Sea Bream and Shiraz

Lunch at Zest Bistro in Pretoria with Ray Edwards, irrepressible liquor executive for Spar who are now the largest chain of liquor retailers in the country. To start, scallops with an unwooded Olive Brook Chardonnay 2009, a spectacular combination marrying the meaty sweetness of the scallops with the tropical fruit of chardonnay for once not masked by toasty oak and rounded off with a citrus zing. As third diner Tinus van Niekerk said “this is an intellectual wine rather than a fashion statement.”

Ray is a dynamo in the industry and now that he has found out he pays a substantial levy to WOSA (Wines of SA, the exporters association) he is super keen in having a say in how that money is spent. As someone once said “no taxation without representation.” Involvement by experienced marketers like Ray can only benefit WOSA’s efforts.

Ray Edwards

Mains were even better. Offered a choice of Sea Bream or Loch Duart Salmon, I went Bream and Ray went Salmon, but then he is a serious whisky wonk. To drink, the top red of last year’s Orange River Winemaker of the Year Competition – an unwooded 2009 Shiraz from Kakamas. An astonishing wine with fresh and vibrant fruit that kicked the old “white wine with fish” cliché into a cocked hat. Scott Wood should investigate this red to match his delicate fish dishes at Kyoto Garden, IMHO the best fish restaurant in Cape Town.