The annual Pinotage pilgrimage, Pinotage on Tap returns to Diemersfontein Wine Estate on Saturday 30 October. This will be the fourth and final party for 2010; the first events held nationally for the first time in celebration of the tenth year of wine-making at the Wellington estate.

The Original Coffee Pinotage, its first release coinciding with the new millennium, will be served on tap with canapés, strawberries dipped in chocolate and delectable foods to pair. Festival goers can look forward to an exciting line up of artists such as Lonesome Dave Ferguson, and Cassette; winner of the MTN award for Best Rock Album at their debut.

As is its convention, Pinotage on Tap will launch the new vintage of the Coffee Pinotage. Deemed the ‘People’s Pinotage’ the wine has won awards in the ABSA Top Ten Pinotage Competition, the  Michaelangelo Wine Awards, four stars in Platter’s guide to wine, and best wine on show as voted by the public at several of South Africa’s WineX events.

Made for early enjoyment, the coffee Pinotage is bottled mid-year after oak maturation for five months. Aside from natural variation according to vintages, the wine retains its essential features – easy accessibility and rich coffee-chocolate overtones.

Early bookings are advised as numbers are strictly limited. ‘Fan’ tickets are available for R260 from Computicket. ‘Fantastic fans’ will receive an entry ticket and six bottles of the Diemersfontein Pinotage for R625. ‘Fanatic fans’ tickets are priced at R1,450, including an entry ticket into Pinotage on Tap, 12 bottles of wine in a wooden wine rack, and an entry into the Diemersfontein 10th birthday draw for a plot at Diemersfontein worth R 450,000 and a Mercedes Benz C180 worth R 350,000.

Where to party with Pinotage on Tap in 2010:

• Pinotage on Tap Natal Midlands, 11 September, Piggly Wiggly Farm, Lions River
• Pinotage on the River, 26 September, Stonehaven on Vaal, The Vaal River, Vanderbijlpark
• Pinotage on Tap Johannesburg, 2 October, The Cradle Restaurant, The Cradle of Humankind, Lanseria
• Pinotage on Tap Cape Town, 30 October, Diemersfontein Wine & Country Estate

If you’re attending the event and you’re planning on enjoying some of the pinotage on offer, please make sure you don’t drink and drive. Plan in advance and organise a designated driver.

The Cape Town leg of the event is taking place from 10 to 12 September 2010. If you’re in Johannesburg, you can look forward to the expo from 8 to 10 October 2010.

Here are some of the highlights you can look forward to:

• Mr & Ms Fitness SA Zone
• Yoga Studio
• SABC/Spekko Rice Kitchen
• Liberty Medical Scheme Dance & Movement Stage
• Feel Good Joy Gym
• Clicks Health Assessment Centre
• The latest fitness equipment and exercise products
• The latest training techniques
• New hairstyles – and you can try one!
• Mini-treatments at the Spa Association Day Spa Pavilion
• Delicious healthy smoothies at the Boost Juice Feel Good Health Bar

Looks pretty good. Doesn’t it? I think it’s worth a visit. Ticket prices for the Look and Feel Good Expo in Cape Town are as follows:

• Adults: R60 each
• Scholars, students and pensioners: R40 each (ID required)
• Kids under ten years old: Free

Tickets are available from WebTickets.

Check out the details of the exhibition below. There’s also a PUMA mobile store at the exhibition, which has Kehinde Wiley products on sale. And well done to PUMA, for getting behind African football.

PUMA Kehinde Wiley pop up gallery now open in Cape Town

The PUMA Kehinde Wiley: Legends of Unity exhibition, featuring portraits of African soccer stars Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon, John Mensah of Ghana and Emmanuel Eboue of Ivory Coast opened in Cape Town this week.

Internationally acclaimed artist, Kehinde Wiley, collaborated with PUMA to create four original works of art: three individual portraits of each player wearing PUMA’s Africa Unity football kit, and then a fourth Unity Portrait featuring all three players and symbolising the united countries of Africa.

The portraits were unveiled in Berlin in January 2010 and travelled as an exhibition beginning in Paris and ending in Cape Town. The Cape Town gallery also showcases the PUMA Kehinde Wiley fashion collection and a documentary entitled Of the Same Earth.

The artist, Kehinde Wiley, attended the invite only launch party on Wednesday June 24, which attracted Hollywood actor and model Djimon Hounsou and his wife, American TV celebrity and fashion director Kimora Lee Simmons.

Local celebrities such as actress Vanessa Haywood, cricketer Makhaya Ntini, rugby player Corne Krige, athlete Elana Meyer, radio personality Shado Twala and former beauty queen Michelle McLean also came out to show their support.

