"In vino veritas [In wine is truth]." Proverb quoted by PLATO

“Here's to the corkscrew - a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly.” 
W.E.P. French

So we had a wine festival in Dar! I was ridiculously excited about the prospect of actually sampling GOOD wine in our dusty city and the evening did not disappoint.

We arrived at the Southern Sun around 17:30 on Saturday and it was quite amusing to compare the wine shows I have been to in South Africa to the event playing out before me. The show was held in the garden (in other words outside, NO air-con) and everywhere people where trying to look glamorous, sipping on wine, while sweating profusely in the brutal January humidity! The stands where not as per Wine-Ex all uniform and boring, but in true African style we had a mismatch of salmon pink and bright yellow structures to sample from. But the wines…ah man the wines…

Before I bumble on like an idiot about the wines I tasted, let me just put this into perspective for you – in Dar Es Salaam, a good bottle of wine will cost you a small fortune. For someone like me, who really enjoys my wine, it was a harsh reality check to stand in front of the wine shelf and choose the cheapest bottle like in my student days. But we humans are amazingly adaptable and soon I learned to add lots of ice and just enjoy! So can you now understand my ecstasy at encountering beauties like Durbanville Hills Rhinofields Reserve Chardonnay, Fleur Du Cap Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon and the delicious Chocolate Block from Boekenhoutskloof? I was in wine heaven for the full duration of three hours.

The evening ended at one of my favourite Dar party destinations – dancing under the stars at Mediterano. Well, we were dancing under the stars and Hibiscus was dancing ON a chair UNDER the stars! Good friends, good wine, good 80’s music….throw in a date with a pilot and what is not to love about life?!

Andizi