AMBER GOLD

Wine is very nice of course, but it’s also brilliant when turned into brandy, writes Hilary Biller

There are few tastes that surpass that of a boozy, well-matured Christmas cake. I love the way the cake, dense with beautifully plumped fruit, oozes the mellow flavour of brandy. Another classic is crêpes suzette: delicate crêpes folded into triangles, swimming in a buttery orange sauce, doused in brandy and ceremoniously flamed.

I recently attended a half-day brandy course at Van Ryn’s distillery in Stellenbosch. It kicks off not with a brandy — which would have been most welcome on a particularly cold day — but with the history of brandy in South Africa. The first brandy was produced in 1672 by a Dutch chef. Today South Africa is the fifth-largest producer of brandy in the world, and one of the most highly regarded.

The spirit is the only alcoholic beverage made from another alcoholic beverage — wine. The grape varieties used are predominantly colombard and chenin blanc.

The highlight of the course was the tasting of a selection of local brandies. This was followed by a surprise exam under the auspices of the Cape Wine Academy. Imbibing too generously during the tasting could be a problem here — on the other hand, it could provide Dutch courage.

The academy offers single-evening SA brandy courses around the country at R125 (the usual price is R250, but the Brandy Foundation sponsors 50% of the cost). Visit www.capewineacademy.co.za for more information.

WIN A BOTTLE OF BRANDY

FINE BRANDY BY DESIGN, an awardwinning collection of premium potstill brandies, is giving away three bottles of fine SA brandy: a Van Ryn’s 12-year-old, Flight of the Fish Eagle and Oude Meester Demant. To stand a chance to win one, name a grape variety used in brandy. E-mail your answer, name, address and phone no to food@sundaytimes.co.za with BRANDY as the subject, by noon on Tuesday November 12. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE.