Collaring some great food and wine in Kwazulu-Natal
Our pack have been on the move almost constantly since April. Jeremy meandered around KZN, Jo’burg and the Lowveld, while Emma explored new areas of Zambia and caught up with all the travel professionals at Indaba, World Travel Market Africa and We Are Africa. In…
The lighter side of winning
When you enter the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) you are going up against some of the most famous wine brands in the world, so winning any award is extremely gratifying. This year, 275 judges blind tasted 16903 wines from around the world. Here is…
Unusual wines in the cellar
Anyone who knows Jeremy, knows that he likes creating wines that are not run of the mill – Viognier, Roussanne, and Grenache are good examples. When offered a few tons of unusual grapes, he is unlikely to say no. This past week, he took delivery…
Wine and wanderings around KZN
While Emma was preparing for ProWein in Germany, Jeremy was roaming around KZN with our reps in the region. One of the visits included Blackstrap in Ballito, where our Lycaon Grenache will soon be available. Olive and Oil in Umhlanga will be listing our Den…
Launching Guillermo Swartland Pinotage 2014
Our Swartland Pinotage ‘Guillermo’ 2013, with its velvety ripe blueberry, mulberry, exotic spice and creamy vanilla flavours is almost sold out. We are proud to announce that we will be launching Guillermo Swartland Pinotage 2014 at Prowein. We invite you to come and taste it…
Wine, woman power and singing praises
Wine Last week, the team had rather a hectic week. The amazing Mourvèdre and Shiraz grapes growing at Kasteelsig vineyard in the Swartland were ripe and ready to be made into intense flavourful wine. At the same time, Jeremy had to be up in Jo’burg…
News from the African Wildlife Conservation Fund
Jeremy got the following news from the African Wildlife Conservation Fund: A successful denning season What a wonderful denning season we had down in the Zimbabwean Lowveld in 2017. Our scouts were kept on their toes monitoring the 21 (out of 27) resident pack…
Wanderings at harvest time
Our pack Whatsapp group recently went on a pinging bonanza as Jeremy shared his photos from the field. He had taken a cycle to Leeuwenkuil and Langvlei to check on the state of the grapes before he briefly flits off to London for the North…
Vote for beauty
For the third year in a row, Painted Wolf Wines have stepped up as sponsors of Nature’s Best Photography Africa. This exhibition of spectacular photographs is on at the Iziko South Africa museum until March 4, 2018. There are so many reasons we are happy…
Wild dog news from Painted Dog Conservation
Jeremy subscribes to the Painted Dog newsletter and received this news from Peter Blinston: 2017 came crashing to an end for all of us at PDC. In the past weeks, we have witnessed the tragic demise of the Mabuyamabhema pack, who succumbed to rabies. Our desperation…
Happy Doggy days
Wine Wow! We have had quite a year! Our 10th birthday heralded an increase in sales, a new website and some very nice awards. Thank you to all of you who are such steadfast fans of our wines. It is you who spread the word…
November – update from KZN
Jeremy received this month’s update from Cole Du Plessis of the EWT – it continues the saga of the wild dog population in KZN: “November has been a fruitful month in maintaining and expanding South Africa’s wild dog metapopulation. The greatest highlight of all was…
Painted Wolf update from the field
Earlier this month, Jeremy recieved an email from Cole Du Plessis of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, giving an update on his work in the field with African wild dogs (he refers to them throughout as Painted Wolves which we can’t fault). Cole’s report Early in…
In the pink
Rosé wine is one of the fastest growing categories in the wine world. Between 2007 and 2014, rosé wine sales in South Africa trebled. The Rosé Rocks competition started 3 years ago, and last year our 2016 Den Pinotage Rosé was in the Top 11…
20 places to meet Jeremy and try our wines during September in the UK
Jeremy is off to the UK for a wander between wine tastings. Actually, some days it’ll be less of a wander and more like a frenzied dash across the country. He is looking forward to catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. He…
Where do our donations go?
