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BUSINESS DAY, 7-Oct-2011 Page 4CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

4 FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER 2011 B u s i n ess Day

H o m e Fr o n t

HOMETALK — Wi n e

Whales of wine from Walker BayOn a recent visit to the new Hermanus Wineroute, Graham Howe tasted his way up and downthe Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

SOME of SA’s most excit-ing cool-climate winesare coming out of theHemel-en-Aarde Valley’s

maritime vineyards. While Sauvi-gnon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pino-tage and Pinot Noir are the sig-nature varieties of this region, oth-er new Rhône-style wines such asViognier, Shiraz, Grenache andMourvedre are coming to the fore.If you’re in Walker Bay over thecoming summer season, visit oneof the 20 or so cellars located insome of the most stunning loca-tions in the Cape — from Ataraxiaand Creation to Sumaridge andSouthern Right — where themountains meet the sea.NEW 2010 RELEASESAtaraxia Sauvignon Blanc 2011.The newest release from KevinGrant is made from cool-climategrapes from “extreme, radical andindividual vineyards”. Visitors ringthe bell at the tasting chapel onHemel-en-Aarde Ridge where thewinemaker delivers a sermon onfruit purity, texture and “suckingon a river pebble” m i n e r a l i t y.Bouchard Finlayson ChardonnaySans Barrique 2010. Celebrating20 vintages at his cellar in theHemel-en-Aarde Valley, Peter Fin-layson continues his Burgundianquest to explore all aspects ofChardonnay. This unwooded ver-sion expresses the pure varietalfruit and delicate minerality of

Crocodile’s Lair vineyard.Creation Viognier 2011. One of thebest food and wine pairings in thewinelands make this acclaimedcellar high on Hemel-en-AardeRidge a gastronomic destination. Itasted a pair of winemaker JCMartin’s 2011 releases — a sublimeSauvignon Blanc/Semillon blendand Viognier with alluring peachand apricot blossom aromas.Elemental Bob The Turkish 2008.One of three “single barrel” ar -tisanal wines made by CraigSheard, the innovative winemakerat Spookfontein in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. While The Turkishblend cleverly marries the exoticflavours of Barbera and Gewurz-traminer, the Delight blend bringstogether Barbera and Syrah.Felicité Pinot Noir 2011. A brilliantblend of fruit from older vineyardsin Eilandia, Robertson and Elginwith a splash of Cinsaut showcasesthe perfumed cherry and spice ofthis variety. This cult wine fromNewton Johnson, a specialistPinot Noir producer in Hemel-en-Aarde, is one of three styles whichshowcase the new terroir.Hamilton Russell Chardonnay20 10. I enjoyed tasting the twonew releases which mark 30 vin-tages from one of the Cape’sbenchmark producers of PinotNoir and Chardonnay. Leaning to-wards the classical, old world style,the Chardonnay bears the cellar’s

trademark finesse with intensepear fruit, tight minerality andrich texture.Hermanuspietersfontein Nr 52010. Bartho Eksteen won the cov-eted Diner’s Club Winemaker ofthe Year 2010 with the 2009 vin-tage of this wooded blanc fuméstyle wine. I enjoyed all five stylesof his Sauvignon Blanc in wooded,tropical, herbaceous and blendedversions — No 5 has dried apricot,coconut and vanilla flavours.La Vierge Jezebelle Chardonnay2010. Winemaker Marc van Hal-deren creates “wines of desire” tomatch some of the Cape’s mostoriginal art labels — with nameslike Original Sin Sauvignon andNymphomane Red. These aroma-tic wines expertly combine miner-ality, texture and purity of fruit.Seven Springs Sauvignon Blanc2010. This new boutique cellar lo -cated in the mountains betweenCaledon and Hermanus has re-leased an exciting maiden vintageof Sauvignon Blanc and Chardon-nay, expressing the exuberantfruit of young vines with delicatearomas, ripe fruit and minerality.Sumaridge Chardonnay 2010. Tenvintages on, this cellar has come ofage, winning a place in the Top100 SA Wines with its flagshipMaritimus 2009 white blend —and making its mark with varietalwines which express the terroir ofthe signature grapes of the valley

CAPE NEWS

Ensuring asustainable futureCape Town’s new integrated development plan isup for public comment, writes Anna-Marie Smith

THE launch of the city’sfirst five-year integrateddevelopment plan (IDP)goes back to 2000, and

since the election of the city’s newcouncil in May this year a new five-year plan that is subject to annualreview, and running from July2012 to June 2017, had to beproduced.

