The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
69 results across all types
podcast· 21:43Running a restaurant during COVID19 crisis - Giles Edwards of La Tete Restaurant
A quick chat with Chef and co-owner of La Tete restaurant here in Cape Town about life running a restaurant in the weeks leading up to the nation-wide lockdown we are still currently in here in South Africa.
podcast· 12:07Making wine under covid19 lockdown with Craig Wessels (Restless River)
A quick zoom call with Craig Wessels of Restless River to find out more about how he is harvesting and making wine under a nation-wide covid19 lockdown here in South Africa.
podcast· 1h 19mCraven Wines Vintage 2019 with Mick Craven
This episode we have Mick Craven on the podcast. Mick, originally from Australia, and his South African wife Jeanine make Craven Wines – a négociant-style wine business based in Stellenbosch. The Cravens work exclusively within the Stellenbosch WO, working with a select group of grape growers and making a set of single vineyard wines in such a way as to “let the grapes do the talking” as Mick puts it. Everything the Cravens do has a transparency and purity to it. No smoke nor mirrors. They are due to release their vintage 2019 wines here in South Africa in a few weeks – in April – so I asked Mick to come in to Ex Animo HQ and chat about them. We do go into a bit of the history of Craven Wines during the conversation, principally to provide some context about the 2019s, but I also get curious and want to ask questions that shoots us off on a few tangents along the way. Talking with Mick is always fun and informative. Since recording the podcast I have had the privilege of tasting all th
podcast· 1h 46mWhere are we? and How did we get here? A SONA of wine with Christian Eedes
A chat with winemag.co.za editor and leading wine commentator in South Africa, Christian Eedes. Christian takes us through a (very) brief modern history of South African wine, and then gives his take on what is happening in the fine wine industry in South Africa currently. A State of the Nation of Wine if you will. A list of plantings by variety in South Africa can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B80cETYp-uA/ - it seems I owe Christian a bottle of wine :) I hope you enjoy. :)
podcast· 1h 03mOn farming grapes in the Swartland, Franziska Wickens of Waterval Farm
On farming grapes in the Swartland, Franziska Wickens of Waterval Farm by Ex Animo Wine Co.
podcast· 1h 13mOn Organic Viticulture in South Africa with Tyrrel Myburgh of Joostenberg
Recorded 19 July 2019 A really interesting chat with Tyrrel Myburgh of Joostenberg Wines in Paarl WO, South Africa. He is the 5th generation Myburgh on the farm and started to convert to organic viticulture in 2003 becoming totally certified in 2010. Organic viticulture is still very rare in South Africa, so I decided to chat to him to get his story and to sort the facts from the fiction about organics. Enjoy :)
podcast· 1h 16mAllan Mullins, Woolworths
Recorded 19th June 2019. A really interesting chat with Allan Mullins, who is celebrating 30 years with Woolworths next year. Allan is definitely one of the "good guys" of the wine industry here in South Africa. A gentleman and a deep repository of knowledge about the people and wines of the last 40 or so years in South Africa. Woolworths operates in a completely different philosophical space than Ex Animo so it was good to chat and compare notes. Thanks Allan, you legend. x
podcast· 7:44Becoming a Sommelier in South Africa - A Quick Chat with Wikus Human of Marble and Saint Restaurants
A very quick chat with Wikus Human, sommelier of Marble and Saint Restaurants in Johannesburg, South Africa.
podcast· 1h 13mOn the Swartland Revolution with Chris and Andrea Mullineux
Recorded 1st June 2019, Infanta, Western Cape, South Africa A chat with Chris and Andrea Mullineux (of Mullineux Wines) about the Swartland Revolution, an annual wine festival that ran from 2010-2014 that has and continues to have a huge impact on the wine scene in South Africa.
podcast· 53:13Ex Animo Wine Co Podcast - Gosia Zielińska, The Pot Luck Club
For this episode I chat to Gosia Zielińska, manager and sommelier at The Pot Luck Club, Cape Town.
