Q: Tell us the one lot at this year's Cape Wine Auction that you want for yourself?
The Karkloof Safari with Hollywood actress Shannon Elizabeth sounds brilliant. But also the week on a catamaran off Croatia with seven mates would be hard to beat. But, as I’m hosting the Cape Wine Auction, I reckon the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida would be most appropriate!
Q: White, red or rosé?
All of them! We’re making such terrific wine across the board in South Africa, and it just keeps getting better.
Q: Chicken, beef or fish?
Again, tough call. South African ribeye with lashings of Stellenbosch 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon or fresh sea bass with lemon and olive oil on a Greek island, with a bottle of Assyrtiko.
Q: Aisle or window seat?
Single window seat covers both!
Q: New York, London, Paris or Rome?
Love them all – but wandering through New York in summer narrowly edges out the romance of exploring Paris.
Q: Pizza or pasta?
Does risotto count? One glass for the cooking, rest of the bottle for the chef…
Q: Hiking, bush safari or beach holiday?
My wife’s Greek, so definitely a beach holiday. I can highly recommend a week on Paros for a beautiful break that’s as inexpensive as Europe gets.
Q: Favourite TV show?
Other than The Dan Nicholl Show…? I'm a big fan of Graham Norton and The Daily Show and just started working my way through Game of Thrones from series one. Not one to watch when your mother-in-law is visiting!
Q: Go-to music when you're on a road trip?
If my wife has control (which she usually does), a barrage of ‘80s nostalgia; I’ll lean towards Oasis, U2 or some Ard Matthews and Just Jinjer.
Q: Cook and have someone else wash up or have someone cook and you wash up?
Definitely cook. I took Pete Goffe-Wood’s Kitchen Cowboys course 15 years ago, and have loved cooking ever since. And dishes tend to look cleaner before I’ve tried to wash them.
Q: Desert island book, box-set and drink?
I can read Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch over and over; ditto Pete McCarthy’s McCarthy’s Bar. Box set? The Simpsons has been going forever, so I wouldn’t run out for a while (and Homer is my parenting role model). And to drink, a melchizedek (or midas) of Hemel-en-Aarde Pinot Noir – 30 litres of Creation, Newton Johnson, Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson – to last long enough, and then make a decent vessel from the bottle to escape the island in search of a refill…
The Cape Wine Auction - sponsored by Nedbank Private Wealth - has become the wine event of the year and is an exhilarating global showcase of South Africa’s finest wines and a chance to bid for experiences that money can’t ordinarily buy! And all for a great cause. The 2018 auction raised R17½ million for education in the Cape winelands.
This year, the event takes place on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at the beautiful Buitenverwachting estate in Constantia, Cape Town, with the 2019 American Express Cape Wine Barrel Auction kicking off proceedings on the previous evening, Friday, March 1 at the spectacular Norval Foundation.
For more on the American Express Cape Wine Barrel Auction and the Cape Wine Auction visit: http://www.thecapewineauction.com