In her announcement of thenew IPD to Parliament last week,Patricia de Lille, executive mayorof Cape Town, said:”The city’s mis-sion remains, as articulated in theIPD, to create the economicenvironment in which investmentis increased and jobs can be cre-ated. Only by making those choic-es now and putting the measuresin place to give meaning to ourstrategy can we say we are doingour part as local government andbecome a city-driver of growthand change.”

Through consultation with res-idents the city arrived at five focusareas, which was addressed in theoverall construction of the plan.

Public participation is invitedby the city, emphasising that theplan affects not only the centralcity but every suburban area andresident whose needs have beenidentified. Because it shapes thecity’s entire budget, the processrequires public input and the cityhas undertaken to host a numberof public meetings over the nextmonth to address plans and pri-orities. Additional meetings will behosted by subcouncils for resi-dents in suburban areas, at shop-ping malls and corporations.

The city says its new five-yearplan will build on its currentstrengths while concentrating onthe five pillars of strategic focusoutlined, to become a city ofopportunity, of safety, caring,inclusivity and a well-run city.

For the purposes of public par-ticipation the city has published aquestionnaire listing 23 objectivesto be completed in order of pri-ority. This document has appearedin the print media and was dis-tributed at public amenities suchas clinics, libraries, housing andtraffic offices, and can also be sub-mitted via the city’s website and bye-mail or sms before October 21.

The city also published dates of

a number of public meetings overthe next month to be addressed byde Lille and Ian Neilson, deputyexecutive mayor.

The list of objectives states thatto become a city of opportunityCape Town has to become a soundvehicle of economic growth andinvestment that will attract bothlocal and foreign investment, with

the ultimate goal of creating jobopportunities and building thecity. It would have to provide andmaintain economic and socialinfrastructure to lead economicdevelopment. Essential to thisgrowth would be providing effec-tive transport to bring mobility tothose benefiting from job creation.Funding for training and skillsdevelopment programmes wouldhave to be used to the full, whilethe city’s assets must be used todrive growth and development.

To become a safe city, addi-tional staff and resources in safetyand emergency services are to beprovided and additional service tomore vulnerable communities.Improving police efficiency andemergency services through train-ing and technology will be priori-tised through city partnerships.

Once basic services such aselectricity, water, sanitation andrefuse removal have been provid-ed to all citizens including themost needy, the city will become acaring city. The plan stipulates theprovision of social services to allresidents, innovative human set-tlements for increased access,transfers of rental housing to qual-ifying beneficiaries, improved ser-vices for informal and backyardsettlements, effective pollutionmanagement and control pro-grammes, effective primaryhealthcare and substance abuseser vices.

The inclusivity objective isaimed at communities formingrelationships to find unity indiversity and a partnership withgovernment, who will promote asustainable environment, commu-nication with residents about theirneeds and the provision offacilities.

In fulfilling the fifth and pos-sibly one of the most importantstrategic focus areas, the well-runCity of Cape Town will be a citywhere “local government is freefrom corruption, transparent, re-ceptive to the needs of its citizensand working towards a better fu-ture’. A well-run city will “estab -lish an efficient and productive ad-ministration that prioritises deliv-ery and ensures financialprudence with clean audits by theauditor-general”.

View of the CreationWines cellar andvineyards, above. Viewof the La Vierge cellarand vineyards, left.

DÉCOR & DESIGN— G a rd e n i n g

The power of pink comes to fore

There is noneed to beapologeticabout using anabundance ofpink in thegarden, writesAlice Spenser-H i g gs

NOW that everything iscoming into flower it iseasier to tweak thecolour scheme and add

plants that either strengthen themain colour or provide contrast.

One of the colours that doesnot seem to get much attentionwhen talking about colour is pink.Yet, walking through garden cen-tres it is the predominant colour ofmost summer annuals, especiallythe shade-loving varieties.

Think pink and the beddingplants include Begonias, Cleome(Picture), Cosmos, Dianthus,Dahlias, Diascia, Impatiens (NewGuinea) Petunias, Dahlias, Verbe-na, Vinca, and Zinnias.

