Archive | 2011

Bye 2011… Yebo 2012!

By Rian Truter on December, Sunday 18 2011 in 2011, Life 9

Nog ‘n einde van ‘n jaar! Hoe het dit gebeur?

Ek is seker dat as jy oor jou skouer loer, jy verstom sal staan oor alles wat hierdie jaar gebeur het. Die meeste daarvan voel reeds onwerklik en soos iets uit die argief. Die tsunami in Japan, die aardbewing in Christchurch, prins William se troue en Osama bin Laden se dood.

Daar is egter ook gebeure wat voel of ek dit nooit sal vergeet nie. Dinge soos Pieter de Villiers se wyshede, Bryce Lawrence, Julius en die uitroei van ons kosbare renosters en perlemoen!

En ons het nog nie eens by sake wat aan ons eie nerf raak, uitgekom nie! Die dinge wat die proppe laat skiet het en dié wat diep groewe uit ons bestaan gekerf het.

Oral hoor ek dat mense ’n beter en voorspoediger jaar as vanjaar begeer. Amper soos Koos Kombuis se Almal wil ’n huisie by die see hê…

Self hoop ek glad nie op ‘n beter 2012 nie, want ek glo ek en my huis het 2011 tot die droesem geleef! As jy dit nie gedoen het nie, het jy net jouself te blameer!

Ek sien wel uit na ’n opwindende nuwe jaar. Een wat my kneukels wit gaan laat uitslaan van al die vasklou. Ene wat my gaan laat gil: Geronimo! Ek leef!

’n Geseënde Kersfees en ’n baie opwindende nuwe jaar vir alle Piesangs & Jellietots-lesers. Dankie vir julle ondersteuning die afgelope paar maande vandat P&J die lig gesien het. Bly by my, want daar wag ‘n klompie verrassings in die nuwe jaar!

Jacob Rheeder, my goeie vriend daar uit die Oos-Kaap, sluit hierdie laaste post van 2011 met dié wyse woorde af:

Die gedagte aan kersvakansie gee jou hart net so ‘n ekstra klop, doef-drrroeof-doef, want baie wyk uit see toe of iewers lekker, soos selfs om by die huis te bly. Vir baie van ons met die prentjie-nommerplate begin daar eersdaags ‘n gestoeiery om by daardie spesiale plekkie uit te kom, ja, met die kar gepak tot teen die dak. Maar om die eerste draai raak jy kriewelrig, want dinge loop nie teen jou spoed nie. Of jy sit by die oorvol Wimpy langs die see en die diens is nie na jou wense nie. Die engelse praat van “silly season”, klink waar, want dis asof ons in hierdie 3 weke die hoender wil ruk, mal gaan en handuitruk, ons is op vakansie en bogger die res.

Hêhê, dis waar 1 Tes 5:15 ons rieme bietjie vir ons intrek. Kom ons verander die ek en ons na julle, ja, kom ons kyk bietjie in hierdie dae hoe ons dit vir ander lekker kan maak. Boeta, hulle lieg vir jou, jou hande gaan nie afval as jy skottelgoed was nie en Ousus, jy weet dit nie, maar jy kán lekker ontbyt maak. Maak jou bed op, koop lekkers vir die familie se kinders en sê dankie vir die een wat jou vuilgoed kom wegry. Ander mense sien net so uit na die vakansie soos ek en jy.

Want so lief het God die wêreld gehad, dat Hy sy eniggebore Seun gegee het, sodat elkeen wat in Hom glo, nie verlore mag gaan nie, maar die ewige lewe kan hê. – Joh 3:16

En dit is vir julle die teken: julle sal ‘n kindjie vind wat in doeke toegedraai is en in ‘n krip lê. – Luk 2:10-12

May your right hand in the New Year always be stretched out in friendship, never in want. – Irish proverb

Image: Ideago/FreeDigitalPhotos

Anri Truter sends Bill Clinton packing!

By Rian Truter on December, Sunday 11 2011 in 2011, Wine 0

With Anri in the tasting room at Beyerskloof

Anri Truter is as homegrown as the lyrics in a well known Afrikaans folk song – Die Stellenbosse boys kom weer.

Anri, winemaker at Beyerskloof Estate, is a true born and bred product of Stellenbosch. Born in Stellenbosch, grew up on Kanonkop Wine Estate and matriculated at Paul Roos Gimnasium. After school he and a friend took a gap year in Europe where they worked in a wine shop, a coopery and even an ice cream factory!

Welcome to Beyerskloof - The home of Pinotage

After the year in Europe he enrolled at Elsenburg Agricultural College where he completed his studies in winemaking and viticulture. During his time at Elsenburg, if not studying or making wine, he played rugby for the College. A favourite pastime of his.

With Beyers Truter as father, and literally learning to walk and talk on a wine farm, some will say it was destined that Anri would follow in his father’s footsteps. Even more so if you rubbed shoulders with wine icons like Boland Coetzee, Sakkie Kotze, Kevin Arnold and Francois Naude.

