The festive season

Fake trees are up, the glitzy decorations appended and Christmas carols (invariably sung by Boney M…) are on repeat in shopping malls the world over. There’s just no escaping the festive season.

And before sounding too much like a Ebenezer Scrooge and muttering “Bah, humbug!” let’s be reminded that although it’s essentially a Christian feast, it’s marked the world over, regardless of faith. The festive season comes after a long, somewhat challenging, but also hopefully productive year. Everyone needs a bit of a break; some downtime, a period of rest and respite before facing up to the slog of 2017.

For friends and family who enjoy wine, gifting is made really easy – get them something wine related. If a 13th cheque or Christmas bonus made it your way and you feel like spoiling them, there are any number of great wines to indulge them in. One of those sought-after, expensive items – like Kanonkop’s Black Label Pinotage or something from either Mullineux, Sadie (David and Nadia or Eben…) or the Alheits or any of the big-ticket numbers will go down a treat.



Take a bit of trouble and seek out an older vintage wine. Roland Peens of the Wine Cellar in Observatory, Cape Town, will be launching a brokerage in 2017, specifically to deal in mature wines since there is a rather nice market developing for them. Much of the interest in South African wine locally and abroad has been sparked by exposure to superb examples of well-matured wines – such as the iconic GS Cabernets of either 1966 or 1967. Those wines change hands for around R20 000 a bottle nowadays… if you can find them! But there are similarly iconic wines available – Chateau Libertas, Lanzerac Pinotage, KWV Muscadels from the 1930s or 1940s, Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon from the fabled 1974 vintage or Klein Constantia’s first ever 1986 Sauvignon Blanc or the 1987 Blanc de Blanc or the ever reliable Vin de Constance. How cool is it that South Africa is gaining recognition for aged wines and the quality they can deliver decades on from vintage?

Wine gifts don’t only have to take bottled form. The annual Platter Guide makes a great stocking filler and is always useful for tracking wine farms’ progress. Think about glasses – a special Riedel or Zalto set and a beaut ice bucket is always useful, particularly for someone who entertains a lot.

And for the wine geeks out there who belong to tasting groups, how about commissioning a set of tasting sleeves to hide bottles for blind tastings? You could have a lot of fun by personalising them with cool motifs. Or you could personalise a leather-bound notebook for keeping track of all tasting notes…

Here’s a thought: a really simple one but which indicates that it’s not about the gift itself or the monetary value thereof: it’s about the thought you put into it. Draw up a voucher for the giftee, promising them a shared wine tasting – it could be at a winery you would both enjoy or it could also be a special bottle in your collection that he or she has admired.

Nothing is more precious than time these days, so spending time over a glass or bottle of wine with a friend or loved one is special.

Fiona McDonald