Croydon at Gourmet SA Festival

15-18 May 2008

The Cape Town International Convention Centre

Book Now - (and get a free Chefs in Action Theatre ticket)

Croydon welcomes you to the Gourmet SA Festival. Come and visit us at stand S58.
http://www.gourmetsa.co.za

Southern Africa’s finest culinary Expo promises to bring Cape Town gourmets, gourmands and good-life devotees to their knees this year, with a sensational line-up of the finest international celebrity and BBC chefs, flown courtesy of Swiss International Air Lines, joined by our finest South African Chefs, no less than nine state-of-the-art kitchen theatres, and a host of unique specialty shows within the greater Show.

These dedicated areas will offer visitors everything from big-name book signings to the regional Barista Championships, the finest organic produce to hands-on workshops conducted by the world’s leading chefs. You’ll be watching magic, tasting heaven, and learning from the masters of food, wine, gourmet travel and lifestyle.

The Cape Town Good Food & Wine Show brings the latest cutting-edge global trends and tastes right to your doorstep, and you can stop, shop or pop into any number of extraordinary gourmet experiences, all unlike any you’ve seen before. Set your imagination free with Croydon Vineyard Estate at the Good Food & Wine Show.

Croydon welcomes Cape Town Film Studios - now under construction

After a number of years spent processing zoning and environmental requirements, Cape Town’s first, fully fledged sound stage complex will be online in early 2010.The first construction tender was awarded in mid March to enable work on the access roads to commence before month end.

Phase 1 of the development (previously known as Dreamworld Film City) will consist of 5 stages ranging from 2100 to 500 square meters each. Foundations will be in the ground by the last week of June 2008 to meet schedule requirement for a handover at the end of 2009. An additional 6000 square meters of construction and art department warehousing and appropriate production office space will also be developed. Opportunities for permanent tenants in either light industrial or office type accommodation will be structured according to need. Backlot space has been allocated and, for the first time, it will be able to retain sets that might prove valuable to future productions.

http://www.capetownfilmstudios.co.za

Media news about the Croydon Port Festival

Croydon at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees

Once again Croydon Vineyards participated in the ABSA KKNK. Have a look at their website for further information and make a booking for 2009. www.kknk.co.za

Properties for sale

Properties are for sale at Croydon. Consult the price list at this link to view the range of sizes and prices: http://www.croydon-estate.co.za/pricelist.asp

The stand details are available with thumbnail downloads of the property.

If you wish to place you property in the market contact Kathie Aldum through the links and contact details on the left.

Preparations for a stomping in the fountain..more pics next week

Port Festival a great success

Thanks to the more than 50 people that joined us for the grape stomping at the Port Festival on 13 March.

Just wanted to say "Thank You" for a lovely evening last night! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and look foward to participating in many more "Croydon Events".

We truly are excited about moving on to the Estate, which cannot happen soon enough! Stacy & Andre Botes

Twenty houses on the Estate

There are now 20 houses on the Estate either completed or underway. Five are fully complete, 10 are under construction and plans are in place for another five. Stand owners are reminded that they can download copies of the architectural design and landscape manual from the Estate website at the link below. Copies of the Estate documentation in printed form are also available from the winery.
http://www.croydon-estate.co.za/documentation.asp

INVITATION TO PORT FESTIVAL 13 MARCH 2008

You are cordially invited to join Beyers Truter
at Croydon Winery for the first annual harvest celebration,
featuring grape stomping in the fountain in the winery forecourt!

Date: 13 March 2008
Time: from 18:00 till late
Dress Code: informal – dress for stomping on grapes
(shower facilities are available)
RSVP: by Monday 10 March 2008 to L’Nell
021 843 3610 info@croydon-estate.co.za


Cash bar will be available & lots of Croydon wines on the house

Hope to see you all!
Corius Visser, Wine maker

Croydon Port Festival

Check back on the blog for news about the Croydon Port Festival 13 March 2008.

Beyers on Croydon's wines

The soil and climate of Croydon makes it ideal for the production of red wines of outstanding quality. The layered clay soil with its rocky topsoil and the cool sea climate reminds me of Bordeaux which is one of the most distinguished regions in the world for the production of top quality red blends.

We aim to concentrate on Cape blends at Croydon and I hope that the name Croydon will be as world-renowned one day as Bordeaux.

For our Cape blend we will use Pinotage, our very own South African variety, as the basis, together with varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Shiraz. From these components we will endeavour to make a wine which is as balanced and classic as the distinguished Burgundy, with a bouquet of pepper and spice unique to the wines of the Rhône Valley but which will have our own distinctive purple fruity character.

A complex blend that could be aged successfully for years, but that could equally well be enjoyed as a young wine. We shall have to experiment for at least another ten years before we have enough understanding of the vines at Croydon to know precisely what percentage of each grape variety to use, the type of oak, how long the wine should be in wood, how long on the skins and at what temperature the wine should be made. We look forward to a gratifying time of experimentation for everyone at Croydon.

Beyers Truter.

Home owners enjoying the harvest!

Corius played host and wine maker to home owners of all ages last week as they personally joined in with the 2008 harvest. They also took some of the pictures you can see above.

From the vineyards to the tanks 2008 style

The 2008 harvest went straight from the Croydon vineyards where they were harvested and into the tanks. The wines will then be moved into barrels for maturation.

This picture is taken from inside the winery, looking down on some of the tanks.

The 2008 harvest - some pics...

Home owners joined Corius and Beyers for the 2008 harvest last week.

Croydon's 2008 harvest invitation

Croydon is getting ready for the 2008 harvest. Join Corius and Beyers at the winery tomorrow for the harvest from 5:30 - 7pm. Invitations are going out via email.

Call Charmain 011 843 3610.

According to Sawis’ (S A Wine Industry Information & Systems) first estimate of the 2008 grape and wine harvest on 4 December 2007, the harvest will be 1053 million litres – approximately 0.4% more than in 2007. This brings the average wine production over the past 10 years to 933 million litres.

DOWNLOAD SAWIS PRESENTATION

The 2008 wine grape harvest is assessed at 1 357 168 tons according to the harvest estimate by the industry (producer cellars and viticulturists). This is a 0.4% increase from the 2007 harvest.

Districts
The Worcester district is expected to have the greatest harvest at 330 000 tons, followed by:
• Olifants River: 207 267 tons
• Robertson: 196 740 tons
• Orange River: 179 381 tons
• Paarl: 157 025 tons
• Stellenbosch: 123 499 tons
• Malmesbury: 119 603 tons

Klein Karoo is the district with the smallest harvest, with a decrease of 7% from 2007 at 43 653 tons. The harvest in Orange River shows the greatest increase of 11% from 2006.

Source: www.sawis.co.za

Join us 20 February from 7pm for food and wine with Mariette Crafford. More information on the site soon.

Mariëtte Crafford has been a freelance journalist, editor, translator and food writer since 1980. Come meet this author who will take you on a journey to the Northern Cape town of Kakamas, with its bright sunshine, wonderful people, fresh produce and scrumptious dishes.

If we don't answer the phone it is because of a power cut! Please email us instead.
info@croydon-estate.co.za