Among perennials, the delicatepink Gaura “B a l l e r i n a” is a mostpopular plant. Shades of pink alsopredominate in Alstroemeria,Aquilegia, Angelonia, Armeria,perennial begonias like “DragonWings”’ and “Million Kisses”,Echinacea, Pelargoniums, Hibis-cus, Lobelia Speciosa, Penstemonand Perennial Verbena. If you loveflowers it’s hard not to have pink ina summer garden.

There is often a sense of beingapologetic about using pink.Maybe because it is such as softfeminine colour and many of ourlandscapers are male? Neverthe-less, the reality is that many gar-deners use pink in abundance.

Veteran garden writer NancyGardner describes pink as friendlyand versatile. While pink may bedismissed as predictable, the otherside of the coin is that it induces a

— Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noirand Chardonnay. Gavin Pattersonmakes terroir wines of great fi-

nesse, expressing rich naturalfruit, subtle oak and minerality.The Last Temptation Riesling

2010. The maritime terroir of LaVierge’s vineyards on Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge shows in an Alsace-

style wine with classic cool-climatearoma, racy acidity and texture.Oscar Wilde reckoned “The only

way to get rid of temptation is toyield to it” on one of the mostoriginal wine labels I’ve seen.Whale Pod Sauvignon Blanc 2011.This new label from Creation isinspired by the whales of WalkerBay and the winery’s maritime ter-roir. The range includes an inno-vative Syrah-Malbec 2010 blendand cool Sauvignon Blanc —illustrated with delightful sketchesof whales breaching and sailing.

■ Graham Howe is wine andfood editor of Habitat.

relaxed atmosphere. We respondto the soft, feminine, and soothingqualities of pink and that is whatmany of us want in a garden.

Pink is a mix of red and whiteand it is incredibly diverse, fromhot and sizzling at one end of thespectrum to soft and dreamy atthe other end. Besides workingwell with red and white, pink alsocombines well with purple, blue,yellow and even orange, if the pinkis a hot, cerise colour.

The main thing to rememberwhen using pink with other

colours is that it tends to be eithera cool pink (on the blue side) or awarm pink (on the yellow side).Even though pink goes well withred, don’t mix cool red with thewarm pink, or vice versa. Pink alsojars if warm and cool pinks areused together although it can bedefused by using blue and mauveshades in the grouping and evenadding in yellow, which alwaysworks well with mauve

The other aspect of pink is thatit blends with most colours bypicking up and altering, depend-

ing on whatever is next to it.Whether pink has crept by

stealth into your garden orwhether it has been intentional,here are some combinations thatcan either soften or add drama tothe garden.

Pink and blue with a touch oflemon or white is a traditionalcombination that is soothing butnot insipid. Pink and yellow canwork together as long as there isno trace of orange in the yellow.Angelonia “AngelMist” Pink andNemesia “Sky Blue” are a delicate,

wistful combination.A blend of pink and white is

fresh and cool, even if the plantsused are heat and drought tol-erant, such as pink Salvia gregiiand white agapanthus.

Pairing pink with mauve is ro-mantic and ethereal, especiallywhen silvery grey foliage is addedlike that of Senecio Dusty Miller,Artemisia, Stachys and Lavender.Another alluring combination isEchinacea and Perennial basil, es-pecially the new Echinacea Pow-Wow “Wild Berry” which is a deeprose pink. It carries more flowersthan other Echinacea varieties.

Red and pink (both with bluetones) are bold together andtouches of blue or white can beadded. Pink appears darker whenplaced with white, and is bolderwhen used with blue.

Pale pink with deep green cre-ates a contrast, setting off the pinktones. With the problems ofdowny mildew, a safe option is theNew Guinea Impatiens “Divine”which is not affected by downymildew and gives almost the samesense of abundance. The flowersand plants are slightly bigger thanthe bedding impatiens.

Hot pink with glowing orangeis theatrical and modern. It needsto be offset by dark greenery. Amass planting of Zinnia ZaharaFire and Double Coral Rose isquite spectacular.

Magenta pink with deep greenand dark, true blue adds depth anddraw the eye in an otherwise in-sipid scheme.

Sensuous pinkEchinacea andm a u veperennial basil.

Classic blue and pink with Petunia grandiflora "Daddy' blue andAntirrhinum 'Snappy' rose pink.

Modern mix of Zinnia Zahara fire, coral rose andye l l ow.

Eye catching combination of Pelargonium 'Designer'hot pink and red.

For thepurposes of

public participationthe city has publisheda questionnaire listing23 objectives to becompleted in order ofp r i o r i ty