Anri first thought he might become a game ranger because he loves wildlife and nature. Till he realized how scary lions can be! But for a man who is scared of lions he showed no fear in prohibiting the president of the United States of America to visit Kanonkop!

It was a Saturday afternoon and the annual Nederburg Wine Auction was in full swing and Anri, then fourteen, was home alone and in charge of the farm. When Bill Clinton’s aides got to the farm and asked to be allowed on to the premises Anri told them it would not be possible. He was the only one there and he could not allow it. The president can come back at a later time!

Anri and Beyers

Maybe it’s because of this cool-headedness under pressure why Wine Magazine labeled him as one of the rising stars of the South African wine industry.

“For a young winemaker, Anri is surprisingly traditionalist. I am a sucker for tradition in wine, he laughs, adding that he imagines the industry would be better off head it been kept small. It would have been nice to make wine in the ‘80s and ‘90s. In those years all the winemakers knew each other, shared ideas, got together for tastings and the industry had much more of a family feel to it.”

But don’t let the youth of this winemaker fool you. During his short career he already won enough trophies and accolades like Veritas, ABSA Pinotage Top 10 to satisfy most people. The latest feather in his cap was when the Beyerskloof Merlot was awarded the SA Champion Trophy for the best young merlot in the country at this years SA Young Wine Awards.

To get to know Anri a little better, I asked him the following questions:

> Why did you become a winemaker?

I think it’s the passion and the effort that goes into making a good wine that intrigued me. And the satisfaction of the final product. The influence of my father also played a part but he never put pressure on me to become a winemaker.

What is the best wine you have made?

2009 Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage

What is the best wine you have drunk?

Château Margaux 1999

If not a winemaker, what else?

Game ranger

What’s left on your bucket list?

A trip to South America with my wife. Visit the Amazon jungle and Argentina. To experience a true asado and to taste their wine.

What pet(s) do you have?

None at the moment.

What’s your favourite TV program?

My Family

What songs do you sing in the cellar/shower/car?

Rock songs. Songs from bands like Doughtry and Nickelback.

What motto do you live by?

Live with passion. I think James Dean said: Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.

What do you think of box wine?

If you can get past the first glass, it get’s better. As a student I had a lot of it and I believe the quality got better.

What wine do you drink if not your own?

Kanonkop Paul Sauer and Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc

What cultivar was the wine at the wedding reception in the New Testament?

We would like to believe, Pinotage!

Tent or hotel?

Both. I like camping but after a week I need more luxury.

How do you relax?

I like playing gholf and to dive for crayfish. Watching rugby; but that’s not relaxation anymore! A braai with friends or family.

Anri and Travis after a dive at Vermont

In the tasting glass:

Beyerskloof Brut Pinotage Rosé 2010

Varietal: 100% Pinotage

Soil: Hutton, Clovelly

Trellising: Bush vines

Age of vines: 10 – 20 years old

Vintage notes: The 2010 harvest will be remembered for small yields especially on the red cultivar but ensured greater quality.

Winemaking: The juice was soaked on the skins for 12 hours, to extract sufficient amounts of colour and structure; whereafter primary fermentation took place at 12°C for almost two weeks. After crushing, the grapes went through a press where all the juice was pressed at 0.5 bar, to produce a base wine. After additional three months on the lease the wine undergoes a second fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The wine is then left on the lease for another 2 – 3 months and then bottled.

Colour: Elegant coral pink colour

Bouquet: Crisp, red current and sweet cherry notes with floral perfume aromas.

Tasting notes: Opulent fruit gives way to classic biscotti, crushed apples, cinnamon and candy floss. Well rounded and inviting with a crisp acidity. A sparkling wine that resembles a classic French Champagne infused by our very own Pinotage. A perfect aperitif or drink for any occasion.

www.beyerskloof.co.za | 021 865 2135

Wine makes a man better pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. – Samuel Johnson

Alcohol is a very necessary article … It makes life bearable to millions of people who could not endure their existence if they were quite sober. It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning. – George Bernard Shaw

A man cannot make him laugh – but that’s no marvel; he drinks no wine. – W. Shakespeare

Images: Thinus Slabber and self

Die goed wat jy weet, maar nie doen nie!

By Rian Truter on December, Sunday 4 2011 in 2011, Life 6

Toe ek hoor Tom Peters kom Suid-Afrika toe, was ek al halpad Jozi toe. Tot my linkerbrein inskop om te kyk wat die uitstappie my sal kos. Ek weet ghoeroes soos Tom is nie goedkoop nie, maar die hoop beskaam mos nie.

Groot was die ontnugtering na al my somme gemaak is. Nodeloos om te sê, ek kon nie Jozi toe nie. Ek kon met dié geld amper vir Bryce Lawrence in Nieu-Seeland gaan kuier!

My teleurstelling het in moerigheid omgesit toe ek sien wie wel daar sou wees. Maatskappye en instansies wat my swaarverdiende geld mors, het reeds geregistreer. En ek wat hulle befonds om aan te jaag, kan nie. ’n Baie bitter pil om te sluk!