Charitable contributions are sometimes looked at with scepticism. When we say a portion of our profits go towards African wild dog conservation, it is hard to quantify exactly where it makes landfall and which specific programmes it goes towards, unless it is a direct contribution…
A label designer, a wine promoter and the road less travelled
On the last day of July, Amanda (Jeremy’s sister and the Gauteng Painted Wolf Wines promoter) and I set off from Johannesburg in the Painted Wolf vehicle, laden with what seemed like way too much stuff. We were making a dash for the border, specifically…
Awards – our wines perform well in the beginning of the year
We started the year off with some great awards for our wines. If you are a follower on facebook, you would have noticed an increase in photos of Jeremy holding certificates and looking proud. National Wine Challenge/Top 100 wines 2017 At the National Wine challenge/Top…
News from Painted Dog Conservation
Peter Blinston sent this news: Life Saving Collars The first three months of 2107 have already been intensely busy, particularly in providing protection for the Nyamandlovu pack. For some months now we have been concerned about the shift in the Nyamandlovu pack’s territory, which has…
Emma’s report from Kagoshima and Taiwan
It was a whirlwind four days in Kagoshima in the far South of Japan, where our importer Homboshoten is based. It took over 30 hour’s door to door, and I barely had a chance to take in the famous volcano across the bay as we…
The pack pow – wow in Paarl
In January this year, two Gauteng pack members (it doesn’t quite have the same ring as Vaalies), Amanda and I (label designer Lori) flew down for a gathering of the pack. We had a lot to discuss, from new websites to social media strategies, to…
Dinner for the dogs in a deluge
Our fund raising evening on Wednesday started out very ominously with the mother of all storms breaking over much of Joburg. In fact it was so bad in the east of the city, the roads around OR Tambo airport were completely flooded and the N1…
Dinner for the dogs
Many people are astonished to hear that there are fewer than 450 African wild dogs left in South Africa today. The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) recognised the plight of this species back in 1997 and began a multi-faceted programme to attempt to increase their numbers. …
Painting the town red (and silver)
A handful of our reds were winners at the recent International Wine and Spirit Awards. Peloton Rouge 2013 (a predominantly Shiraz and Pinotage Cape Blend) won a Silver Outstanding in the Category: Syrah Dominated Red Blends. The other two Silver Outstanding awards went to the…
Amanda roves from wine show to wine show
Mercury Wine Week Our roving pack member, Amanda (pictured above with Jeremy) is currently at the Mercury Wine Week. It takes place in the Champion’s Room at Greyville Racecourse in Durban. She will be pouring our wines and chatting up a storm every day this…
Emma’s report from Zambia
Here I am at last, sitting on the banks of the Luangwa River at Flatdogs Camp, watching the hippos frolic in the water through the tall grass, and admiring the thick forest vegetation on the opposite bank stretching as far as the eye can see…
Roussanne and reds – Old Mutual Wine Trophy results
This time of year is always interesting. Having submitted our wines for judging, we wait impatiently for the results of the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. The only inkling that we get is the heads-up notification to be ready to take part in the public tastings…
Food, wine and conversations with Emma
At the beginning of May, Emma was our travel and tourism ambassador at two important showcases in South Africa. We are Africa, May 2 – 5 We teamed up with Leading Hotels of the World at the We Are Africa Exhibition 2016 at Cape Town…
The Wild Dogs in and around Kruger – an update from the field
Grant Beverley from The Endangered Wildlife Trust sent us his update from the field, including feedback from the census we sponsored: “After another constructive meeting with SANParks and the State Vet services a project proposal will be submitted to continue monitoring of Wild Dogs within…
National Wine Challenge/Top 100 SA wines 2016
We are thrilled to announce that nine of our wines won awards at the National Wine Challenge/Top 100 SA wines 2016. This is fantastically appropriate for our ninth birthday month, so there is much celebration at the den. Double Gold Winners were mainly whites with…
9 things we are thankful for on our ninth birthday
As it’s our birthday month and we are nine years old, we thought it would be apt to look back at nine aspects of our company that sum it all up. Beginnings: Painted Wolf Wines was founded by Jeremy and Emma on 4th April 2007….
Wine adventures – February 28 – March 4, 2016
Jeremy is up in Jo’burg for a few days and will be taking us on a few wine adventures while he is here. Wine adventures at Copperlake Brewing Co. Sunday February 28th from 14h00 – 16h00 Jeremy and Amanda will be at Copperlake Brewing Company,…
2015 review and February events
We are trying to find a bit of breathing space in the busy beginning of this year, to reflect on an amazing 2015. Last year, Jeremy and Emma divided the globe into West and East respectively. Jeremy visited customers in the USA and then went…
Wildlife photographer of the year
We are thrilled to be sponsors of the South African arm of this international event. I am sure a lot of you have seen the photos on facebook, of HRH Prince Harry, visiting the exhibition and chatting to Emma and then Jeremy. He walked away…
Wine club – join our pack
We’ve had a few ultra busy weeks with the wine flowing and fans enjoying the flow. The Veritas public tastings in Cape Town and Durban, The De Beers conference, the Endangered Wildlife Trust AGM, a few private tastings and the launch of our wine club….
