Sunday, March 15th, 2009 On Table Mountain, Cape Town South Africa With My Great Guide John Morrison ( Owner Of Boutique Imports ) On A Sunny Day

These are a very few of the pictures that I took on Sunday, March 15 2009 ( I was there for the week with John to visit the wine country from March 15th-March 21st, 2009 and this was our one day of being tourists before the wine fun began! ) . Here are pictures with John Morrison when we drove up to Table Mountain and then took the Visa cable car up to the top so that we could walk around and see the glorious views that this beautiful, nearly-flat mountain offers.

John took me this day because it was beautiful and clear with almost 100% visibility. When the weather id bad and there are thick clouds that pass through the cable car is closed and no one can get up to walk around. The thick cloud covering makes it impossible to see anything and everyone becomes disoriented and unable to move anywhere for fear of tripping and falling and hurting themselves. I can understand that. It was difficult enough to walk up there with good visibility because there are so many rock formations and the paths are rough and jagged with many nooks and crannies that your feet can trip over or get stuck in or upon! You have to watch where you are going even with sunshine and with the best weather conditions. I can't imagine being up there in bad visibility : it would be very scary! I think that I would simply sit down and wait for the fog and clouds to clear. But according to John Morrison ( owner of Boutique Imports and my excellent guide ) that might take quite some time. You just never know he said, it could happen quickly or take a day or two. Either way I was glad to see the views with such clear weather conditions! Thanks John.

These are just a few of my pictures. I took so many on this trip and so in the spirit of getting a number of blogs out and posted on this amazing time of mine in South Africa I will try and keep some of them like this short and just give everyone glimpses into this wonderful scenery in South Africa.

As the pictures reveal we were having a lot of fun. John took several of these of me. I got inspired by John and his infinite enthusiasm for all the plant life that grows up on table mountain as well as along the sides. He can name these plants, shrubs and flowers and pointed them out to me the entire time we were there. I also liked very much all the rock formations and so you can see here many pictures of me laying close to the ground and pulling the flowers and the plants close to me as John snapped many of these pictures. I agree with John , it was wonderful and amazing all the plants, flowers and shrubs that we saw. Many of the flowers were really close to the ground I am sure to be protected from the weather as well as the strong gusts of wine.

There was also a small lizard that I took some photos of close to the ground and on a green bit of spruce/evergreen tree with green needles. I can't make the lizard out for sure because it blends so well into it's background. Also, we were driven away from the base of the cable car by a man on a bike pulling us sitting behind him. That's the first picture you all see I believe. I also took a picture of a young lady's rhinestone flip-flops as the two rhinestones were huge and I thought it would be fun to show my daughter that likes things like that that sparkle. My shot did not capture the sparkle as much as it could, so just try and imagine when the sun would hit them dead-on?!

This day was all about relaxing and fun and getting ready for the wine activities to come that would stretch out the rest of the week for us and leave me exhausted that Saturday.

Cheers, TONY

MORESON South African Wines With Lynda Mellor & Theresa Morrison, An Impromptu In-Store Wednesday Dec. 3rd 2008 Tasting 5-8 PM

Great to taste the MORESON / PINECREST wines with our customers. Importer Theresa Morisson brought with her Lynda Mellor of LM FINE WINES LIMITED ( 11 Springfield Avenue, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire RG27 85F + (44) 01252 843614 Fax: (44) 01252 842565 email : lunda.mellor@gmail.com ). She represents MORESON wines from South Africa and we had four wines for her and Theresa to pour this Wednesday evening at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 2008 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ).

We started with two white. The first, the PINECREST Chardonnay, 2007 ( $14,99 ) that was unoaked and bright and crisp as one would like. What a nice wine to have at a meal or simply when talking and contemplating life - listening for a moment or two or three.

Next we tried the MORESON Chenin Blanc 2007, $16.49 from the Franschoek region. It's always such a surprise and a delight. I simply do not drink enough Chenin Blanc but when I try the MORESON all my attention is turned to it and gently wrapped up within it's flavors, slowly, gently over time - over each sip and swallow.

We then moved into our two reds for the evening. The PINECREST Pinotage, $19.99 is again always a really wonderful surprise. I am never quite sure how much pepper and spice and attitude and resistance I am going to get each time I try it. And every time that I do I come away from the experience happy that I undertook it! This time was no exception. The Pinotage was flavorful and distinct with it's peppers and spices but always balanced and rich enough in the middle ranges for me to hang my neck on and relax. I liked that. I could explore it on my own terms and enjoy the experience both with and without food. It worked for me once again.

The 2003 MORESON Merlot , ON SALE for $19.99 ( reg: $32.99 ) from the Coastal region was again a really impressive wine. It seemed even bigger and more intense and more compact and deep-colored as I remembered. This time I loved it but because of it's weight and complexity I was craving some finger foods at the least to help flesh it out for me some more so that it would hang just right, like a great-fitting suit on my shoulders/ tongue more accurately. It will be a great one to recommend for a good piece of tender red meat when people are tired of the standard white meat Holidays meals.

It was nice meeting Lynda. We had a good , steady flow of customers and sold many bottles of both PINECREST and MORESON wines tonight. It was great to meet you Lynda and to work with you and Theresa at the same time. Happy Holidays to you and your family and to all our customers. Cheers, and thanks Theresa and Lynda for stopping by tonight to taste and sell wines with me.

Hope you like these pictures. I'm having more fun framing the world through a wine glass! What do you think?!? Am I onto something good?

NOTE : If you look carefully at the picture enlarged of the MORESON Merlot bottle being poured you will see the MORESON " Cuvee Cape " N.V. sparkling wine sitting in a box on the floor and it's ON SALE, too ( Like the MORESON Merlot 2003 ) for $19.99 . We did not pour it tonight but should have because it is so creamy, bright, smooth and delicious! TONY