 What does one do on a hot Friday afternoon when you are swamped with work and are staring at a 4hr deadline? Well, if you are me, go to lunch of course! Well in my defense, I had to run a few errands and so I was basically killing two birds with one stone. I had three other accomplices with me so the decision to go to lunch was not 100% mine. I was unduly influenced. We went off to The Hub mall in Karen and decide to sit at the La Cascina restaurant that is right in the main central area of the mall. It’s an Italian restaurant with an outdoorsy area perfect for the heat and the breeze was quite welcome. Our friendly waitress brought us the menus and being myself, I quickly thumbed through the wine list. Hey, important things first. It is a good wine list, heavy on Italian wines, obviously, but covers a different variety of tastes. They however have 21 different wines offered by the glass and this is something I appreciate. Just note that it is quite tricky to keep so many wines open and fresh and thus in such situations, one always runs the risk of getting a bottle that has been open to long. What you get in variety, you MAY lose in optimal drinkability. So, please do not hesitate to ask for a tiny sip to taste so that you can make sure that it is to your taste. I wanted something light to eat as I had to go back to work and a heavy stomach was not going to be ideal. I settled for the beef carpaccio with rucola, artichokes and parmesan.  Beef carpaccio with rucola, artichoke and parmesan. Now, this presented a slight problem because while it is beef, it is a very delicate dish with a lot freshness. Luckily, the wine list had just the ticket. Lamura; a Sicilian wine that’s organic to boot. The wine was a Nero D’avola, which is an indegenous Italian red grape native to Sicily. This wine was easy drinking and fresh with notes of cherry, raspberry, sweet spice and a hint of earth. It was pleasant to drink on its own, but went very well with the dish. It had a medium body, mild tannins and enough acidity to compliment the food. Exactly what was needed.
If ever you are in search of a good Italian meal with good wine as you ran errands around the Karen shopping center, try La Cascina and let me know what you thought about it. Maybe even call me, your ever faithful wine friend. Saluti! PS. Yes, I did meet my deadline. Just goes to show what a meal with a good glass of wine can do!  At the time of this article, Argentina is the world’s 6th largest producer of wine and most of that wine is from Mendoza. Mendoza is Argentina’s most important wine region accounting for nearly two thirds of the country’s wine production. 70% of Argentina’s vineyards are here in Mendoza . One cannot mention wine in Mendoza, or wine in Argentina really, without mentioning MALBEC! This beautiful french grape found its way to Argentina by way of by a French agronomist, Miguel Aimé Pouget. Let’s take a look at Malbec’s new home… Located in the Eastern foothills of the Andes and on the same latitude as Morocco, it has some of the highest altitude vineyards in the world. In the rainshadows of the Andes, the climate is arid and the massive flat vineyards are irrigated from the mountains by a network of canals begun by the native dwellers (Incas and Huarpes) centuries ago.  Argentinian vineyards at the foot of the Andes. Photo courtesy Tablethotels Physical factors for Mendoza’s success include:
The Maipu region, NOT to be CONFUSED with Maipo Valley in Chile, is home to some of Mendoza’s biggest wine names, such as Catena Zapata, and produces bright, intense, red wines made from Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Lujan de Cuyo is the first region in Argentina to be recognized as an appellation. It is well known for production of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Torrontes as well as the ever present Malbec. Uco Valley has really made a name for itself in the production of great Malbecs. It’s at the highest elevation closest to the mountains. Aside from Chardonnay, Uco Valley is also a reputable producer of Torrontes wine . Soils here are clay and rock with a sandy surface. Mendoza also benefits from having a picturesque, fantasy like landscape that lends itself to beautiful wine tours ala Napa Valley. Maybe, one day you can go on a bike tour in the lovely wineries of Maipu or Uco Valley. And if you do, have a glass of Malbec and think of me, your ever faithful wine friend. Salud y amor y tiempo para disfutario!  We’re back at Off The Vine; Under The influence’s tasting room! At an exclusive wine AND gin tasting. This tasting is quite special as it is being led by the owner and winemaker of the wines and gin himself, the one and only Joseph Dhafana. It is always endearing when one can have a tasting led by the person that is involved in the production of the wine as the personal connection to the wine really comes through, and the experience comes alive. If your first thought is ‘Who is Joseph Dhafana?’, then I need you to put a pause on this article and run to Google. Better still, head to YouTube and search ‘Blind Ambition Trailer’. I’ll wait. You’re back? Good. Now that you have familiarized yourself with the superstar, you can understand our collective excitement at this very special tasting. He is somewhat of a legend among us sommeliers. Although you would not be able to tell as he is a quiet, affable man who is very open and very inclusive. Were you to meet him, you would not know that he regularly rubs shoulders with A list stars such as Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade. Personally, my first time meeting Joseph was in early 2020 at Sierra Brasserie when we were still blissfully unaware of Covid-19 and I was as excited this time around as I was then.  