A Year in Paarl
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
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 Fascinating historical document on viticulture for wine and table grapes, wine and brandy making.
Goodbye 2022
Better than the previous two...
Hello
Jack Christopher Peter May - born 17 March 2022
to Emma and Toby
Covid Vaccinations:
September - Covid Booster with Flu Vaccine
Travel:
Criccieth - January
Viking Tialfi - Rhine Getaway (Basel>Amsterdam) - April
Criccieth - July
Scenic Diamond - Beautiful Bordeaux - August
Narrowboat Annabelle - English Canals - October
Cancelled by Covid:
Starlight Players Snow White Pantomime - January
To Aylesbury for a light lunch with Toby, Emma and Jack. Toby poured a refreshing glass of Lanson Black Label Champagne.
Jack was almost crawling, but hadn't worked out how not to trap his leg when he pushed himself up. He wasn't impressed with our present of a knitted Santa Claus figure, throwing it to the floor and playing with its wrapping paper.
Christmas lunch with Peter & Sue and Peter’s sister Sarah so they did all the shopping and cooking and opened their cellar.
We enjoyed a super meal, the best turkey I have had. Sarah said she knew nothing about wine but had been told they’d picked my favourite. When we arrived Peter was decanting a wine I recognised from the distinctive label as The McRae Wood, but we started - of course - with Champagne.
With the roast a wine was poured from a decanter and it was so full bodied and packed with fruits. Sarah said it was the best wine she’d ever tasted and that it was ‘silky’. I concurred and was very pleasantly surprised to learn it was Ch Batailley 2013. I’d bought half-a-dozen EP but drank the last one in April 2021, I should have kept them longer. McRae Wood was great and the Cabernet Sauvignon ice-wine a succulent companion to Christmas pudding with custard.
We went home with stomachs bursting and full of Christmas cheer.
I haven't made one of these in a while and this one turned out well.
Woke up this morning to snow and despite slight melting near house, it was much the same all day.
Posted out my third Commonplace Book
Cover shows our October holiday Narrowboat Annabelle at Gaskell’s Bridge, River Trent, Alrewas, Staffordshire, England 16 October 2022.
Back cover inserts:
Jack, Emma, Toby, Peter, Joan
at Prae Wood Arms, St Albans, England 16 September 2022
and
Dan, Krisie, Joan, Peter
at Dylan’s, Criccieth, Wales 24 January 2022
Dan and Krisie were staying with us and we were invited by Toby and Emma to join them for an early Christmas dinner. There was a log fire crackling away on the TV but Jack was in his cot asleep when this photo was taken by Dan's self-timer camera. The marvellous roast chicken dinner that Toby cooked had been demolished.
