We used the Cape Country Routes stand as our base. The 2012 Indaba was also the perfect opportunity to rebrand or at least, start the rebrand process for CCR. We started off with the introduction of the new CCR map which is quite a departure for the brand but it was met with such overwhelming support by current members and by industry stalwarts, that the whole new direction seems the logical one.

CCR is different from Classic Retreats, Found, or any of the other groups that we belong to in that the members are actually the owners of the product. That allows these product owners to be very hands-on with the development of the brand and the direction that the brand takes. This sense of ownership and pride in the product was tangible at this year’s Indaba amongst the CCR people and we are keen to get the ball rolling with the further redevelopment of the brand.

Watch out for CCR’s new look at next years Indaba, ITB and more.

Part of living or working in Cape Town is familiarising yourself with the many different coffee shops, deli’s and cozy corner spots around town. There are two ways of appreciating this sidewalk culture: Either you take the explorer approach and try to have coffee and a sandwich at every one of these or you have you favourite spot (or closest spot) where you find yourself stopping regularly for that specific cupcake, that cappuccino that no one else seems to get right or a morning read of the daily newspaper. It’s clear the Jason Bakery satisfies both these coffee shop connoisseurs as it’s a signature bakery in the centre of town.

Come sunshine or showers, there’ll be a crowd gathered at the takeaway hatch every working day morning. It’s hard to pinpoint wether these coffee craving, hungry individuals are passing there on their way to work or whether they go out of their way to make a pitstop for a latte and a croissant, but I’m definitely leaning toward the latter. Especially seeing as Jason Lilley’s bacon croissants are a well known and well craved commodity among city folk.

Situated high up in Bree street, in a corner building that’s sure to have been around for some time, this bakery has got everything a buzzing city requires: The hatch, the freshness and the broad sidewalk. They work together perfectly too; the freshness of baked goods and brewed coffee wafts through the hatch and onto the nice broad sidewalk where crowds flock toward it. Merely walking past there in the morning without buying anything creates a happy, contented feeling that only a busy corner bakery can bring.

But it’s not only about the delicious takeaways, Jason Bakery also has seating and waiters, allowing you to have a nice sit-down. The seats outside are great if you enjoy watching the city go by and the distinctively Skinny Laminx cushions give a bit of extra character. Inside offers a more quiet environment, with warm lighting and rustic wooden beams for flooring. Even the walls are wooden and the weaved light fixtures make for a comfy indoor setting. Newspapers will keep you up to date with life on the outside.

‘ 10 Mullineux Family Wines: Another Swartland winery leapfrogs into a high ranking. It is a new entry and it is rare to arrive on the South African scene with the impressive force shown by the fledgling winery of Chris and Andrea Mullineux, whose first bottled vintage was only in 2008. The elegant Syrah, rich White Blend and sweet Straw Wine have deservedly shared the honours — and what honors!’

This is an unbelievable achievement as Chris and Andrea have only been active for a few short years. We are so very proud of them. It is also a tribute to them as a couple that they not only have time to produce a fairly vast range, including a few under the Three Foxes moniker, but that they have also welcomed a new addition to the Mullineux Family – Phillipa, the most gorgeous baby girl, sister to the fast-growing JZ.

Chris and Andrea are not only good friends, but also neighbors in Kloof Street, Riebeek Kasteel. This is of course also the name of yet another release by them and the site of the new Augusta venture, Augusta Extra Vierge our self-catering country house which will be complete and ready for guests by mid-May. A nice-to-know details is that should you be staying in the Extra Vierge house, a tasting of Mullineux Family wines can be arranged in minutes, and if Chris or Andrea are around, they will probably to the tasting themselves.

Make a note of the 2012 Swartland Revolution, on 9 and 10 November 2012. Over the past 15 years the Swartland region has grown in stature and complexity and today there are enough contrasting wines to showcase this diversity over a weekend. The aim of the revolutionary weekend is to raise general awareness of the area, and although there might be stylistic and philosophical differences in the wines to be showcased, they all share a common sense of place – as with all great wine regions of the world. The weekend includes the BIGGEST names in SA wine: Sadie Family wines, AA Badenhorst Family and of course Mullineux Family, Sequillo (Eben Sadie as well) and Porseleinberg. Stay at Augusta Extra Vierge if you want to attend the weekend!

But more about this list as published by the Mail and Guardian:

The first stirrings of a revolution in South African wine became noticeable around the time that Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president.
Suddenly, Cape wine could creep out from under its stone and find a welcome in the wider world — and learn in that brighter light what was wrong with itself and even, a little, what was right. This set in motion a remarkable process of change, of extraordinary and exciting developments in the wine industry, even if the social aspect lagged somewhat.

In 2001, in the context of the early years of the wine revolution, Tim James conducted a poll of local wine professionals to establish a top 20 list of producers. Continuing change meant new entrants to the game and ever-shifting reputations, and it was worth repeating the exercise in 2003, 2006 and 2010 — and again now.

This is not a definitive list — how could it be, especially when the number of producers and brands has doubled in the last decade or so alone and no one can regularly monitor them all?

But to make it at least plausible, Tim persuaded 29 professionals with different perspectives to do the poll: five sommeliers, five retailers, four eminent critics from Britain — South Africa’s biggest foreign wine market — and 15 local wine writers and judges.