Tasting Veritas gold and other adventures in wine
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded 9 medals in total at this year’s Veritas awards. Gold: “Penny” Swartland Viognier 2014 Silver: The Den Chenin Blanc 2015, Pictus II 2010 Bronze: The Den Cabernet Sauvignon 2013; Peloton Rouge 2012; Black Pack Shiraz…
Soaring Words from the Flying Winemaker
Who is the flying winemaker? Eddie McDougall is an award-winning winemaker, wine judge, columnist and host of the TV series The Flying Winemaker on Discovery Network’s TLC. Through his show and through a combination of guerilla wine tasting events, innovative marketing & media promotion, wine…
Roussanne and wild dogs
Our Black Pack Roussanne won a silver medal that the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Awards 2015. Jeremy has used this grape as a fantastic addition to our white blends, a traditional use for this particular varietal, but has also ventured into presenting it as a…
Wine & Wild dog weekend at Chilo Lodge, Zimbabwe
If you are looking for a taste of wild and remote pristine wilderness, look no further! You have to go to Gonarezhou! You may well wonder why hold a ‘Wine and wild dog weekend’ – well, it all started with the maiden vintage of our flagship…
Celebration of Painted Wolves – the wobbly wanderings of a winemaker
Jeremy had a fantastic trip to the UK. His experiences ranged from the very grand Tusk Dinner at Windsor Castle in the presence of Tusk patron HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, to grimly cycling on and on, in cold and clammy conditions. The grimmest…
A Celebration of Painted Wolves – our artists
Thanks to the following artists who contributed art or photography to our Tusk 25th anniversary fund raising auction. The artwork followed Jeremy around the UK and was auctioned to raise funds for the Tusk trusts conservation programmes in Africa. Daryl and Sharna Balfour their website…
Celebration of Painted Wolves – London Wine Fair and Beyond
It’s been a busy week for Jeremy. He temporarily hung up his cycling gear and swapped pedalling bikes for peddling Painted Wolf at the London Wine Fair. Three days of talking and tasting with North South Wines, our UK distributor. The evenings were taken up…
A Celebration of Painted Wolves
After a long time planning, A Celebration of Painted Wolves, UK is off to a flying start with Jeremy completing the first leg of his bicycle odyssey from Cornwall to Scotland. The Painted Wolf wines pack has been working their fingers down to stumps,…
Fine food, wine and people in Japan
Just over a year ago I arrived in Tokyo to pour our wines at the huge Foodex show. I had no idea how the Japanese would react to our labels or style of winemaking. My old school friend Kozue and I were blown away with…
Wine and Gourmet Japan, Emma goes East
Emma will be pouring our wines at Wine and Gourmet Japan 2015 between 15 and 17 April. She will be joined by our Japanese translator, pack member and all round indispensable person, Kozue and the MD of our importer, HomboShoten, who will both be helping…
Going to the dogs at the Old Mutual Two Oceans marathon
The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (OMTOM) is around the corner and once again, there will be people running for Wild Dog conservation. The organisers and beneficiaries of the team’s efforts are the African Wildlife Conservation Fund, a small, dedicated NGO from the south-eastern Zimbabwe…
Hair of the dog and other wine tasting in California
Jeremy is currently flitting from State to State to Province in the USA and Canada. Here are two of the wine tasting events he will be presenting in California this week. “Hair of the Dog” wine tasting Wednesday, March 18 at Zizzo’s Coffeehouse & Wine…
Food, filming and a bit of foolery
Last week I toddled off to Paarl to catch up with the Painted Wolf pack and make some plans for the year. Jeremy has been rushing from vineyard to cellar to bottling plant at the speed of light, while Emma is busy prepping for her…
2014 in review
Welcome to 2015! If last year was anything to go by we will be running all over the place again, spreading the wild dog word as we go. 2014 started off with a blast as a heatwave hit in harvest season, bringing the grapes to…
Dogged pursuits in KZN – new ranges
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) in collaboration with its partners, released a pack of five African Wild Dogs onto Somkhanda Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday 29 November 2014. Northern KZN is a Wild Dog conservation stronghold. The pack comprised two males originating from…