Maar, ten spyte van my afwesigheid, sê Tom het hy sy besoek aan Suid-Afrika baie geniet. Hy het die hoop uitgespreek dat die afgevaardigdes huiswaarts sou keer om met groter vasberadenheid nuwe goed te probeer. Of soos hy dit stel …which is not truly new, but, rather, old things we all know that are typically overlooked in the heat of pressing events.

Toevallig dat hy dit sou noem, want nou die dag na ’n praatjie van my, sê ’n vrou vir my dit was vir haar vreeslik lekker, sy het die praatjie geniet en al daai ordentlikhede. Maar, gaan sy voort, dit wat ek gesê het, is mos eintlik nie iets nuut nie. Ons weet mos die goed.

My flipflop as jy dit dan weet, hoekom doen jy dit nie? En hoe kan ’n mens nou eintlik begrippe soos visie, passie en roeping elke keer nuut verpak? Die ou spreekwoord sê mos jy kan nie van perdedrolle vye maak nie. Dalk soms, maar nie elke keer nie.

Tog, die tannie is reg. As dit by motivering kom, is daar nie te veel nuut onder die son nie. Dit is dieselfde goed wat ons baie goed weet, maar net nie doen nie.

Motivering, en positiwiteit, is soos pille drink. Jy moet dit gereeld doen. Een pil is net nie genoeg nie. Behalwe natuurlik as dit ’n setpil is.

Meer as een pil is nodig om die kiem op sy plek te sit. En dan is dit in die meeste gevalle dieselfde pil. Nie elke keer ’n ander een nie. Hoor mooi: Dieselfde pil, maar die truuk is dat jy dit gereeld neem.

Ek glo die mense wat so gelukkig was om na Tom Peters te kon luister, het na sy aanbieding op die wolke geloop, want die man kán mense besiel.

Net tot die wolkeloper by sy kar kom en sien die lugdraad is afgebreek. Poef! Weg is Tom se motivering!

Om onder sulke omstandighede positief te bly is nie altyd maklik nie, maar daar is tog ’n paar pilletjies wat help:

Praat positief – met ander en in jou eie kop.
Dink positief – oor ander en oor jou self.
Doen positief – voel jou pols. Jy lewe!
Bevriend positief – Hallo vir positiewe mense; bye-bye vir natbroeke en moangatte.
Vee voor jou eie deur – Daar is geen verskoning dat jy nie positief kan wees nie. Jy verwag dit dan van ander!

Alweer meer as een pil! En ek hoor jou sê, dit is niks nuut nie. Ek weet dit alles.

Doen dit dan; hoop ek hoor jy mý sê!

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. – Jim Rohn

My life is my message. – Gandhi

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle

Image: posterize/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Maak jou olifant los!

By Rian Truter on November, Sunday 27 2011 in 2011, Education, Life 11

Hoe baie keer hoor jy dat iemand nie iets kan doen nie.

Nie dat hulle nie instaat is om dit te doen nie, want liggaamlik en verstandelik is hulle meer as kapabel om dit te kan doen. Hulle het hulself eintlik net self ontmagtig om die taak suksesvol af te handel. Selfs om net te probeer om dit aan te pak.

In die meeste gevalle is dit volwassenes wat só reageer. Dit is hulle wat nie kan dans nie, nie kan valskermspring nie, wat nie met oorgawe kan sing nie …

In skrille kontras met die kleintjies, wat sonder enige twyfel in hul eie vermoëns, op die verhoog spring om hulle sangtalent aan die hele wêreld te openbaar. Altyd met ’n groot applous as beloning.

Wat het dan gebeur dat ons só geword het?

Is dit iets wat saam met die ouderdom gekom het, of is dit soos Nataniël in een van sy gedigte skryf dat ons bang grootgemaak is? Of het ons saam met die grootword vergeet dat ons tot baie meer instaat is?

Ek dink dit is iets wat êrens tussen te klein wees om te weet en grootwees en weet, in ons brein lêplek kom kry het. Amper ’n soort pleister teen moontlike seerkry of dalk ’n geestelike staightjacket.

Ken Blanchard noem hierdie verskynsel assumed constraints en hy illustreer dit met die skitterenede voorbeeld van ‘n sirkusolifant.

Daar word vertel dat as die sirkusolifant nog baie klein is, hy met ’n meneer van ’n ketting om die voet en ’n baie dik ysterpaal vasgemaak word. Hoe hard hy ookal stoei om los te kom; niks help nie. Die ketting en paal is net sterker as hierdie olifantjie se jeugdige krag.

Dit is ironies dat hoe groter die olifant word, die ketting nie groter of dikker word nie. Inteendeel; die ketting bly dieselfde. Al wat regtig gebeur, is dat die olifant opgehou het om te probeer loskom.

Hy het nou al so baie keer sonder sukses probeer om homself los te ruk, dat hy begin glo dat dit onmoontlik is om die paal uit die grond te pluk. Hy het nou al begin aanvaar dat hierdie ketting en paal deel van sy lewe geword het.

