Wine Wise
What began as an online introductory wine course to pass along our knowledge, and pass the time during lockdown, soon became a book that we've proudly published in English and Xhosa. It's the first time in the 360+ years of winemaking South Africa that a wine book for consumers has been translated into an indigenous language other than Afrikaans.
WINE WISE: (Some of) the stuff you've always wanted to know about wine.
Written by Cassidy Dart MW and Cape of Good Wine. Xhosa translations by Mlondolozi Pute.
We’re still not sure how we ended up writing a 100+ page book…or why it’s the longest book title ever!
But we can tell you that we’re hella proud that this introductory wine eBook is available in English and Xhosa.
The book takes you through some of the history of winemaking over the centuries, viticulture, winemaking, wine styles, serving temperatures, a substantial chapter on learning to taste wine, a well as food and wine pairing. We then delve deeper into the 6 most popular grapes in South Africa – their origin, important countries where the wines are also made, winemaking, typical characteristics, and how we’d pair the wines. We also explore sparkling wines and fortified wines.
Our goal from the very beginning was to give everyone in South Africa access to solid wine information. Hence choosing to have the content translated into Xhosa. We lucked out in finding a linguistics expert completing his PhD in isiXhosa…and we couldn’t be prouder of Mlondolozi Pute’s contribution to this project. The first time in the 360+ years of winemaking in South Africa that a wine book for consumers has been published in Xhosa? It sounds a little boastful…but we’re giving ourselves a pat on the back because it was long overdue!