The exhibition is located at 186 Bree Street, Cape Town until Saturday July 3. The gallery includes a pop up PUMA store, bar, coffee shop and sandwich bar. Open to the public from 10am to 6pm daily. Contact 021 790 9911 for further information.

PUMA Mobile Store:

PUMA fans can now purchase the latest Kehinde Wiley gear at the PUMA mobile retail unit situated outside the Kehinde Wiley exhibition in Bree Street, Cape Town.

The mobile store, which stocks limited edition Kehinde Wiley products, is open for trade to the public throughout the duration of the exhibition from 10am till 6pm.

Top wine estates will be participating in the Cape Times V&A Waterfront Wine Affair. There’ll be plenty of wines to taste and plenty to buy. But it’s not just about wine. Gourmet food will accompany all the wines on offer. Jean Dennis, Communications Manager for the V&A Waterfront says: ‘Visitors will be spoilt for choice as gourmet exhibitors and restaurants offer delicacies to savour as an accompaniment to your wines. Whether it is sushi, oysters, cheese, charcuterie or perhaps a beef kebab, you will be sure to find the perfect food and wine pairing’.

Tickets are R90 per person for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (4 May 2010 – 6 May 2010) and R110 per person for Friday (7 May 2010). If you’re buying tickets before 25 April 2010,  look for the ‘Early Bird’ discount. Your ticket includes wine and deli tastings and a brochure. Specialised food items and wine for post-festival delivery will be on sale. The event runs from 17h00 to 21h00 on the four days. Tickets are now available from Computicket.

If you’re attending the Cape Times V&A Waterfront Wine Affair and you’re planning to enjoy the wines on offer, please make sure you have a designated driver to get you home safely. Or why not stay over in the V&A Waterfront? Check out some V&A Waterfront accommodation offers here. KeenOnCapeTown.com encourages responsible drinking.

This year’s event will feature the infamous celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, as well as a line-up of other international BBC celebrity chefs including Willie Harcourt-Cooze, the star of the Channel 4 series Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory, and Anjum Anand whose take on Indian food caters for the health conscious. Master Pâtissier Eric Lanlard and Italian supremo Giorgio Locatelli will also be cooking up a storm at the Good Food & Wine Show.

South Africa’s finest chefs will join the international chefs in nine state-of-the-art kitchen theatres. There’ll be big name book signings as well as hands-on workshops with the celebrity chefs. Other highlights of the show include beer, brandy and cocktail theatres, organic produce in the Slow Food Market and children’s cooking.

There’ll be plenty to taste, plenty to see and plenty to buy at this year’s show. Here are the 2010 Winter Good Food & Wine Show ticket prices:

• Adult Day Ticket: R80 each
  Includes free entry to Chefs in Action (except for Gordon Ramsay).
• Children 2-12 yrs: R40 each
  Includes free entry to Chefs in Action (except for Gordon Ramsay).
• Pensioners: R40 each (produce ID at the door)
  Includes free entry to Chefs in Action (except for Gordon Ramsay).
• Ticket to Cook in Get Fresh with BBC Lifestyle: R350 each
  Includes show entry and ticket to cook with one of the BBC celebrity chefs, including Eric Lanlard, Anjum Anand, Willie Harcourt-Couze and Giorgio Locatelli. Or choose one of the fantastic local chefs.
• Watch Gordon Ramsay in the Chefs in Action Theatre: R300 each
  Includes show entry and seat to watch Gordon live at the Chefs in Action Theatre.
• Gordon Ramsay VIP Experience: R750 each
  Includes show entry, free wine glass, a VIP seat to watch Gordon live at the Chefs in Action Theatre, an autographed Gordon Ramsay cook book and a bag.

You can buy your tickets online at www.webticket.co.za.

One of the great highlights of the Winelands calendar, this inclusive festival celebrates the hard work of the Valley’s farmworkers, with an outstanding showcase of local musicians which this year will be even bigger and better than ever before.

Radio Kalahari Orkes will be the Franschhoek Oesfees.

The thrilling line-up of top-class performers includes Emo Adams – the witty Cape Flats born-and-bred actor and singer of ‘District 6: The Musical’ fame, and The Radio Kalahari Orkes that incorporates the unlikely musical talents of actor Ian Roberts and writer/poet Rian Malan.  Adams recently released his fast-selling CD, ‘Tall, Dark and Afrikaans’ and the Radio Kalahari Orkes with its music born from solid working class Afrikaans roots with classic Roberts’ tongue-in-cheek and razor-sharp social commentary, is receiving widespread acclaim.

