South Africa Update

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

It has been a while since I posted anything about our South Africa plans. I am still working on the trip. I’m almost done.

We originally had wanted 4 nights at the Mountain View Guest Lodge. Saturday night was not available so we had booked a single night at Naries. Fortunately, Mountain View had a cancellation so we are now in one location for 4 nights. This is so much better.

For Cape Town, I finally decided on an apartment for our 6 nights. It was so hard. I debated between something along the coast but we decided to go with a self-catering cottage in the suburbs. We are thinking that the suburbs will be easier to do day trips. Our rental is Clarkia Guest Cottage. It should be nice with a convenient location.

I rented a car through Auto Europe. They had the best prices on the cars with 0 excess. It is really thorugh Avis. We will pick it up downtown Cape Town, hopefully close to our hotel, and then return to the airport. I am also going to rent through Auto Europe for Namibia. That is one of the last things to do.

We paid our Namibia accomodations. We used Cardboard Box to make the arrangements and they were excellent. I’ll do a separate post with our itinerary for Namibia.

We are also thinking about arranging a day trip to Richtersveld National Park while we are in Springbok. You need a 4-wheel drive to tour Richtersveld so we are thinking about booking a day trip. It is a very long day. They will pick us up at 7am and we will return later in the evening (11pm?). Basically that is the only way we can do it without renting a 4wheel driving and camping. There are many unique succulents in the park and outside that we really want to see.

So far, it has been great working with people in South Africa. They are so responsive by email. Typically, it looks like they are paid through bank transfers. Fortunately, many will also take credit cards. A few will not. I understand since there are fees associated with the credit cards. A couple of places have mentioned that there is an additional cost if you charge (10%!!!!).

Now we need to start to plan what we are going to do day-by-day. And deal with the stress. It is starting. G and I have both mentioned that we have had dreams about the trip. And it is less than 6 weeks away.

I also went out today and splurged. I bought a new digital camera; a Canon 20D. I’ve been wanting a digital SLR and this camera is very close to my older SLR. I also got a zoom telephoto so I can take pictures of animals. Now I need to get used to using it. Tomorrow, we’ll go to Rainier and take some photos.

Preston Vineyards Sirah-Syrah 1985

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

My interest in wine goes back to my early days of college at UC Berkeley. I spent time hanging out at a local liquore store on University Avenue learning about wines. Being low on funds, my favorites were the low cost undiscovered varieties such as Zinfiandel, Syrah, and Barbera. California wineries were experimenting with these at the time.

Preston I got a bit more serious in the mid-1980’s and started reading Wine Spectator. I set aside a few bottles. I’ve drunk most of them through the years. I ended up with one bottle left from those learning years, a Preston Vineyards Sirah-Syrah 1985. Funny to see the price tag still on the bottle. It was a $10.49 from Safeway.

I decided to open it for my birthday. It was probably the best one to save for 20 years since Petit Sirah is long aging varietal. Lou Preston was an early producer of Syrah in the Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg. One of his neighbors recommended that he plant Petit Sirah along with Syrah. From those early experiments, he started bottling a blend between the two. He still makes the blend but it is now mostly syrah.

Petit Sirah is a different grape from syrah and has a long history of plantings in California. It is a thick tannic grape which makes for a long aging wine. It has lots of spice and berry.

cap The 1985 bottling was 54% Petit Sirah and 46% Syrah. The cork was in good shape with a small buildup of crystals. Not much sediment in the bottle but I didn’t take any chances and decanted part of it. The color was still deep purple with a slight maroon color from age. Not at all what I expected of a 20 year bottle. The aroma was good. The taste was outstanding. Smooth with a nice heavy body and a wonderful flavor of black cherries. The fruit was so surprising. I did not expect it. The flavor did weaken after a little airing. Fortunately, I did not decant it all so it was still fresh on a second pour.

Overall, a very enjoyable way to celebrate a birthday.

I missed WBW #11

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

I am so bummed. I totally missed WBW #11. (note to Marta – mark it on the calendar!). I spent a few days in Victoria BC with good friends and it completely slipped my mind. Too bad because I could have had them participate. From Beau of BasicJuice’s wrap-up, it sounds like another good tasting.

