Posts with the label "donovan rall"


The Don

The Don

Thursday 6th May 2021
by Mark Dearing

The Don

Despite Cape Town being 6,000 miles from London (plus another 300 miles from Edinburgh!), and travel between the two cities clearly being a challenge for a little while yet, we were nevertheless graced by the presence of Donovan Rall in our living rooms just a few weeks ago.

Through the auspices of Zoom technology (once again) we were thrilled to host forty-five on and off-trade clients spanning the length and breadth of the UK, and encompassing all sorts of hotels, restaurants and retailers, not to mention a few of the world’s most famous fine dining establishments, for a Rall Wines masterclass in advance of the trade’s emergence from what has been a thoroughly miserable third lockdown since December. With things looking up, and spring supposedly just around the corner, we relished the opportunity to taste the lighter, fresher wines in the Rall portfolio, and bring together (virtually) a cohort of people who might enjoy them. So it was, that the fine-boned, vibrant Grenache Blanc and juicy, attractive Cinsault made many new friends, whilst the ever-impressive Rall White and Red strutted their confident stuff. Donovan’s dulcet Afrikaner tones provided invaluable insight into the origins and philosophy behind each wine.

2020 Vision: Harvest in the Swartland

2020 Vision: Harvest in the Swartland

Friday 17th April 2020
by Mark Dearing

2020 Vision: Harvest in the Swartland 

Despite a nationwide lockdown in South Africa that initially prohibited all wine producing and exporting activities, the government has since made concessions to allow growers to finish harvesting and production, and businesses to resume exports - news to which the South African wine industry breathed a collective sigh of relief this week. 

(Updated 21st April: the South African government has re-instated a total prohibition on export sales. For more information see here).