Each submitted two lists, one giving, in any order, their top five wineries and the other listing another 15 to give an overall top 20.

We have started putting a set (or two) of shards away to be framed by our favorite framer in Riebeek Kasteel, who will be tasked with the project to mount the pieces in a wild and exotic fashion. Imagine our surprise when our guests from Canada mailed us with a lovely pic of the shards that they asked to take with as memento, and had framed. It is now a prized piece of decor and a poignant reminder of their time here with us.

We love it.

http://www.classicretreats.com/members/overview/48/august-de-mist

Rihm belongs to Karlsruhe. He was born and raised here, he sang in the city’s choirs, played the church organs, and now teaches at the conservatoire. The flat where he lives is a stone’s throw from his first family home.

Since he composed his St Luke Passion for Stuttgart 10 years ago, choral works seem to have figured more and more prominently in Wolfgang Rihm’s output. RIHM EDITION VOL 4: QUID EST DEUS on Hänssler includes one of the most substantial of them, the “cantata hermetica”, Quid Est Deus, composed in 2007. It sets 24 Latin definitions of God as a series of choral statements, often with minimal orchestral accompaniment. There’s an austere, hieratic quality about the writing, and a Stravinsky-like feel to some of the harmony (deliberately or not, a recurring progression almost directly quotes from the Symphony of Psalms), though the orchestral outbursts that ­occasionally punctuate the sequence have a highly wrought expressionist edge.

It’s a compellingly concentrated piece, very different from the sparer, earlier works on the disc, which belong to the period in the late 1980s and early 90s when Rihm was influenced by Luigi Nono’s late works. These use spatial ­effects, dispersing the orchestra around the ­performing space: Ungemaltes Bild ­(Unpainted Picture) attempts to convey in sound the spirit of a watercolour ­series by Nolde, while Frau/Stimme sets a Heiner Müller text for two sopranos, embedding it in fractured, halting ­orchestral textures from which it emerges piecemeal.

The first half of this Volume Four in Hanssler’s Rihm Edition series is the new choral work “Quid est Deus fur Chor und Orchester” (2007), commissioned by the University of Freiburg for its 550th anniversary. Rihm uses as the libretto an ancient text attributed to Hermes Trismegistos which presents the answers of 24 philosophers to the question ‘what is God?’ The 24 theories take the form of short definitions.

Sylvain Cambreling leads the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart and the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg in the performance, recorded in November 2007. According to Rihm, “The vocal parts are devoid of all the typical features of contemporary choral practice, but are nonetheless very demanding — especially in the areas of intonation and articulation.” So the text is not fragmented, and is sung without any experimental vocal techniques.

The second half of the disc is two works written back-to-back, “Frau/Stimme fur Soprano und Orchester (1989) and “Ungemaltes Bild fur Orchestra (1990). Both works are from Rihm’s “less-is-more” period when he incorporated techniques from late period Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann, and Morton Feldman. “Ungemaltes Bild” is mainly quiet and discontinuous, periodically interrupted by percussive outbursts. “Frau/Stimme” is a similar soundworld, but adding the soprano voices of Isolde Siebert and Carmen Fugiss, singing lines from Heiner Muller’s play “Der Auftrag”:

“I am the angel of despair. With my hands i spread intoxication, numbing, forgetting, the desire and torment of bodies. My speech is silence, my song is the scream. In the shadow of my wings lives terror. My hope is the first battle. I am the knife with the dead break open their coffins. I am the one who will be. My flight is revolt, my heaven the abyss of tomorrow.”

For the custard base:
1 litre whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthwise
120g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
3 tsp rose water
The seeds of 1 pomegranate

Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the vanilla pod and place over a medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer then turn off the heat and allow the vanilla flavour to infuse the milk for 20 minutes. In a separate bowl, pour in the sugar and egg yolks and whisk together until pale. Now remove the vanilla pod from the milk and pour over the eggs. Pour into a clean pan and place over the lowest heat possible. Stir using a wooden spoon in a figure-of-eight movement until the custard thickens enough to leave a ribbon trail on the back of the spoon – be patient: this can take up to 10 minutes. As soon as the custard has thickened, remove from the heat and pour through a colander into a clean bowl.

Once this base has cooled to room temperature, pour into an ice-cream maker and churn following the manufacturer’s instruction. When the ice-cream has just set, remove from the machine and stir in the pomegranate and rose water. Place in the freezer until you are ready to use. It is best to eat this ice-cream on the day of making. If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture into a Tupperware box and place directly into the freezer, stirring every 20 minutes or so until the ice-cream has set. The stirring is important as it helps to disperse the ice particles and makes the ice-cream smooth.

Remember to keep an eye out for The Passionate Pomegranate Co range of products in a deli near you soon.

Renovations commence in May this year and some serious upgrades are planned for three suites. More later…

The house is beautiful with views in every direction, while the interior is quirky and fun. Very different in style to Augusta de Mist in Swellendam, this little sister in Riebeek is just perfect for wine excursions and amazing food adventures.

Augusta Extra Vierge sleeps six at most, has a gorgeous pool with a view, and the property has a small olive grove and large lemon orchard.