Oh well. I’ve marked WBW #12 (the first anniversary) on the calendar and I’m locating my closest winery. Hmmmm… now which one will I choose?

Solstice

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

It was the gloaming, when a man cannot make out if the nebulous figure he glimpses in the shadows is angel or demon, when the face of evening is stained by red clouds and wounded by lights.
–Homero Aridjis, 1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezon of Castile

Growing up in Central California, the summer was an endless blur of sweltering days and stifling nights. The sun was a red ball that would hesitate and then quickly drop behind Mt. Diablo. Night would come on quickly. The heat of the day would become thick and heavy and make the night edgy. You would wait for the slightest movement in the trees to signal a breeze from the delta. Off in the distance the rumble and moan of a train would drift your thoughts to places far away.

Now I live north of the 45th parallel. Here the night comes gently. Slowly the sun sets and the shadows lengthen. The sky glows pink and tinges the undersides of the clouds golden before color escapes from the day. At 10 in the evening it still light. The gloaming time.

One June, we backpacked to Mad River. It was mid-week and we had the trail to ourselves. We set up camp on the side of a large flower filled meadow. After dinner, we decided to take our sleeping bags out to the middle of the meadow to watch the stars come out. At 10 pm, the sky was still aglow with the rays of the set sun and we could easily see our camp. By 11 pm, most of the meadow was in dark but only one or two stars could be seen. We were done in by the long twilight. Too late for us wait any longer so we stumbled back to camp and slumber.

Solstice Tonight is the solstice. The morning was partially cloudy but by noon a storm had blown in. The rain was pouring, lightening sparking and thunder booming. An ominous start to summer. But early in the evening, the clouds broke and the deck dried out. It was crisp and fresh; perfect for a fire. We started up the chimnea and toasted the longest night.

Blog Redux

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

I have been unable to write using the computer. It is so strange but my mind goes blank when faced with a cursor and a blank screen. I’ve decided to go back to pen and paper. The physical clinch of the fingers and the sound of the pen scratching the paper; the tactile helps this ancient brain.

I want to start up my blog again and do more than just record the passing day. So much is going on and writing can be a good outlet. But so much of the time I feel distracted … or is it sedated… by the bombardment of TV and the lure of the internet. The ability to focus and concentrate seems to slip away. I look up and the evening has passed. I am going to set aside time in the evening and make an effort to write and exercise my brain.

I’m committed now.

WBW #10 – Belle Pente Reserve Pinot Gris 2003

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

The door opened and my husband walked in.

“Hello… How was your day?” He looked down at the sauce pan I was stirring.

“Is that a cube of butter? Oh my god what are we having for dinner?”

“It is Wine Blogging Wednesday. I’m making the dish for us to taste with the wine. Sturgeon with beurre blanc sauce. It will be perfect with the Belle Pente Pinot Gris”.

This is the 10th Wine Blogging Wednesday tasting. The tasting is White Pinot hosted by Alice of My Adventures in the Breadbox.

I’ve got to put WWB in my calendar. I didn’t remember until Lenn blogged the reminder. Last Saturday, I prepared some fresh Taylor Shellfish mussels from University farmer’s market which would have been perfect with a Pinot Gris but I forgot.

I knew exactly what I would taste; an Oregon Pinot Gris. Oregon has been making stellar Pinot Gris since the varietal was first introduced to the state back in 1965. Oregon’s climate is similar Alsace with long northern summer days and a cool autumn. The Oregon style is between the Italian Pinot Grigio which is light and acidy and the more rich floral Tokay-Pinot Gris style of Alsace. I love them! Plus there are many Oregon Pinot Gris available here in the Pacific NW.

The harder task was to decide which one to taste. Adelsheim, Chehalem, A to Z, King Estate, Willakenzie are all great Pinot Gris which I have tasted. But I wanted to try something new. Avalon Wine has a great site on Oregon wines and includes a great write up on Oregon Pinot Gris. Their write up on Pinot Gris also includes several interesting recipes. The Stark Street Sturgeon recipe caught my eye. Perfect, I decided to swing by our local Whole Food’s Market to pick up the sturgeon and an Oregon Pinot Gris.