Die kenners beweer dan ook dat as hierdie olifant volwasse is en ’n paar ton weeg, dat hy met ’n baie dun toutjie en ’n verskoning vir ’n paaltjie vasgemaak kan word. Hierdie olifant het lankal oorgegee, want hy aanvaar dat hy nie gaan loskom nie.

Wat die tragiese van hierdie olifant se lewe is, is dat hy elke dag die wonderlikste toertjies binne die tent doen. Elke dag laat hy mense na hul asem snak met sy uitsondelike talent en vernuf.

Maar as die applous in sy groot ore stil geraak het, staan hy weer vasgemaak aan ’n paal met ’n ketting om sy voet. Êrens op ’n verlate dorpsveld.

In baie van ons se lewens is daar ook iets wat ons, soos die ketting aan die olifant se voet, weerhou om te doen wat ons regtig wil doen. Ons het al begin aanvaar dat ons dit nie kan doen nie of dat dit net nooit gaan gebeur nie. Ons het ophou spartel en aanvaar nou maar net dat ons oud is, of nie kan sing nie, of nie kan skilder nie of nie …

Ek wil jou vandag uitdaag om ’n slag weer aan daardie ketting te gaan pluk. Miskien verras jy jouself deur agter te kom die ketting is al tot niet geroes… of baie dunner as wat jy ooit gedink het!

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. – Henry Ford

Soos wat jy dink so is jy. Soos dit wat jy jou kan verbeel, so kan jy word. – Anoniem

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. – Ronald Reagan

Know your limits. Also know how to break them. – Geraint Starker

Image: Castillo Dominici/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Jonathan Jansen soek aksie!

By Rian Truter on November, Thursday 24 2011 in 2011, Education 2

Dit wil my voorkom of prof. Jonathan nou skielik die agbare Minister van Sport, Fikile Mbalula, se voorbeeld met taalgebruik volg. Nie dat ek fyngevoelig vir kragwoorde is nie. Allermis. Ek is net bang dat ’n mens by die sterretjies vashaak, soos die Scope van ouds, en dan die wysheid in die res van wat hy te sê gehad het, mis.

My ma het my geleer dat jy nie alles moet glo wat in koerante staan nie, maar omdat ek nou nie self by prof. Jonathan Jansen se toespraak in Bloemfontein kon wees nie, moet ek maar glo wat hulle skryf.

Hier is die hoofpunte van wat professor Jansen tydens ’n toespraak by Fedsas se jaarvergadering aangeraak het (Ek het my veroorloof om ’n paar kantopmerkings in kursief te maak):

1. Die regering het ’n f#k-jou-houding teenoor sy mense. Is dit vir iemand nuus?

2. Die prof wil hê ons moet, soos die Occupy Wall Street-veldtog, die kantore van die onderwysdepartemente in elke provinsie gaan beset. Al gevolg wat so ’n aksie gaan hê, is dat daar vir ’n slag mense op kantoor gaan wees!

3. Volgens hom het onderwys nou genoeg beleide, maar te min planne. Makliker om te skryf as om te doen. Dit is die probleem, prof.

4. Hy wou ook weet hoe gaan die regering vakbonde beheer. Veral Sadou. Dis die ou spreekwoord van wiens brood men eet, wiens woord men spreek. Of is dit eerder: ek luister net na die wat vir my stem?

5. Ons skole het sedert 1994 al hoe slegter geword, maar die meeste geld gaan steeds na onderwys. Raak net ontslae van al die sogenaamde spesialiste!

6. Volgens hom het niemand die “balls om ’n patetiese skoolhoof af te dank nie”. Ek dink die probleem is dalk fisiek, want was na Kader al die ministers nie vrouens nie? Dit sou maar sukkel, professor!

7. Middelmatigheid is die aanvaarde reël. Vir swak wees is daar altyd ’n verskoning. Goed wees is maklik, maar goed bly, is moeilik.

8. Goeie skole moet swak skole help. Stem 100% saam, maar dan moet die swakkes gehelp wíl word.

9. Te min mans in die onderwys en te min onderwysers in die grondslagfase. Gaap! Gaap! Wonder of die professor ’n kind het wat al na een van die sogenaamd baie poste gesoek het? Kul jou hier, kul jou daar!

Ek is seker professor Jansen het ’n staande ovasie gekry. Mense hou daarvan as iemand jou begeertes en bekommernisse in woorde vasvat. Meer nog as hy ’n kragwoord of twee gebruik en dis boonop nie vir jou rekening nie!

Prof. Jonathan het ook gesê hy soek aktiviste op voetsoolvlak om al hierdie kruisies in regmerkies te laat verander. Luister mooi. Nie boudevlak nie! Ons sal moet opstaan en begin dinge doen as ons die regmerkies wil sien. Miskien dalk self ook ’n paar kragwoorde moet inspan om die wa deur die drif te kry…

Dankie, professor Jansen. Jy maak jou mond oop en sê wat ons nie altyd almal die kans kry om te sê nie.

