February 22, 2012

Wine For Normal People Radio: Episode 41 -South Africa

This week we talk about South Africa, one of my favorite countries. After going there in 2005, I became enamored of the wine and the country. Since then, I've been a big fan!

You can download the podcast here or listen to it on iTunes: DOWNLOAD

In this episode we hit on:
  • The history of South African wine and why it's a good bridge between the Old and New World
  • How South Africa's price to value ratio measures up
  • The climate, geography, and varietals of the main growing regions
  • The Wine of Origin or regional specificity pyramid
  • Detail on the most important wine regions: Stellenbosch, Paarl/Franschoek, Overberg, Robertson, and more...and why I love Swartland and think it has major potential!

I love South Africa and its wines. If you ever get a chance to visit or even look at pictures, check it out. It's a really special place!

If you like the podcast, please review it on iTunes, drop a comment below, or join the awesome conversation on Facebook (Wine For Normal People page) and Twitter @normalwine!

If you've got a question you want us to answer, post it on any of those places and we'll include it on the show!

Thanks for listening! We can't wait to hear from you!



Podcast music: "Café connection" by morgantj / CC BY 3.0, ©2009 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0).
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3 comments:

  1. Bosman van der MerweFebruary 27, 2012 at 12:47 AM

    Yun Fun Ree-beack (Ree like in Reebok, ea like in ear!)

    Hi Elizabeth,

    Thanks for bringing the spotlight on South Africa! I got goosebumps when you mentioned Robertson Winery; we used to grow grapes for them, I even worked there during one of my holidays.

    It sucks that SA isn't doing a better job of marketing and exporting our stuff. I guess I should be happy, more for me!

    Regards
    Bosman

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wine For Normal PeopleMarch 6, 2012 at 4:04 PM

    Bosman -

    I was hoping you were going to set me straight on the pronunciation. AWESOME! Thank you!

    Of course I had to do a 'cast on South Africa. I love it so much. It's really sad that the stuff that's available here is kind of donkey. I think it will improve as the economy gets better, but it's tough right now. Fingers crossed (for me!) that the amazing things you get to have everyday make it here.

    On Robertson -- goosebumps because it's good wine or because it's horrible or because I knew it? I'm dying to know! I had no idea that you were a winegrower! Where?

    Take care and thanks for listening/reading!
    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bosman van der MerweMarch 7, 2012 at 2:18 AM

    Elizabeth,

    I've got mixed feelings about Robertson. I'm an engineering student so it was the first place where I ever worked in an engineering environment. I was part of the maintenance team that had to fix the bottling machines when they broke. As my luck would have it, the damn things never broke! Having nothing to do all day really sucked so I would walk around the winery and ask a lot of questions, trying to figure out how wine was made.

    My dad produced grapes for Robertson Winery. I never had a hand in it as I was still in school back then, and engineering kept me busy when I went to university. Every time I hear about Robertson Winery, I get nostalgic. It's mostly the good memories of driving along with my dad to deliver grapes, but also memories of sitting around for 8 hours waiting for Italian bottling machines to break. Hence the goosebumps!

    Regards
    Bosman

    ReplyDelete