Wine tasting notes from trips we have taken.
It is primarily the animals and the landscape that draw us to a photo safari location, not the luxurious accommodations. I always question whether fancy accommodations will separate us from the views and the sounds of the African night. Happily the view and the chorus of nighttime voices were thoroughly enjoyable from our tented suite at DumaTau. Click on individual […]
Jacana Camp was the first of four stops in the Okavango Delta during our recent photo safari in Botswana. Jacana is located in the 150,000-acre Jao Concession, in the northwestern part of the Delta, south of the panhandle. The camp is located on an island of trees in the midst of a large floodplain and papyrus swamps. The main lodge […]
Recently we spent a couple of days in the Paso Robles wine region. The three-and-a-half-hour drive makes Paso too far away for a day trip, so we planned an overnight stay. For us, wine travel in the time of COVID means looking for lodging in a small rural property and for wine tasting experiences that are outdoors. Planning ahead is […]
The flower garden beneath our second-floor room is in full bloom. Raspberry bushes bear ripe fruit waiting to be picked. Paisley and Clifford, two relaxed longhorns, graze the pasture just beyond the garden. Close by a flock of chickens scratch and peck among the olive trees, with their nighttime roost (a re-purposed travel trailer) set safely within their fenced area. […]
Danshi Rise is just the kind of winery we hope to discover when we travel — single proprietor, small volume, authentic wine tasting experience, delicious wine. We experienced all of this and a man cave to rival any at Danshi Rise in Australia’s McLaren Vale region south of Adelaide. The winery sits on a rise above the vineyard at the […]
September 1 is #CapClassiqueDay, a day set aside to celebrate South Africa’s premium sparkling wines. Cap Classique is made using Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) — the traditional method (as in Champagne) where the second fermentation takes place in the bottle. These sparkling beauties are made in a variety of styles, from grape varieties that you might expect and a few […]
In our experience, a safari camp located along a permanent river in Namibia is unusual. We’ve enjoyed a stay on the rim of the Fish River Canyon, but the river was dry in most places. Our stay along the ephemeral Hoanib River provided endless wildlife viewing opportunities along its dry riverbed. We’ve stayed adjacent to the red dunes of Sossesvlei […]
When we began planning our return trip to Namibia with Expert Africa we knew we wanted to include the Skeleton Coast and the impressive dry riverbed of the Hoanib River in our itinerary. We got a brief glimpse of both on our first trip – just enough to make us want to return. The Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp is located […]
I always like to see exactly where I’m going on a map before I get there. The vastness of Namibia (it’s twice as big as Spain) and its relatively small population (2.5 million in 2017) mean that almost every location outside of the capital city of Windhoek is remote. And sometimes difficult to find on a map. But remote and […]
Wine was not the primary reason we traveled to Namibia, but once we discovered there are several commercial wineries located in this arid African county we made it our mission to taste wine from as many of them as we could. It took two trips, but we have now tasted wine from all four commercial wineries in Namibia and visited […]
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.