittos are half price.

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Above is glamorous chef Migdalia with events organizer Luke Krone and Smirnoff model Xanthus Viljoen at lunch today. We went with the quesadillas and a pitcher of Margaritas. After all, we’ll soon all be pretending to be Russian given the rings Vladimir Putin (or Vladimir V. Putin as the New York Times calls him) is running around Barack and the West. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is a brilliant read.

Could the unbundling of Distell be on the cards? Was the merging of Stellenbosch Farmers Winery with the Distillers Corporation 14 years ago such a great idea? Today the company makes most of its money from cider with whisky in the shape of Three Ships and a handy investment in Burn Stewart outperforming a wine portfolio that is quite frankly, languishing. Too many brands competing against themselves: Obikwa v. Two Oceans v. Zonnebloem v. Place in the Sun v. Fleur du Cap v. Earthbound v. Nederburg v. …

If I were Richard Rushton, the new CEO in the Aan-de-Wagenweg La-Z-Boy recliner, shedding the wine portfolio must be an attractive option. And there’d be no shortage of buyers with Vinimark currently on steroids and DGB both keen buyers of the commercial brands while the property portfolio of historic wine estates like Uitkyk, Le Bonheur, Plaisir de Merle and Alto could be turned to account with a dynamic management company transforming them into boutique hotels and wine tourism venues.