What a difference a decade has made for Nederburg.

Three cook books down, five or so TV series later and Justin Bonello is tired. Tired, but a little jumpy from yet another cappuccino.

I get a strange satisfaction when my vinous prejudices get knocked down. Perhaps it’s relief at further proof of the shallowness of those who think that one cannot be honest in approaching a wine when one knows what it is

Fifteen years ago a distinguished Stellenbosch wine­maker told me the West Coast was in many respects better terroir for viticulture than the Boland.

Even those whose summertime lust for sauvignon blanc is boundless might want something a little less crunchily crisp for white wine drinking in cooler times.

Talking of football (we were, surely?), I wonder why it needed a Portuguese producer to bring out a wine with a brilliant fick-Fufa label celebrating the beautiful … beverage.

It came dangerously close to a major upset: France just pipped South Africa — but only with the help of a rather dodgy decision by the ref.

Baboons, it seems, prefer pinot noir. They also like a nice chardonnay.

Perhaps the royal party planners thought they would have things in common: whether by accident or design, President Jacob Zuma was seated next to

Once upon a time on farms in Stellenbosch owls roamed the vineyards looking for mice.