Newest Issue of Wine (S. Africa) Arrives in the Mail - Yippee!

Today the newest issue (June 2009) of WINE arrived. This is the leading (I'll get some noise about that, perhaps) wine magazine from South Africa. I was in ZA about a year ago and had the unplanned pleasure to meet the editor, Christian Eedes, at Ken Forrester's winery. It turned out to be a late night of drinking and complaining and arguing and machismo, but it was quite fun. Upon my return to the US, I plopped down my R575, or whatever it was, to get my international subscription. I am quite pleased that I did as it allows me to keep in touch with some of the news from ZA, without having to rely on the "traditional" reporting of the Wine Spectator or Steven Tanzer, however good they might be.

There are plenty of articles about local wineries, restaurants and much of the usual reporting, but I do like the writing of Mr. Eedes (don't always agree with his thoughts, though) and the rest of the writers. There are a couple of things that I questions about the magazine - there is a section called "Cellar Door Shootout" in which two wineries are pitted against each other to see which is more hospitable to visit - kind of weird reporting, if you can call it that. I think they are just creating some controversy where there probably is none, I mean why bite the hand that feeds you? There is also another section that judges the label of a different wine every month - not sure if I like that one or not, either(?)

Overall, though, I do like this magazine and go through it almost immediately upon arrival. It is quite enjoyable to get a non-US writer's perspective as well as see all the labels that are not available here in the US, yet (if ever).

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Cheers