On the homefront, Les Javan, acknowledged as one of Cape Town’s great composers and artist in residence at Solms-Delta’s Music van de Caab, will be on stage with his band Nonspesifiek. And adding their own toe-tapping brand of Cape vernacular music will be Solms-Delta’s women’s choir the Delta Soetstemme; a brass, guitar and vocal ensemble, the Delta Langbroek Band; the Delta Bluestars brass and klopse band and the evergreen locals, the Papier Family Langarm Band.

No Franschhoek Oesfees would be the same without old favourites, legendary spoon-wielding slide guitarist Hannes Coetzee and Cape Jazz king, Robbie Jansen. And guaranteed to have everyone dancing up a storm, the infectious rhythms of the boeremusiek of Negosiegoed; traditional story-telling in song and dance by Jakobus & Hester Cloete, Pieter van der Westhuizen & Tannie Grietjie and the Rieldanse champions from Grabouw and Witzenberg; Ghoema Jazz of ‘national gem’ Mac McKenzie and his Ghoema orchestra. The Franschhoek Oesfees is a feel-good event that reminds you why it is great to be South African, and especially a Kaapenaar.

The 2010 Franschhoek Oesfees takes place on Saturday 27 March, from 11am until 9pm at Solms-Delta Wine Estate – Delta Road, off the R45, Franschhoek Valley (40 minutes from Cape Town).  Gates open at 10am.

Tickets are available through www.webtickets.co.za, at the farm or Franschhoek Tourism office for R160.00 per person, which includes a R60 meal voucher.  Food stalls will serve traditional kaapsekos throughout the day, and a cash bar for wine and soft drinks will be available.  Entry is free for children under six and half price for under 12yrs.

It’s the third edition of the festival and this year promises to be bigger and better than ever. Get your tickets if you’re keen to sample signature dishes freshly prepared by highly acclaimed chefs whilst exploring specialist culinary delights, sampling fine beverages and enjoying a fabulous program of music and entertainment.

When’s it happening?

• Wednesday 24th March 2010: 18h30 – 22h30
• Thursday 25th March 2010: 18h30 – 22h30
• Friday 26th March 2010: 18h30 – 22h30
• Saturday 27th March 2010: 13h00 – 17h00; 18h30 – 22h30
• Sunday 28th March 2010: 12h00 – 17h00

There are a limited number of tickets available and bookings are advised. Book through Computicket on 083 915 8000 or www.computicket.com. Entrance is free for children under 12. Tickets cost:

• R80 Standard – Entrance and free access to P’nP Fresh Living Chef’s Theatre, Checkers Wine Route wine and cheese tastings, Grolsch Beer academy and various other gastro features at the Festival.
• R170 Premium – Including R100 worth of Taste of Cape Town CROWNS*.

* CROWNS, the festival currency, can be bought along with festival tickets beforehand or on the day. Guests can use them to pay for sample dishes from restaurants or drinks from exhibitors and bars. Each Taste of Cape Town CROWN is worth R5 and prices range from 4 to 8 CROWNS per dish. Change is offered in CROWNS only.

Enjoy.

The race organisers have received over 80 bids from ports around the world wanting to host the event. Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront is the chosen port for the end of the first leg of the event. Leg one is one of the longest in the race and comes in at 6,500 nautical miles. It’s one of the toughest legs in the race and historically the team that wins this leg, is well poised to go on and win the Volvo Ocean Race.

That’s another scoop for Cape Town. Well done to the Mother City.

The MPH Top Gear Live Motor Show is best described as live motoring theatre. If you’re a fan of the show, you know these guys are going to produce something big and action-packed, with a few surprises. Take it from Jeremy Clarkson himself – he says: ‘We’ve turned your favourite motoring television show into the most spectacular motoring theatre show in the universe. We’ll be taking all the best bits of Top Gear, and ambitiously attempting them live in our action arena. I’m sure it will work out well!’.

Expect a collection of the world’s most desirable cars, precision driving from The STIG leading a team of international stunt drivers and a stunt conjured up by the Top Gear trio, which is so spectacular it promises to be a world first. And you may even be lucky enough to do your own Top Gear lap in the arena.

Tickets range from R250 to R450 each and you can buy them at any Computicket branch or online at www.computicket.com. Show times are as follows:

• Thursday 28 January 2010: 17h30, 20h30
• Friday 29 January 2010: 17h30, 20h30
• Saturday 30 January 2010: 14h00, 17h00, 20h00
• Sunday 31 January 2010: 11h00, 14h00, 17h00