Walking into the tasting room I was served a refreshing glass of Cap Classique by Melissa Mwende which was a great start to the afternoon. The room was buzzing with energy as everyone filed in, ranging from restauranteurs such as Wahome from Cellars Grill to wine enthusiasts that were personally invited by the importer. The Mosi wines are named after the Victoria Falls – Mosi Oa Tunya- meaning, the smoke that thunders. An ode to Joseph’s homeland of Zimbabwe. The labels of these wines have a beautiful picture of the falls that have been digitally enhanced. If you get the ‘Label in Motion App’ and view the label through it, you are in for a surprise! In fact, all of the Mosi products have a story behind their name, each very personal to Joseph and his journey. We begin by tasting the Gin.  Mosi ‘Wamambo’ Gin. Wamambo meaning, from the clan of kings. Joseph crafted this gin with mindfulness and culture at the heart of it. He infuses local and foreign ingredients to produce a gin that is worldly yet authentic. He uses 6 botanicals. Lipia Japanica being the main one. Called Zumbani in Zimbabwe, he forages this wild mint that has for centuries been used as a local remedy for various ailments from the bushes of Chirumhanzu. Silverleaf treeberg, Rooibos, Schezwan pepper from China are also included with Italian juniper rounding out the aromatics. The gin has aromas of citrus and thyme and is polished yet sweet. It can be enjoyed in different ways. Joseph prefers it with San Pellegrino sparkling water and a lady in attendance called Meera emphasized that she would have it on its own on the rocks. Victoria Munywoki loved its different dimensions and called it ‘dangerously good.’ We all agreed as we downed our last sips.  Dianne and Joseph  We closed the night with Victoria and Dianne Chimboza of Under The Influence presenting Joseph with a gift from Kenya Whenever you have a bottle of Mosi Wines in your possession, please pour a glass and think of me your wine friend. Mufaro!!
 I left Karen mid-afternoon headed down towards the warehouse district off Mombasa Rd – ICD. In my phone was my invitation to a wine introduction tasting with a special note from the host Lynette to call her should I get lost. Lost..? My anxiety over getting lost on a highway and driving to another town kicked in. Google, please be my guide. I got there in one piece and on time! Fantastic! As I walked in I was greeted by the lovely staff at Under The Influence and was ushered into the new tasting room above their offices. Off The Vine is the name and it’s a quaint, clean, tastefully decorated space overlooking the wide open ICD road. Victoria Munywoki was already there and right behind me was miss. Winenjiru my WSET wine teacher. Here we met a lovely, bubbly South African lady named Julia Moore. She is the communication manager at Bosman wines and is the Boss Lady referred to in the title! A nickname given to her by a guest at the tasting after the third-ish wine. We were poured a glass of Generation 8 Rose – more on this later- and began chatting away as we awaited arrival of the rest of the guests. It is in this conversation that the true beauty behind the Bosman Family Vineyards was revealed. Julia informed us that the reason their new line of wine is named Generation 8 is that the winery is under the 8th generation of the Bosman family! Wow! 8 generations of tradition and perseverance since the vineyards were started in 1810. Not only that, but some of the farm workers are on their 5th generation. The collective skill and expertise must be on 10. Longevity isn’t the only noteworthy thing about the vineyards. 260 employees at Bosman own 26 percent of the company stake making it the largest land reform transaction in the South African wine industry. They have 5 winemakers and they are all women. This is a great boon for the voice of women in the wine world. They have the Adama Wines branch that makes the HER Wines. Here every last employee is a woman hence the name of the wine. And not just women, but black women. From the winemaker Praisy Dlamini, down to the person that does payroll. Now this is empowerment.  Bosman wines have also taken it upon themselves to embrace a more environmentally sustainable approach to producing wine. They have stopped using Roundup which is very harmful to general plant life, animal health, including humans and the overall environment. They now uses gentler pesticides spread by drone to reduce diesel use and tractor soil compaction. Bosman nurseries also produce 60% of the grape vines in South Africa (wine grapes, table grapes and raisin grapes). What DOESN’T this brand do? By this time all the invited guests had shown up and now we got down to the fun part. Wine tasting!  Wine tasting attendees with ms. Julia in the middle holding a bottle of Bosman Below are the wines we tasted and you can use this as a guide when you see these on the shelves or on a wine list.