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost. – Chauncey Depeur.

When angry count to four. When very angry, swear. – Mark Twain

I personally think we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain. – Jane Wagner

Ernst Gouws: The Power of &

By Rian Truter on November, Sunday 20 2011 in 2011, Wine 2

With Ernst, Ernst Junior and Ezanne

Ernst and I go back many years; as far back as our high school days in the Strand.

Ernst Gouws was born in the Paarl but finished his primary school education in Wolseley in the Boland. His father retired and moved to the Strand where I met Ernst for the first time. We both went to Strand High but matriculated at different schools; Ernst at Paul Roos Gimnasium and I at Jan van Riebeeck High.

After high school his father wanted him to go to university but that was not part of his immediate planning. He wanted to be a farmer. The soil was in his blood. At last he agreed to go to Teachers College to study to become a woodwork teacher. At the back of his mind Ernst had a dream to one day open his own joinery for he loves working with wood.

After a year he called a halt to his training to become a teacher and accepted a job at the KWV. He stayed at KWV for a year. During these twelve months he was exposed to all the processes of the wine industry. Ernst was hooked! He was especially crazy about harvest time.

This experience motivated him to go to Germany where he studied at the Weinsberg Wine School near Stuttgard. Back in South Africa he started work at Du Toitskloof Cellars but after four years went back to France for another year in the French vineyards and cellars.

Back in South Africa Saxenburg and Rheebokskloof followed and in 1992 Ernst and a German partner started Hoopenburg. Their ways parted after 12 years and he bought himself some farmland next to Hoopenburg. That’s when Ernst & Co was born!

Family plays an important part in Ernst’s life and in the big picture of the company. So much so that he changed the name of the company from Ernst & Co to Ernst Gouws & Co.

Ernst met his wife Gwenda while still at school in Stellenbosch. They got married in Germany when she came to visit him there. It was during his time in Germany that he got involved with a family where each member of the family was integrated in the running and operation of their farm. Ernst and Gwenda decided there and then that they were going to apply the same principle to their family. From the start at Hoopenburg all the children was involved in the day to day operation of the farm.

Today the whole family is involved in Ernst Gouws & Co. Two of the children, Ernst junior and Ezanne, is qualified winemakers and plays an important part in the production of the wines. Inke, the eldest, is a buyer of champagne and Gwenda, mother and wife, is keeping the many strings of the family and the business together.

To get to know Ernst better, I asked him the following questions:

• Why did you become a winemaker?

It was the creativity and the challenge of taking nature’s product and having to form and shape it into your own creation.

• What is the best wine you have made?

Saxenburg Noble Late Harvest (1985).

• What is the best wine you have drunk?

I can’t remember the name but it was a French Pinot Noir. What I can remember is that it cost around R5 000 a bottle!

• If not a winemaker, what else?

Cabinet-maker. Woodwork is a passion of mine.

• What’s left on your bucket list?

I want to travel in Africa. Maybe an extensive motorbike trip in Africa or Namibia? When I am on my motorbike in nature I can feel God’s presence.

• What pet(s) do you have?

I love poultry and birds. I could have been a professional bird watcher. But I have a Jack Russell that’s been with me for 12 years. He’s like my own shadow.

• What’s your favourite TV program?

Noot vir Noot and Sport.

• What songs do you sing in the cellar/shower/car?

German wine/beer songs and gospel songs.

• What motto do you live by?

I see myself as a free-spirit so I think it will be something like there are no boundaries to life! or don’t let anyone or anything fence you in.

• What do you think of box wine?

It’s not for me, but there is a market and a place for it. I have never drunk it myself.

• What wine do you drink if not your own?

Wines from the Stellenbosch region. But mostly I drink my own.

• What cultivar was the wine at the wedding reception in the New Testament?

Chardonnay.

• Tent or Hotel?

Hotel

• How do you relax?

A ride on my motorbike or mountain bike.

In the tasting glass:

Ernst Gouws & Co Chardonnay 2011

Origin: Stellenbosch, South Africa

Composition: 100% Chardonnay

Winemaker: Ernst Gouws

Terroir: Soil type> Ancient cemented limestone

Oenology: Harvested early morning. Hand-harvested in small baskets at optimum fruit ripeness. Small, old, bush vines.

Barrel maturation: 7 Months in new French oak

Yield: 8 ton per hectare

Cellaring Potential: Enjoy now and drink within 5 years

Winemakers notes: The Ernst Gouws & Co Chardonnay is intense and forthcoming with aromas of fresh almonds, peach and lemon. There is also a subtle hint of vanilla and spice on the nose. On the palate the wine shows excellent balance between complexity and elegance. Typical flavours like almonds, lemon and grapefruit with a leesy creaminess and a touch of minerality on the palate. Good structure and mouthfeel with nice minerality, elegant, long nutty toasty finish.