They had several interesting ones. The wine buyer said that the Belle Pente would be good with halibut, salmon and even pork topped with applesauce. Perfect. Sturgeon tastes similar to pork.

pinot2 My wine is Belle Pente Reserve Pinot Gris 2003 – Willamette Valley. I was intrigued to find out that the winery is located in Carlton. My uncle Chris lived in Carlton and my family spent several summer vacations visiting Carlton when I was in high school. This was back in 1971 just as the area was starting to plant grapes in the Yamhill Valley.

Some information about the winery from the label:

Belle Pente (bell-pont) means “beautiful slope” – a perfect description for our south-southwest facing hillside overlooking the misty shrouds of Oregon’s coast range mountains. Our vineyards are planted with the traditional grapes of Burgundy and Alsace, and wines are made gently and naturally to highlight varietal fruit flavors and unique characteristics of each vineyard site.

The tasting notes on the back of the bottle:

Willamette Valley Reserve Pinot Gris is blended from the finest blocks of our Estate and other specially selected Yamhill County vineyards. The grapes are harvested late to achieve a high degree of ripeness and maturity. Following a long cool fermentation in large oak ovals and neutral oak barrels, the wine is aged sur lie to gain body.

Their website has some notes on the 2002 release. They model their wine after the Grand Cru Alsace style. And they do it well.

The color is golden yellow. There is good fruit with hints of pear and tropical fruit with some hint of mineral. There has a medium body and good balance of alcohol which makes the wine stand up to well to food. It is excellent wine and I highly recommend it.

And the sauce? It was very good. Even hubby who was originally aghast loved it. The wine and the dinner made an ordinary weekday special.

3 months to go!

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

We have our 4th night arranged in Namaqualand. We decided to stay at Naries Guest Farm which is west of Springbok. This will allow us to stay in a different area than Springbok but not move that far. It is full board since it is out of town which will be nice. It is turning out that maybe half of the places we will be staying are full board.

I have also been corresponding with Mariette at Papkuilsfontein. She has been so helpful finalizing our booking and arranging a tour.

I have one last accommodation to find. After Namaqualand and the Western Cape, we are returning to Capetown to stay for 5 days. We want to get a rental or self-catering as they are called in South Africa. I have found many listings and a lot of them look great. There seems to be everything from a summer beach cottage to high end luxury condos. Many of the owners consider September to be low season in Capetown so the places so far have not been too expensive. Almost everything is available by the day so it is easy to get one for 5 days instead of a week.

There are also several portals to help locate the units. So far, I like South Africa Explored. The web site is extremely well organized. I really like the clickable map which will show all the accommodations. You can then sort them be hotel, guest house or self-catering. It definitely is making it easy to quickly review many options. Unfortunately, I just don’t have a good handle on the different suburbs and if they would be a good place to stay. Or if we should stay in Capetown instead.

I also have to get cars for both SA and Namibia. I’ve checked Auto Europe and they have some great deals for SA so I’m going to definitely use them. Unfortunately, they don’t have agents in Namibia so I’ll use the Cardboard box to rent.

I found a great tool to use for planning our trip. I’ve started using Backpackit which is an on-line organizer. I don’t use a Palm or other organizer so this is a good tool for me and a great replacement for notebooks.

Airline tickets

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

I know this sounds strange but I got such a rush today opening my mailbox and seeing a thick envelope from Elizabeth Holmes Travel. We purchased our tickets several weeks ago but they physically arrived today.

Actually, it is strange to get paper tickets. We haven’t had paper tickets since our trip to Chile over a year and half ago. But we purchased our tickets through a consoldator and paid cash to get a good price. Considering how many legs our trip is I’m not surprised that we didn’t receive two envelopes.

Seattle – Atlanta
Atlanta – Johannesburg
Johnnesburg – Cape Town
Cape Town – Windhoek Namibia
Windhoek – Johannesburg
Johannesburg – Atlanta
Atlanta – Seattle

Hmmm… I definitely need to look into noise cancelling headsets.

Botanical Safari update

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

The planning is going well. We have our plane tickets and a deposit on the Namibia leg of out trip. We finally got a chance to sit down and do some more planning on Saturday. We tackled the Northern Cape or Namaqualand portion of the trip.