Bosman Generation 8 Rose: A dry rose with notes of wild strawberry with good fresh acidity. Bosman Generation 8 Chenin Blanc: A full bodied chenin with Apricot notes and flavours because 2% of the grapes in the wine are dried on old apricot drying racks. Very interesting. Bosman Generation 8 Merlot: A fruit forward wine with notes of cherry, red beries and green peppers with just a touch of residual sugar to round it out. P. S This is not a sweet wine. Bosman Generation 8 Shiraz: A pleasant wine with dried fruit, black pepper, tobacco and blackberry flavors. Can be had on its own or with a meat dish. Bosman Generation 8 Cabernet Sauvignon: This approachable Cabernet Sauvignon is full bodied, with notes of blackruits, bell pepper and a long finish. Her Sauvignon Blanc: Intense nose of citrus, passion fruit and grass. Reminiscent of a New Zealand wine. The acid is medium so if high acid is a problem for you, then this is the Sauvignon Blanc for you. Her Pinotage: This wine came in 3rd at the Old Mutual trophy show and one can see why. A very easy drinking pinotage with juicy strawberry, raspberry and sweet spice flavours. All the wines were a hit and we wound up the tasting enjoying the rest of the wine and chatting away. If ever you are in need of well made, approachable, easy drinking wine, please don’t hesitate to reach for a bottle or Bosman or HER. You won’t regret it. And, as you are enjoying your glass of HER, please remember me, your wine friend. Injabulo!   Returns on Wine Investments
Annual returns of 10-15 percent are typical in the wine industry. However, some rare bottles may perform exceptionally well, yielding astonishing results of up to 150-200 percent. The risk is almost non-existent, and the returns are mostly stable. Wine is a growing asset, and it is rare to lose money on it. Wine has no correlation with the stock market, making it a safe investment. During the 2008 recession, the S&P 500 fell 38.5 per cent, while the Liv-ex 1000 for wines fell only 0.6 percent. When the pandemic began in March 2020, the S&P 500 fell 25 per cent, while the Liv-ex 1000 exchange fell only 4 per cent. Steps to keep in mind while investing in wine Research is important in any kind of investment. As mentioned earlier, people buy wine out of pleasure, it is important to do research on which wine people have bought in the last few years and which one they might be interested in buying after a few years. Experts say that you need a minimum of $10,000 to start investing in fine wine. There’s a wide range of wine available and it is good to maintain a portfolio of different kinds of wine such as Burgundy Wines and Super Tuscans and Barolos.  Grant’s Blended Scotch Whisky rolls out its award-winning 12-year-old whisky in Mombasa Kenya at an event held on May 5th at the Tamarind. Hosted by Kariuki Mukii, William Grant’s Prestige On-Trade Manager for East Africa the evening unveiled the bold new bottle worthy of the gold medal-winning liquid inside. The recipient of numerous awards (IWSC Award, World Whisky Awards), Grant’s has been renowned for its aged whisky for many years. Enjoyed the world over, Grant’s Whisky is the third largest blended Scotch whisky brand. Grant’s Triple Wood 12’s secret sauce is the layering of flavour provided by the three barrels used to age this exceptional liquid. It’s Grant’s third barrel – the revered sherry cask – that dials the quality up a notch and provides an extra layer of distinctive flavour. After all, two barrels make it good, the third makes it Grant’s.  Boasting a distinctive, sleek, black triangular bottle design, modern iconography, and containing an industry-revered liquid within, Grant’s Triple Wood 12 is part of the blended Scotch brand’s ambitious international growth plan. Grant’s is now going after a bigger slice of the premium Blended Scotch Whisky pie, starting with a focused marketing, sales, and distribution drive in twelve key global markets, including Kenya. Grant’s Triple Wood 12 takes a creamy, fruity spirit and ages it in three barrels, each providing a distinctive layer of flavour to the final blend. Refilled bourbon barrels provide sweetness, American oak gives it hints of vanilla, and a top-quality sherry cask (instead of virgin oak) adds a sweet, spicy finish. All liquid is aged for a minimum of 12 years before blending to create a smooth, balanced final product that’s ideal to enjoy in a variety of forms — over ice with an orange peel to accentuate the fruity notes, in a long, refreshing serve like a Grant’s & Soda, or in a Cola’d Fashioned, Grant’s simple take on a classic Old Fashioned.   