Chef’s Notes: Will go well with dishes such as crayfish, kingklip, curry fish and pasta.

Tel: +27 (0)21 865 2895

www.ernstgouws.co.za

Images: Ernst Gouws & Co and self

I have enjoyed great health at a great age because every day since I can remember I have consumed a bottle of wine except when I have not felt well. Then I have consumed two bottles. – Bishop of Seville

Hold the bottle up to the light; you will see your dreams are always at the bottom. – Rob Hutchinson

A waltz and a glass of wine invite an encore. – Johann Strauss

Ernst busy tasting and blending

Ernst the farmer

The winemakers

The Gouws family

Braai Paai

By Rian Truter on November, Thursday 17 2011 in 2011, Culinary 4

Hierdie resep gaan net soos die Oranjerivierkool en die Mexican Eggs tydens ‘n kampeerdery vir baie plesier sorg.

Of baie braaiers se bas tydens ‘n somervakansie red, want dit is net as mammie en skoonma begin kla oor al die baie braaivleis wat hulle moet eet, dat jy hierdie een uit die hoed ruk!

Omdat mense mekaar vandag sommer oor ’n ou reseppie in die koerante aanvat, wil ek sommer dadelik almal wat ‘n hand in die uitdink van hierdie paai gehad het, erkenning gee. Wie die resep eerste uitgedink het weet ek nie, maar ek het dié resep die eerste keer per e-pos ontvang en nou die dag weer gesien dat Braaiboy dit oor die TV maak. Hierdie weergawe van die Braai Paai is my vriend en boendoekok, Braaitang, se weergawe.

Voor jy egter onverhoeds gevang word en jy dink jy kan sonder voorbereiding dié paai aanpak, wil ek jou net waarsku. Daar is ‘n paar kardinale ingrediente wat jy gaan nodig hê om hierdie een deur te trek. Die geheim om van ‘n braainul tot braaibul te vorder, is voorbereiding. Bedink die oomblik wat jy hierdie verrassing wil loslaat en gaan doen dan eers op jou eie ‘n paar skelm aankope.

NB Noodsaaklik: ‘n Rooster wat jy op verskillende vasknypvlakke kan stel. ’n Standaardrooster wat nie kan verstel nie, gaan net jou paai in sy maai knyp! Luister mooi wat ek sê.

Jy benodig

Vir 6 – 8 mense

‘n Rooster soos reeds verduidelik

2 x 500g Rolle Skilferkorsdeeg

1 Pak spinasie

3 Gerookte hoenderborsies

1 Pak salami

1 Ui

½ Rooi soetrissie – gekerf na smaak

½ Geel soetrissie – gekerf

1 x 250 Pakkie sampioene

½ Koppie gerasperde Ceddar-kaas

1 Koppie gerasperde Mozzarella-kaas

½ Koppie gekrummelde Feta-kaas

Speserye na smaak. Aanbeveling: Italian Herbs

So maak mens

1. Ontdooi die deeg en rol dit uit. Gebruik sommer ’n wynbottel as roller.

2. Plaas een helfte van die uitgerolde deeg in die rooster.

3. Braai die ui en rissies saam en geur met speserye soos jy verkies.

4. Pak die laag deeg heel toe met spinasie. Blink deel van die blaar na buite.

5. Sny nou die hoenderborsies in dun skywe en pak bo-op die spinasie.

6. Plaas ui-en-rissie-mengsel op die hoenderborsies.

7. Maak nou met die salami soos met die hoenderstukkies. Maw salami op die mengsel.

8. Sny die sampioene in skywe en pak op die salami.

9. Strooi die drie kase in lae op die sampioene.

10. Pak die oorblywende spinasie op die kaas. Blink kant na jou.

11. Pak die tweede rol uitgerolde deeg op die spinasie.

12. Knyp die rante/kante van die deeg toe.

Opsioneel: Klits ‘n eier en verf deeg daarmee om mooi te verbruin.

13. Braai hoog oor kole tot goudbruin. Draai liewers meer as te min. Die deeg kan jou nogal onverhoeds betrap en pikswart verbrand en dan is dit jy en skoonma. Skat so tussen 20 en 30 minute tot gereed vir afhaal.

Sit nou jou geliefkoosde musiek in die CD-speler. Skink ‘n glasie Beyerskloof en vra vir mammie om nader te skuif. As sy nie reeds teen dié tyd styf teen jou sit nie!

Hier is ‘n klompie prentjies dat jy kan sien waarvan ek praat (foto’s:Anita Steenkamp en self):

Pak die 1e laag spinasie

Braai die soetrissie en ui

Pak salami

Amper klaar! Strooi die kaas

'n Meneer van 'n paai!

Carpe Diem!

By Rian Truter on November, Sunday 13 2011 in 2011, Education, Life 5

My kennis van Julius Ceasar se taal was nog nooit van so ’n standaard dat ek hom teen Brutus sou kon waarsku nie.

