BROWSER’S PARADISE: Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar, 92 Strand Street, Cape Town
There have been some great wine shops in South Africa that have come and gone. Some that were once special are now ordinary, with the good ones that are still around so few as to count on one hand. We’re not talking about liquor stores, bottle stores, places that deal in alcohol and where the staff wouldn’t know a fine wine even even if they’re selling it to you. We’re lamenting the fact that so few retail wine outlets have a comprehensive selection of the country’s top quality bottlings and that even fewer have people on the floor and at the end of a telephone line who are knowledgeable about the various types and characteristics of what’s on their shelves, let alone the places the wines come from or the people who make them.
Sure, these days if you’re shopping for everyday drinking and buying on price, the Pick n Pays, Makros and Ultras will suffice. But where is a local to go in Cape Town for something unusual or something rare, perhaps wine to accompany a good meal or to serve at a special occasion? And what options are there for visitors to the Cape winelands who want a one-stop shop to source more of what they’ve tasted and liked while on one or more of the country’s wine routes, or who wish to try what they didn’t get around to trying in the winelands? Yes there is Wine Concepts and Steven Rom, Vaughan Johnson and Vino Pronto, but they’re not quite in the same league as Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar when it comes to their selection of South Africa’s finest as well as on-the-floor product knowledge and familiarity with the vintners.
Caroline Rillema has been a purveyor of fine wines and spirits in Cape Town for over 30 years. She is as passionate about the good stuff from the Cape as she is about the beauties from Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire, Champagne, Italy, Spain and other reputable winelands around the globe. Today, most of her business is done out of her Strand Street shop in the CBD, spacious premises that are a delight to browse around or sit down in for one of the many kinds of wine tastings that are scheduled – or one that is tailored to your specific requirements. However the location isn’t ideal in terms of parking options in the area and the general nature of the precinct. A more welcoming ambience characterises the almost-as-interesting but much smaller store in the V&A Waterfront. Casual tastings are held at the Waterfront store on Thursday and Friday evenings and more formal tastings take place in the Strand Street shop on most Thursday evenings. And there is hardly a place in the city, the country or the world that they can’t deliver to.
Caroline is also known to wine lovers for her annual Red Wine Review and White Wine & MCC Review, exclusive wine tastings where the top winemakers or the winery owners themselves are on hand to present their finest vintages and field almost any question you wish to put to them. The last Red Wine Review at the Cape Town International Convention Centre was as special as always – tens of South Africa’s very best red wine producers, a serious-but-fun event where elegant glasses, elaborate decanters and the general calibre of people in attendance all contributed to the occasion. Some of the wines on the night were in sublime form despite their youth, there were only a couple of top guns notable by their absence, and you got the distinct impression that in terms of good alternatives to a guided tour encompassing South Africa’s top cellars, this night out is hard to beat.