If you visit a wine store with knowledgeable and honest attendants, it certainly helps but if you’re braving it alone (like most people do) a reliable wine app with an abundance of information and reviews from critics and fellow wine drinkers is the way to go in 2022. Armed with these excellent and mostly free wine apps, you can become a more frequent and confident wine buyer, finding better wine or event hidden gems. Since most of these apps let you compare wine prices both from online and local vendors, you’ll never overpay for a bottle again. Vivino Wine App  This is the most crowd-sourced application with tons of reviews and ratings. It is a user-friendly app which also lets you order wine for delivery. There are a number of apps that let you scan a wine label to get information about the wine, but we found the Vivino Wine Scanner app provides the most useful information. It also has more users than any other app (the website says 11.3 million). After you take a photo of a label, it gives you an average rating and price so you know if you are holding a good wine at a good price. You can also scan the text of a wine list should you find yourself clueless in a restaurant. In addition to rating and price, Vivino provides notes about the type of grape used in the wine, info about the winery that made the wine and a variety of additional rankings for that wine within its winery, region, country and world. You can read reviews from other Vivino users and add your own, but what I find fun and interesting are the winemaker’s notes (as in, “hints of toffee, cherry, fig, chocolate”). The wines you scan are saved to a My Wines list and will eventually build a taste profile, and the app will recommend other wines that fit your profile. The app also recognizes the labels for beer and spirits but with less success than wine labels. Wine Spectator Ratings  Wine Spectator is the industry standard for wine ratings. If you start to stock a wine cellar’s worth of wine, the WineRatings Plus app from Wine Spectator magazine will prove useful. Signing up for the monthly subscription ($2.99, £2.29, AU$3.79) gets you Wine Spectator’s ratings and reviews, useful how-to articles and videos, as well as interesting vintage charts and a feed of wine-related news articles You may also like their unique articles and videos with great insights on food pairings and general news in the industry. Wine Searcher  Some apps force you to pay for scanning privileges and most require you to create an account. With Wine-Searcher, you get free and immediate scanning capabilities. It also shows you critic scores and will list any prizes the wine has won, but you’ll need to pay $8.99 a month via an in-app purchase for the Pro-level app.It shows you the average price for the bottle you scanned along with information about the grape, region and food suggestions.
If you want to scan more than 50 labels and get more critics notes and prices from more than just sponsored merchants. It also recognizes beer and spirits labels and was better at recognizing spirits than Vivino.  To the tune of 5,700 exhibitors from 62 countries
Over 38,000 trade visitors from 145 countries Numerous business deals closed ProWein 2022 has made an impressive comeback after the pandemic-induced compulsory break. The atmosphere in the 13 exhibition halls was extremely positive over the three days of the event, and it became more than evident: The in-person format with personal exchange, live tastings and a comprehensive programme of expert events is second to none. What’s more: boasting 5,700 exhibitors from 62 countries and over 38,000 trade visitors from 145 countries ProWein is the central industry event and the international business platform “par excellence”. “Due to the Covid peak in the 1st quarter of the year we had to postpone all our spring trade fairs to May and June and/or call them off completely, as was the case with boot,” explains Erhard Wienkamp, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf, and goes on to say: “At this juncture we would like to explicitly thank our exhibitors and visitors for endorsing the postponement to May and for backing ProWein! Obviously, their commitment has paid off – because there are numerous concluded business deals reported by exhibitors.” ProWein’s special USP is its extremely broad international coverage on both the supply and demand sides. “ProWein is the only international trade fair that covers the complete world market. Correspondingly international are the visitors: two thirds of the 38,000 professionals from specialist retail, food retail and hospitality who travelled to ProWein to Düsseldorf, come from abroad,” underlines Michael Degen, Executive Director Messe Düsseldorf. Add to this the extremely high decision-making competence of visitors: also two thirds of the wine and spirits professionals attending are involved in the business deals in a decision-making capacity. The relevance of the in-person format is also emphasised by the German Wine Institute as a conceptual sponsor: “After the 3-year absence the German exhibitors were happy to have personal conversations with their customers again. Their presentations naturally