Petes-Pix: Probus Christmas Lunch

My Books

"Pinotage: Behind the Legends of South Africa's own wine" is available on the ibookstore

Learn more about my new book telling all about Pinotage and read sample pages at
pinotagebook.weebly.com

A I Perold's
A Treatise
on Viticulture
A I Perold (1880-1941) was South Africa's first Professor of Viticulture and Oenology. He dedicated himself to improving the quality of grapes for wine, brandy and the table. He studied wine and brandy production in Europe, imported more than 60 varieties to the Cape and bred new ones. Perold said this book “is intended to serve both the student and the practical grape-grower. There are in it technical passages that will appeal more to the student, e.g. the chapters dealing with the biology of the vine, its external and internal morphology, the theory of grafting. My remarks on the practice of viticulture, such as those dealing with the propagation, manuring and pruning of the vine, the production of table grapes for export, will, it is hoped, assist the practical grape-grower as well as the student.” This is a newly typeset reprint, not a photocopy. Text on the 712 pages have been aligned to match the original pagination so any external references to pages in the Treatise will be valid in this edition
Available in paperback and hardback editions. 712 pages

A Year in Paarl
with
A I Perold

Dr Perolds report on his Paarl experiments 1915 - 1916 reprinted with glossary, introduction and brief biography. Fascinating historical document on viticulture for wine and table grapes, wine and brandy making.

16 December 2021

Probus Christmas Lunch

Probus 37th Annual Christmas lunch was held at Verulam Golf Club. Some people didn't book because of Covid, and the recent rapid rise of Omicron variant leading to a Government recommendation to scale back one's social activities led others to cancel, but we still had 65 booked.

I chose the spiced carrot and lentil soup to start with and it was really enjoyable with a bite of chilli, then I had traditional roast turkey.

There were two thick slices of turkey, which I couldn't finish. I'd have preferred more veg, but the meal was tasty.

Christmas pud, garnished with redcurrants, with brandy sauce was well presented but ordinary,

and there were mince pies and small cakes to follow with coffee and poppers.

I was responsible for choosing and sourcing wines.

The white was

2021 Zalze Chenin Blanc Bush Vine (South Africa, Western Cape)

Terrific: dry but not acidic, fruit and balance and it went down a treat with those present.

and the red was

2020 Domaine Camp Galhan Cévennes Les Frigouliers (France, Languedoc, Cévennes)

100% Grenache; soft fruity drinkable. Another wine that charmed those gathered. It went well with roast turkey.

A bottle of each was on every table and I had two bottles of both as top-up tables which ran out. Same as the summer lunch, red was more popular than white.