Tag: stellenbosch

Stellenblog

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A day out (sort of – we were home by 3:30pm) in Stellenbosch. And I know I said that I’d share it live, but if it weren’t for the detail above, you might think we were still there, so it’s all good, right?

We started at the Unlock Escape Rooms in the Eikestad Mall, where we played the Oak City Wine Heist game. We’re kinda old hands at escape rooms now, and we were headed out to Stellies because we’ve done all the ones in Cape Town. We finished this one in 47 minutes, but it was a bit disappointing. One of the major components of the room wasn’t working, and despite watching us struggle with it for maybe a quarter of a hour, they only told us that it was broken after we got out and had asked what the relevance of the whole thing was.

So we could have been a lot quicker, and it could have been a lot more fun.

They also could have… you know… mended it. But no.

So fun, but not up to the standards we’re used to. 3 out of 5 stars.

Then off to Hartenberg for some wine and some food. And this was really good.

It’s seriously pricey, but their “super premium” tasting option is worth it just to experience their flagship offerings. Link.

Great service from Sive, and a real privilege to be able to taste some really superb wines, despite the bonkers prices. Their Gravel Hill Syrah is exceptional, but at R1,275 (£55, $69), it’s also way out of reach for most of us. I also enjoyed the The Stork Shiraz (R1,050) and the Bordeaux style (not blend, because no Malbec) The Mackenzie at R875.


And while the wines were unquestionably very special, you could get three or four bottles of very decent stuff for the price of any one of those big boys, so you can make your own call on that.
Because it’s not like their “everyday” wines are in any way poor. Their easy-drinking Cabernet Sauvignon (R335) made for a lovely accompaniment to their delicious cheese and charcuterie grazing platters in the summer heat.

Before we left, we popped down to see their Ankole cattle. Too hot to spend too long with them, but wow, they are incredible: hornz for dayz.

And then – with the Boy Wonder acting as chauffeur – it was back home for a swim and a blog.

The problem with having so very many wine farms on the doorstep is that even when they are really good – which Hartenberg undoubtedly is – it seems wasteful to go back when you could be experiencing something new and untried.

But maybe we need to add this one to our “let’s go back again” list, just because it was a great few hours out.

The Ridiculously Sensitive Water Buffalo Meat Issue

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In more ways than one.

Look, we’re not going to die just by eating water buffalo, goat or donkey. We might die because the meat processing plants have been breaching other regulations that we didn’t know they were either though.
But since we haven’t died yet (and here, I’m speaking for myself), it seems unlikely that that’s actually the case.

So let’s not get carried away here.

But, as long time reader, first time emailer Richard Atkinson pointed out when sending me the Stellenbosch paper – that’s not the only ridiculously sensitive problem here:

They use mtDNA PCR for species typing of the samples. My biggest criticism is how ridiculously sensitive that technique is. They would be picking up contamination from an animal that was slaughtered in the same area, or processed with the same equipment. This would obviously be a problem if found in Halaal/Kosher meat, but they never specifically state that they found contamination in those meats, which is something I’m sure they would have harped on about at length if they had to help drive the PR machine.

It’s a very reasonable point, and furthermore, there’s no mention of any controls on the methods they used (which would have raised alarm bells and prevented Richard’s concerns).
Not to go into too much detail, but mtDNA PCR is a method of analysis which could detect even the tiniest amount of DNA and present it as a possibly significant result. Which is a good thing, because there rightly shouldn’t be any “foreign” DNA in your “100% beef” mince, so the fact even a minute amount of “foreign” DNA can be detected makes the test sensitive. Sensitivity is good.
However, given that abattoirs generally don’t work solely with one species of meat, there’s likely to be a lot of DNA floating around in the areas in which our meat is processed, and it’s entirely likely that some of it may have found its way into “other meat”.
And here, over-sensitivity is bad.

So from that point of view, maybe we shouldn’t be reading too much into the results of this study. Except to perhaps question the donkey (not literally, because he’s dead and he couldn’t talk he was alive). While beef, pork, chicken and even goat and water buffalo are recognised foodstuffs in SA; donkey isn’t. So Eeyore – described in the paper as “undeclared donkey” – shouldn’t be in there:

Perhaps of greatest concern from a regulatory, health and ethical standpoint was the detection of undeclared donkey (E. asinus) in one meat sample sold in KZN as ‘quality sausage’, for which the only animal species declared was beef. Since donkey is not a species commercially processed for human consumption in South Africa, there is a high probability that this indicates a further case of intentional substitution for economic gain.

Although to be fair to the food labellers, it does appear that they never stated that the ‘quality sausage’ was good quality sausage.