focused on the 2021 vintage white wines, which were received very well by both German and international wine experts thanks to their freshness and crispness,” explains Monika Reule, Managing Director at DWI, and adds: “Not least the new hall concept has contributed to more time and calmness for talks with customers and made for a very professional atmosphere overall. At the same time, the quality of international trade visitors, who hailed predominantly from the European region, was highly praised.” VDP also gave a positive verdict: “After two years of pandemic there were fewer but very interested and above all selected, high-quality trade visitors at the trade fair so there was more room and more time for in-depth conversations. What remains in the end, however, is that despite a lot of change and the creativity required for new concepts, personal contact is irreplaceable and that the reunion of VDP vintners with international friends on German soil is centrestage,” says Theresa Olkus, Managing Director VDP, summing it up. The international origin of visitors is the most key criterion for Semper idem Underberg AG. Celebrating their 175-year anniversary this year they are driving global growth and have launched an international expansion programme with a focus on their global core markets. “ProWein is the ideal platform for pursuing our globalisation strategy. Düsseldorf’s global No. 1 trade fair for wines and spirits kicks off the international roll-out of our new corporate image while serving as a presentation platform for the latest developments in our brands Underberg, Asbach, PITÚ and XUXU,” explains Udo Bruns, Director International Business Semper Idem Underberg AG. Les Grands Chais de France also underlines how important the international spread of visitors and decision-making competence is for them. “We are so delighted that things are finally getting going again after three years and ProWein is being held in Düsseldorf. We succeeded in reaching out to our customers – especially the buyers from Europe, the USA and Africa – and concluding good business deals,” says Anne-Laure Rayne-Helfrich, Marketing Executive Assistant at Les Grands Chais de France, taking stock and adds: “To us ProWein is also so relevant because we can reach our essential target groups here – in concrete terms specialist retail and importers and exporters.” Also giving a positive verdict Miguel A. Torres, President and 4th generation of Familia Torres, said: “To us this year’s ProWein has presented a very high-quality level. The new hall concept has contributed to a more relaxed and yet very professional atmosphere overall. We also clearly noticed this during talks with our customers.” This statement is also endorsed by Sandro Sartor, Managing Director EMEA at Constellation Brands, owner of more than 200 wine and spirits brands worldwide. “For our business this year’s ProWein has been very important. We managed to conclude concrete deals with customers from Europe, the USA and even Korea,” stresses Sandro Sartor, who is also Managing Director EMEA at the Ruffino Winery in Italy. Premieres: “urban gastronomy” and “Caravanning & Wine” “We have realised two very successful premieres thereby injecting a breath of fresh air into ProWein: the Lounge “urban gastronomy@ProWein” and the Special Show “Caravanning & Wine”, a cooperation between ProWein and CARAVAN SALON,” explains Bastian Mingers, Project Director of ProWein. The hip hop-focused Lounge targeted food service providers and their service staff with a tailor-made programme. The five daily workshops with tastings and interviews were geared to the different levels of expertise of hospitality staff – from beginners to professionals. The trend theme wine tourism – for many vintners an important sales-promoting and image-building channel – was picked up by the Special Show ‘Caravanning & Wine’. At this Special Show visitors and/or vintners were able to learn about the fascination of mobile vacationing as well as the matching selection of vehicles for rent and accommodation at wine estates. Other key facts at a glance:
 No matter how specific your special interests are, ProWein is the right address. Take the opportunity now to meet with the entire wine and spirits industry and harmonise enjoyment and business to your heart’s content in a familiar professional atmosphere. Whatever you’re personally interested in, there is a unique range of products from all over the world to offer. Around 5 500 exhibitors from over 60 countries. The Wine Story team will be present and we shall definitely carry our audience along with us.  So don’t hesitate any longer and buy your ticket today for ProWein 2022. After a break of 1 153 days, this year we are saying “Let’s reunite for business!” and looking forward to seeing everyone who will make this ProWein a success.
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