Latyn is vir my so helder soos die ou Boesman in die Kalahari se insig in Suid-Afrika se landswapen. Sy opmerking toe die ontwerpers hom om sy mening daaroor nader: Ek ken moeilikheid, maar hier kom groot klak!

Ek het darem geweet dat die deurmekaar letters op die ou landswapen eendrag maak mag beteken het.

Waar carpe diem vir my die eerste keer betekenis gekry het, was in die film Dead Poets Society waarin Robin Williams die rol van ’n onderwyser, John Keating, vertolk. Behalwe dat dié fliek ’n lewenslange impak op my as mens en op my onderwysloopbaan gehad het, het dit ook dié latynse spreuk ’n wêreldterm soos Coke en Elvis gemaak.

Ek kry elke keer hoendervleis as ek die gedeelte sien waar die leerders Keating groet en een vir een op hulle banke klim en sê: My captain, my captain.

Carpe Diem was op almal se lippe. As jy vandag die frase Carpe Diem op ’n soekenjin intik, kry nie minder as 4, 850, 000 verwysings daarna nie! Oral het iets met carpe diem in of vooraan die lig gesien. Van dagstukkieboeke tot besighede met die naam. Carpe Diem Versekeraars, Carpe Veiligheidsdienste en selfs Carpe Diem Begrafnisondernemers!

Sou ons die gedeelte van Horace se gedig vry vertaal, sou dit min of meer soos volg klink: Terwyl ons met mekaar praat, gaan kosbare tyd verlore; oes die dag en moenie jou vertroue in môre plaas nie.

Allerhande vertalings van Carpe Diem het die lig gesien. Die mees algemene een in Afrikaans is : Gryp die dag! Meer direk vertaal sou carpe eintlik na die proses van oes in landbouterminologie verwys. ’n Getrouer vertaling sou dus wees: Oes die dag!

Al hierdie akademiese vertalings raak egter nie aan my gewone dag-tot-dag-hartsnare nie. Net soos my Latyn Julius nie kon help nie, mis baie van hierdie vertalings vir my die bus.

Hierdie mooi vertalings is miskien goed vir die omslae en titels van dagstukboekies en besighede wat jou wil beïndruk.

Vir my bly die raakste en toepaslikste vertaling (deur die uwe natuurlik): Kry jou gat in rat!

Lekker kort. En dit pas maklik op ’n T-hemp.

Dalk met carpe diem voorop en my vertaling op die agterkant?

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero – Horace (Odes Book 1)

(While we’re talking, envious time is fleeing; seize the day, put no trust in the future.)

Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today. – James Dean

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. – Abraham Lincoln

Image: Renjith Krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Om uit te hou of te vou?

By Rian Truter on November, Thursday 10 2011 in 2011, Leadership, Life 1

Ek sit nou een oggend by die verkeerslig en wag dat dit moet groen word dat ek kan ry. Oor Radio-sonder-Mense trek Kenny Rodgers los met die baie bekende countryliedjie The Gambler: You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em…

Volgens my kaartspelervriende het hierdie lied se woorde, of moet ek eerder sê, raad, ikoonstatus onder pokerspelers bereik. ’n Mens moet glo weet wanneer om maar liewer jou hand neer te sit as om jou uit ’n swak posisie te probeer bluf.

Almal weet teen hierdie tyd al dat ek ’n groot Tom Peters dissipel is, en soos ek gereeld een keer ’n week doen, kyk ek weer wat het TP te sê. En soos die toeval dit wil hê, het hy presies baie, en in geen onduidelike taal nie, oor die wysheid van dié dobbelaar se raad te sê.

Ek haal hom direk aan en as jy skrikkerig is vir kragwoorde, moenie verder lees nie!

“… it all reminded me of a Very Sensible Saying that I think is pure, unmitigated crap, in fact the World’s Worse Advise: Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em. As I said … pure crap.

Forget “fold ‘em”. Drop it from your vocabulary. Excise it. Bury it. Stomp on its grave. If you care, really care, really really care about what you are pursuing, well, then, pursue-the-hell-out-of-it-untill-hell-freezes-over-and-then-some-and-then-some-more. And may the naysayers roast in hell or freeze in the Artic or bore themselves to death with the sound of their “statistically accurate” advice.

It’s a good fortnight to bring this up. I’ll bet the farm, my farm, or at least an acre thereof, that less than 1% of the 10,000 athletes in Beijing moved smoothly through their careers. I’ll bet virtually all had coaches who advised them hang it up, “career-ending” injuries, humiliations heaped upon humiliations, and so on. And on. And yet they persisted. And they’re in Beijing.