First off, we have our two nights at Bushmans Kloof. This is our luxury blowout of the trip. It just happens that we will be there on the night of our 30th anniversary so this is the major splurge of the trip. (As if the airlines tickets were not a slurge??!!) Next we move up to Namaqualand and we are staying three nights in Springbok. We have a reservation at Mountain View Guest House. Unfortunately, they were booked on Saturday, so I spent some tonight looking for fill in accomodations. We hope to stay 4 nights in this area and also day a long day trip to Richtersveld National Park on the border of Namibia. But first we need to get our accomodations.

After Springbok, we are moving back south towards Capetown. We have booked three nights in Papkuilsfontein Farm. Their self-catering cottages were booked so we will stay in the guesthouse. This area sounds very interesting. This area is a transition area between the fynbos and karoo. It is near Nieuwoudtville which is the indigenous bulb capitol of the world. We are also going to take a tour of Glenlyon Farm by Niel McGregor.

I am getting so excited.

WBW# 9 – Chateau de Trinquevedel Rosé 2002

Travels with George and Marta Posted on by

peillon A warm summer evening in perched village in Southern France; that is the memory that always comes to mind when I drink a glass of Rosé.

To many, a pink wine means a sweet blush wine such as White Zinfandel. That’s what I thought. I would run away when ever anyone suggested serving me a blush wine. It was too sweet.

A dry Rosé is quite a different wine from the cheap blush wines. I discovered the dry Rosé wines of southern France on a 1996 trip to Nice and Corsica. We were sitting on the Cours Saleya having dinner and I noticed everyone was drinking a bottle of pink wine. What the hell, when in France do as the French do. We ordered a Rosé and it changed my drinking habits.

Every summer I search out Rosé wines. The selection is often limited to a few bottles. My favorites always end up being from France, usually Rhone or Provence. Needless to say, I was very happy when I saw that Becks and Posh’s choice for WBW #9 was Pink wine.

tavel French Rosés are just arriving here in Seattle. I was fortunate enough to fine a nice Rosé from Tavel; Chateau de Trinquevedel 2002 imported by Kermit Lynch.

The Tavel appellation is located in Southern Rhône northwest of Avignon. It is the best known region in France for rosé and is a rosé-only appellation. Tavel wines are a blend of up to 7 different grapes. Grenache is the primary grape with up to 60% of the wine made up of Grenache. Cinault is the next primary grape with no less than 15%. The other red grapes used Carignan, Mourvedre, Syrah and white grapes used are Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picoupol and Calitor.

I found this nice write up of in the New Pioneer Co-op newsletter from Iowa!

Chateau De Trinquevedel Tavel ’02. If you have never found a Rosé wine that you liked, this will be the wine to change your mind. Hands down, this is the single best Rosé that has ever passed my lips and made a joyous pilgrimage to my gullet. Upon leaving the winery we were presented with a case of this elixir, and a select group of us chose to slake out thirst for the next six nights before dinner by guzzling a few glasses. It knocked the dust right out of our throats. There are nine grapes permitted in the blend and the Demoulin family, God bless, use each and every one of them.

This wine is very rich in color. It certainly is the heaviest and reddest looking Rosé that I have encountered. It has a massive nose of crushed strawberries and watermelon. It is fat, ripe, rich and decadent in the mouth, and then comes a long, cleansing finish. This wine is simply a delight to drink, and as I have said about fun wines before, if you don’t like this wine you’re probably the kind of person that kicks puppies and likes to make small children cry. Shame on you!

The wine is dark pink in color. You can immediately smell the red fruit. The taste is strawberry-watermelon with good balance of minerals and acidity. Crisp and dry. Drinking a glass felt like summer. This wine is light enough for appetizers but also strong enough to stand up to salmon or cheese. But do watch out for the alcohol level. It is a high 14%! Cost $15.

I had to get a jump on the upcoming salmon season. For dinner, I had a pan-friend filet of sockeye salmon, a caprese salad of organic grape tomatoes and mozzarella and some bi-colored corn on the cob. Time to roll out the BBQ.