Raka evening at il Giardino degli Ulivi

Neil Pendock had this to say about the Raka wine tasting evening at il Giardino degli Ulivi. His blog, called "I don't wear a tie and no hype", appeared on The Times website on the 16 September 2008. What follows is the first paragraph thereof.

"Last night, Raka winery owner Pietie Dreyer was still partying on from his Michelangelo International Wine Awards triumph of Saturday night when his Raka Biography Shiraz 2007 won the Ferroprint Grand Prix Trophy for best wine of show. His voice was shot worse than Tom Waits but it was quite appropriate that he took the party to Johannesburg’s newest “classic Italian restaurant” il Giardino Degli Ulivi, an offshoot of Assaggi in Brian Green’s retro chic 44 Stanley Avenue precinct. Pietie never takes an advertisement, relying on his folksy floorshow featuring outrageous anecdotes, that he performs in restaurants and wine shows in 43 countries around the world, dishing out order forms to diners and listening to their comments – and acting on them. A plan that is very clearly working."
for more, go to www.blogs.thetimes.co.za