My anonymous visiting friend gave me The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company, by David Price. Consider this paragraph:

“One of the curious aspects of Pixar’s story is that each of the leaders was, by conventional standards, a failure at the time he came onto the scene. [Animator-superstar John] Lasseter landed his dream job at Disney out of college — and had just been fired from it. [Tech genius and founding CEO Ed] Catmull had done well-respected work as a graduate student in computer graphics, but had been turned down for a teaching position and ended up in what he felt was a dead-end software development job. Alvy Ray Smith, the company’s co-founder, had checked out of academia, got work at Xerox’s famous Palo Alto Research Center, and then abruptly found himself on the street. [Steve] Jobs had endured humiliation and pain as he was rejected by Apple Computer; overnight he had transformed from boy wonder of Silicon Valley to a roundly ridiculed has been …”

That is, shit happens. And if enough of it happens to you, then, if you are wise, you’ll fold ’em. And God (and I) will love you just as much as if you’d endured — but we won’t read about you in the history books.

Now if you do indeed “endure” — well, we probably won’t read about you either, because the odds indeed are long against you making it to that history book or Beijing. I readily admit that.

But if you really really, really care …

About computer animation. Or rowing. Or the shotput. Or those supercalifragilisticexpialidocious chocolate-chip cookies you bake. Or haiku. Or better ways to provide a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious customer experience.

If you really really really really really care … then there ain’t no time to fold ’em until your last breath is drawn — and even that’s too soon if you’ve bothered along the way to inflame others about your presumed Quixotic cause.

In the (doubtless not) immortal words of Tom Peters: “There’s a time to hold ’em and a time to keep on holdin’ ’em — if you really really really care.”

Miskien moet ek eerder in die toekoms na Marvin Gaye se ain’t no mountain high enough luister, voor ek my kaarte wil vou?

It is a shameful thing for the soul to faint while the body still perseveres. – Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. – Harriet Beecher Stowe

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. – Josh Billings

Many say I am just one to try. I say I am one less to quit. – Diego Marchi

Image: Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Let’s make better mistakes!

By Rian Truter on November, Sunday 6 2011 in 2011, Leadership, Life 3

It seems to me we live in a perfect world.

No one makes mistakes any more. Except me and the honorable Minister Fikile Mbalula. That is if we can believe the newspapers. In hindsight our president got it right when he assigned minister Mbalula his portfolio – Sport and Recreation. Maybe the minister’s mistake was that he concentrated too much on the recreation part of his portfolio?

But enough of politicians. It was Winston Churchill who once said a politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.

It is a well known fact that the only way to learn from your mistakes is to admit that you have made it. Real learning only start when you take responsibility for what happened and not blaming the universe and all the creatures in it.

Easier said than done, I can hear a lot of you mumbling. Admitting is a stupid thing to do. Wait till they catch you before your admit to failure.

It is sad but society only has recognition for winners. And winners do not make mistakes. Society regard mistakes as failure and shameful. In schools, families and at work we are taught to feel guilty about failure and to do whatever we can to avoid mistakes.

According to Scott Berkun, it is this sense of shame combined with the inevitability of setbacks when attempting difficult things that explains why many people give up on their goals. They are not prepared for the mistakes and failures they’ll face on their way to what they want.

If we are so afraid of failure, how are we then ever going to succeed?

Tom Peters, management guru, provide us with a possible answer: Failure = Normal = Good. Reward excellent failure. Punish mediocre success. Fail faster. Succeed sooner.

For those of you that have been entrusted to lead (including all parents and grandparents) you must keep in mind that people only learn from the mistakes they make. You must expect and encourage your employees, your kids, to take initiative and to make mistakes. Then only will they gain experience.

Remember that no expert marksman became a crack shot without wasting some ammunition!

So how can you curb the fear of failure in yourself and in those people you are entrusted to lead to success? Here are a few things to keep in mind when confronted with failure:

• Irresponsibility is not a mistake. It’s just plain stupid!

• The world is not a perfect place. It’s only on magazine covers that people seem to be without any blemishes.

• Failure is not always life threatening. It’s a quite normal happening in life. (Except when you work for the bomb-disposal squad.)

• It’s important to realize that you only fail when you try. If you do nothing you can’t fail. Only doers fail. The rest just fade away.

• Tell people about your own failures.

• Even the greatest people in life failed. Here are a few examples of very successful people who failed before they succeeded:

Harland David Sanders: Better known as Colonel Sanders (KFC) famous chicken recipe was rejected 1009 times before a restaurant accepted it.
Thomas Edison: Inventor of the light bulb. His teachers told him that he was too stupid to learn anything and was fired from his first two jobs.
Charles Schultz: Creator of the Peanuts comic strip had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook editor.
Elvis Presley: The king of rock. When he was still unknown a manager fired him after one performance and said to him: You ain’t going nowhere son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.
Michael Jordan: Some laud him as the best basketball player of all time, but he was cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily this failure did not stop him and he said: I have missed more than 9 000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Failure is not only meant for the losers in life. Every one fails some or other time. Make peace with failure and move on. Or in the words of Tom Peters:

Fail. Forward. Fast!

Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed. – Robert Kiyosaki

I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success. – Jack Welch

Greatness is not achieved by never falling but rising each time we fall. – Confucius

If you decide to run with the ball, just count on fumbling and getting the shit knocked out of you, but never forget how much fun it is just to be able to run with the ball. – Jimmy Buffett

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