Newsletter and Latest News

With the calendar summer starting, we've prepared not only fantastic offers but also several additional topics for you. The calendar summer marks the longest day of the year.

Interestingly, the length of the day in Landsberg is a total of 16 hours. Berlin enjoys 47 minutes more daylight, while Hamburg has a full hour extra. In contrast, Cape Town has to make do with just under 10 hours of daylight, meaning you have to hurry home to arrive before dark.

Returning to our summer wine award winner for 2023, we unanimously selected the De Krans Garden Route Sauvignon Blanc 2022, a wonderfully expressive representative of its varietal. Among the several Sauvignon Blancs we tasted, it stood out significantly. First due to the flavor that perfectly matched our taste and also due to its attractive pricing, making this high quality more than agreeable. This wine hails from the “Upper Langkloof” appellation in the Karoo, which is classified under “Wine of Origin Western Cape.” We're keen to hear more from “Upper Langkloof” in the future.

Moreover, we have a recommendation for the Bosman Upper Hemel en Aarde Sauvignon Blanc 2022 from our favourite wine region, Hemel en Aarde Valley.

Thematically connected, and exciting for those who enjoy something particularly fresh, are our second summer recommendation as the first 2023 vintages have just arrived at an introductory price. Our friends at Van Loveren acted fast, and the team at Diemersdal was also quick off the mark this year.

To conclude, we’d like to share a unique refreshing treat: vanilla ice cream drizzled with high-quality olive oil, enhanced with a hint of lemon zest. It may sound unusual and even our author needed some convincing to try it, but it is exceptionally delicious and perhaps the simplest dessert ever. For those who want to try it without visiting us, we also have a small supply of this delightful oil available in the shop.

Now, we shift gears and briefly discuss current events in the Western Cape of South Africa. Time and again, we are reminded just how closely joy and sorrow lie together, often two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, this coin's statistics are not evenly distributed. The Cape winter has this year proven to be exceptionally wet and bitterly cold.

In the last 14 days, the rain has filled the massive dams from around 60 to over 90%, equating to approximately 300 billion liters—too much to even conceive.

This also explains the widespread flooding affecting the Western Cape, with substantial damage to infrastructure and the evacuation of multiple regions occurring. Water has risen in thousands of businesses, making it hard to fathom what life is like for the millions enduring this weather in makeshift dwellings.

The disaster response teams are doing their best, and many NGOs are working around the clock to provide relief to the most affected individuals. Esmari, our logistician in the Cape, is cooking for 40 homeless people in Paarl, and our LifeLines kindergarten in Grabouw is now preparing four meals a week for around 500 people, often the only source of a warm meal for them.

If you wish to help, our LifeLines association is one of many options. If you’re interested, please consider donating so that we might extend assistance for more days.

That’s all for today; we will connect with you again next week.

(Offers valid from 21.06.-28.06.2023)