I’ll very shortly be boarding a plane to head off to Cape Town. I’m really looking forward to returning to South Africa for the second time this year. It’s a great place to visit because so much is going on in the wine scene there.

As is the case with quite a few countries these days (for example, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia), many of South Africa’s current best wines weren’t being made 15 years ago. The pace of change, when you consider that viticulture is a long-term game – is quite incredible.

I’m going to be taking part in the Swartland Revolution, which is a fabulously counter-culture celebration of some of the exciting, ground-breaking wines now coming from this region.

After this, I’m back down to Cape Town for some R&R. Nothing much planned yet, so suggestions of good things to do warmly welcomed. Now it’s time to board. Flying SAA – hope they’ve now got their new Airbuses running this route. The old ones were looking a bit long in the tooth.