Donald lives in Tadworth, Surrey and is originally from Durban in South Africa. He developed an appreciation for wine at a relatively young age mainly in thanks to his francophile mother who served it (just one glass mind!) with food around the dining table and taught him to appreciate, enjoy and acknowledge its ability to complement and even enhance good food.
This appreciation grew stronger in his early twenties when he met like-minded buyers and drinkers of wine while working behind a bar as a student and also realised that a good bottle of cabernet sauvignon was a better pairing with barbecued red meat than any beer could ever be. Now all he pretty much drinks is wine – of all colours and styles – and enjoys collecting wines he likes to drink.
Favourites include (but are not restricted to!) New World Pinot Noirs, most red Rhone varietals, the deeply dark and tannic wines from South-West France, big, creamy, oaked and over-the-top Chardonnays and the sweet white wines of Monbazillac and Sauternes.
Donald prides himself on a relatively in-depth knowledge of the South African wine industry. He has visited many of the top wine estates in the Cape and will gladly try and convert the most sceptic, ignorant and staunchest critics of SA wine. If he won the lottery Donald freely admits he would buy a wine estate somewhere in the world and grow old in no great rush while getting his feet wet with grape juice.
17 August 2011
I find it hard to drink red wine in this hot and sticky weather we are having at present. I used to drink beer on days like these but I’ve since weened myself off the amber liquid and onto white and rose wines. While its difficult to replace beer as a thirst-quencher (and I still [...]
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21 July 2011
I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to wine labels. Generally if a wine label has got a picture of an animal on it I tend to steer clear. “Never judge a book by its cover”, I hear you say, but in my limited experience of tasting and drinking wines that [...]
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6 January 2011
Sweet/dessert wine is something I’ve only relatively recently got into. I was lucky enough to be “broken in” several years ago with a (small) glass of 1980-odd vintage Chateau d’Yquem – recognised by some as the finest wine (red, white or sparkling) in the world and with a price to match. In 2006 a 135-year [...]
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27 December 2010
Buitenverwachting literally means Beyond Expectation and this is certainly true in the case of this wine. The wine speaks volumes for itself but, as is the case with many great wines, the degree of appreciation can only be enhanced with a little knowledge and history of the area that it originates from. Part of the [...]
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16 December 2010
A native of the Loire Valley in France and chief component in a wide variety of wines from sparkling to dessert and those of Vouvray, more Chenin Blanc has been planted in South Africa than any other grape variety. The main reason behind this is a historical one – during the Apartheid years when South [...]
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7 December 2010
Robert Mondavi is an American winemaking legend known throughout the world. Raised in a traditional Italian family, he appreciated that sharing good wine with good food is one of life’s simplest yet best pleasures. He was the first to recognise the potential of the Napa Valley in California for growing vines and established the first [...]
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28 November 2010
In my humble opinion this is the best South African Sauvignon Blanc and one to rival the finest Kiwi offerings – a yardstick against which so many New World SV’s get judged nowadays, especially in the UK. I always serve it to friends who love the varietal without telling them what it is (unmistakably a [...]
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12 November 2010
Californian Chardonnay is to be steered clear of in my experience, if you don’t like oak or butter and prefer your white wines to be on the crisp and citrusy side. If, however, you are like me and prefer a good Chardonnay to any other white wine varietal and like it to be robust enough [...]
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2 November 2010
Nederburg is probably the most famous South African wine estate, not least because it is the most decorated. Established in 1792 in the Paarl Valley it hosts the biggest wine auction in South Africa every year, which is open to any producer who’s wine passes the stringent selection process and includes Nederburg’s own wines. They [...]
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17 October 2010
Better known for the production of fruit – particularly apples and pears – the Elgin Valley is just 70km from Cape Town and is rapidly gaining a reputation for premium quality wines. Elgin Vintners is a partnership of 6 independent wine growers in the Elgin Valley who take advantage of the cool climate to produce [...]
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20 September 2010
Matching food and wine can be tricky at the best of times, but what do you do when confronted with a curry, a chinese or cuisine from that part of the world? The flip side of people’s palates becoming more adventurous is that it makes it harder to decide on what wine will complement the range [...]
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