Christmas 2008 – Newsletter

This past year seems to have flown by at an unbelievable rate.  Maybe it is because  we live in fairly “dramatic” times. Economically it has been a challenging time to say the least, and politically, well, who needs a Red Bull when you live here!

For some reason we South Africans seem to take crisis and change in our stride … Earlier this year I wrote  a letter to a friend in the UK by saying inter alia “..we have a new President,  the rand is halving in value, and totally unseasonal October rainfalls all go to confirm that the we are experiencing a totally normal week”.  So while the UK press might preach doom and gloom, although we are not exactly lighting cigars, there still seems to be some cheer, and hopefully this will be reflected in our Christmas wine stockings (pun intended!)

I attach my current wine list for interest, though alas only applicable to wines delivered in South Africa. The freight service that I use to send my wine to other parts of the country is extremely efficient, with most deliveries completed in three or four days.  As you will see there are two new additions to the range – a Semillon from Darling and a straight Shiraz from Barrydale in the Klein Karoo.  Living in Darling,  the link to the former is self evident, while the connection with the Barrydale wine is a little cottage we own there (and visit far too rarely) and a location that  helps me put some gems into place. Both of these are lovely wines and the Semillon is really something different and I highly recommend that you try it!

Most important of all however is to wish you and your family a  blessed and joyous Christmas, and may 2009 be a year of fine wines and even more so, fine times.

Yours

Charles Withington