podcast· 1h 13mCraig Hawkins TESTALONGA
Recorded 21st March 2019 Craig Hawkins, owner with wife Carla and winemaker TESTALONGA – leading proponent of natural wine in SA. Craig as he and his wife Carla are to my knowledge the first people to build a very successful independent business making exclusively natural wine in South Africa. Many other winemakers have used them (and continue to use them) as inspiration to start their own journey. From making 2 barrels of skin contact Chenin Blanc to owning a farm and planting vineyards in 10 years. We recorded this on their farm, Bandits Kloof near Eendekuil in the northern Swartland in the evening after tasting through the very young 2019 wines in cask. We were forced to sit outside as it was during loadshedding, which is a series of planned power outages lasting 2-3 hours to ease pressure on the grid and is needed due to reduced capacity caused by mismanagement (read: corruption) of the state power utility here in South Africa, Eskom. So please excuse the wind noise … you will also
podcast· 1h 42mRosa Kruger, Viticulturist
This episode is a conversation with South African viticulturist, Rosa Kruger. Tannie Rosa, as I call her, is a force to be reckoned with. An ex-lawyer and proud Afrikaner, Rosa has travelled extensively throughout the grape-growing world and is now one of the most important voices on viticulture in South Africa. She is a consultant and has worked with some of the most iconic names of modern South African wine: Eben Sadie, the Mullineuxs, the Alheits, Rupert & Rothschild and Boukenhoutskloof to name just a few. She started the Old Vine Project, an NPO which aims to promote and preserve the old vineyards of South Africa. She is probably the most deeply passionate person I have met when it comes to South African vineyards, and those who work them. I wanted to talk to her about the state of viticulture in South Africa, a little about the history and how it has changed in the last 10 years with the rise and rise of local wine quality, and her vision for the future of the South African viney
podcast· 58:44Roland Peens WINE CELLAR, Cape Town
A recent conversation with Roland Peens of Wine Cellar, one of the best wine retailers in South Africa. We covered a lot of ground about how he got into wine, the transformation of South African wine and the South African wine market over the last 15 or so years. Established in 2001, Wine Cellar is one of South Africa's finest online wine merchants. They offer the top-end local wines and also specialise in international wines from France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere. Their business has changed significantly inception with a move towards offering more South African wines. Roland and his team at Wine Cellar are always trying to improve and spread the gospel of fine wine. Thanks for your time Roland, I enjoyed our chat. ~DC
podcast· 1h 20mSuzaan and Chris Alheit from ALHEIT VINEYARDS
Recorded on 22nd November 2018 in Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa.
podcast· 0:36Why Johan Meyer is using the category "Alternative Wine" for his new Mother Rock wines
Recorded on 22 January 2019 at Wine Cellar, Cape Town, at the pre-release tasting for the trade.
podcast· 22:06Tom Lubbe Part 3 - Final
3rd and final part of my chat with Tom Lubbe of Matassa on the morning of his presentation at the Swartland Heritage Festival in Paternoster on 02.Nov.2018.. I wanted principally to talk to him about his time in wine in South Africa and in particular setting up The Observatory. We touched many subjects and we chatted for longer than planned, so I have split it up. Tom is a mentor of some of the most exciting (young and old) producers in South Africa, worked under Charles Back along side Eben Sadie before setting up The Observatory in the Paardeberg in early 2000s. He then fell in love and moved to France and started Matassa I was very hungover for this chat having enjoyed a dinner at Wolfgat in Paternoster the night before, so apologies if I sound a bit slow. Tom and I covered many topics in the chat – some of them (and the mm:ss) are below: 0.00 Support by other winemakers in making natural in South Africa in early 2000s 1.01 What are the biggest markets for Matassa? 1.35 South Africa
podcast· 57:59Tom Lubbe 2
Part 2 of 3 of my chat with Tom Lubbe of Matassa on the morning of his presentation at the Swartland Heritage Festival in Paternoster on 02.Nov.2018.. I wanted principally to talk to him about his time in wine in South Africa and in particular setting up The Observatory. We touched many subjects and we chatted for longer than planned, so I have split it up. Tom is a mentor of some of the most exciting (young and old) producers in South Africa, worked under Charles Back along side Eben Sadie before setting up The Observatory in the Paardeberg in early 2000s. He then fell in love and moved to France and started Matassa I was very hungover for this chat having enjoyed a dinner at Wolfgat in Paternoster the night before, so apologies if I sound a bit slow. Tom and I covered many topics in the chat – some of them (and the mm:ss) are below: 00.02 More on Louise at Welgemeend 00.49 Henri Jayer, Cros Parantoux 02.13 Lalou Bize-Leroy 03.44 Tom hates most Burgundy 04.07 Tom rather drinks… 04.44
podcast· 23:21Tom Lubbe 1
Part 1 of my chat with Tom Lubbe of Matassa on the morning of his presentation at the Swartland Heritage Festival in Paternoster on 02.Nov.2018.. I wanted principally to talk to him about his time in wine in South Africa and in particular setting up The Observatory. We touched many subjects and we chatted for longer than planned, so I have split it up. Tom is a mentor of some of the most exciting (young and old) producers in South Africa, worked under Charles Back along side Eben Sadie before setting up The Observatory in the Paardeberg in early 2000s. He then fell in love and moved to France and started Matassa.
podcast· 53:29Taras Ochota [Ochota Barrels] - Swartland Heritage Festival 2018
Audio from the presentation by Taras Ochota on Saturday 5th November 2018 at the Swartland Heritage Festival in Paternoster moderated by Ex Animo's David Clarke.
podcast· 23:14Craig talks about the beginnings of Restless River
Craig and Anne Wessels produce top-class Chardonnay and Cabernet wines from their small farm in the Upper Hemel en Aarde Valley in South Africa. Recorded after a wine trade lunch at Farro in Illovo, Johannesburg (apologies for the slight background noise) on 22 Oct 2018. Craig talks about how a model and a TV producer created what is now Restless River; how he and Anne find meaning in tending vines and making wines, and creating something that will outlive them both. An unusual origin story - one worth listening to.
podcast· 11:22Craig Wessels on Cabernet 2015
Listen to Craig Wessels, winemaker and co-owner of Restless River Wines talk about the new Restless River Main Road & Dignity Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 from their farm in the Upper Hemel en Aarde Valley in South Africa. This audio was recorded at a release tasting for the wine trade on the farm on 20 Oct 2018.