Paint the Town Wine

Five easy wine ideas for girls’ nights, braais, summer lunches and dinners, with a little help from Hillcrest’s own, Kelsey Fisher, aka Paint the Town Wine.

Paint the Town Wine is a Hillcrest-based wine business with the simple idea: make discovering good wine feel less intimidating and way more fun. From guided tastings to food-and-wine evenings, Kelsey, with the help of friends in wine, introduces KZN drinkers to boutique South African producers and loves helping people understand what is in their glass. At the recent annual “Grape Expectations” tasting at Bellevue Café, guests could move between tables sampling wines from 10 producers, with craft brews from That Brewing Company also in the mix.

With summer entertaining around the corner, we asked a more useful question: which bottle should you reach for, and when? By following a relaxed and unpretentious approach for anyone who likes good wine but does not want a lecture every time they open a bottle. That is the idea here: delicious and fun bottles, not complicated wine homework or jargon.

Girls’ Night

Ataraxia Sauvignon Blanc
Fresh, lively and easy to sip, this is the bottle to open when the snacks are out, and nobody is counting the hours. Serve well chilled alongside sushi, salty nibbles, fresh oysters or a simple grazing board.
Hint: Sauvignon Blanc loves softer cheeses like feta and goat’s cheese.

The Braai

Salt Rock Red Blend
Salt Rock calls this its “braai wyn”, and it makes sense for the season. This fruit-forward red blend is made to be approachable, so bring it out with boerewors, burgers, lamb chops or smoky vegetables straight off the grill.

The ‘Smart’ Dinner

Ataraxia Chardonnay

When the table is set a little more carefully, reach for the Chardonnay. Its richer, woodier style works beautifully with roast chicken, creamy pasta, grilled prawns or a buttery mushroom dish. It is the bottle that is perfect for any dinner that you’d like to turn into an occasion.

Charcuterie Board

Trizanne Signature Wines TSW Cinsault
Cinsault is the perfect red for summer; you serve it chilled, and it pairs perfectly as a sundowner with charcuterie and hard cheeses. Expect bright bursts of blackberry and raspberry as well as beautiful spice and a medium-bodied palate.

Summer Salads

Gabrielskloof Synonym Chenin Blanc
This wine is a wonderfully versatile option for food pairing. A delicious Chenin Blanc boasts oodles of fruit on both the nose and palate, with bursts of bright citrus, white peach and a light honey twist. This wine has become a huge crowd pleaser!

The best part? You do not need to know everything about wine before choosing a bottle. The point is less about strict rules and more about finding a bottle that makes the food and occasion work together. Tell Paint the Town Wine what you are eating, who is coming and what kind of evening you are planning, and let Kelsey point you in the right direction.

Four Easy Wine Pointers
The dessert should not be sweeter than the wine: when pairing wine with dessert, choose a wine that is at least as sweet as the food. Otherwise, the wine has less of a chance to shine.

Fat loves acid: rich, creamy or fried foods often work brilliantly with crisp, high-acid wines because the acidity cuts through the richness. Think sparkling wine with salty, fried snacks.

Don’t automatically pick red for cheese: white and sparkling wines can be fantastic with cheese, especially soft, creamy cheeses. A crisp white can actually be a better match than a big red.

Pair the sauce, not just the meat: chicken does not automatically mean white wine, and steak does not automatically mean you have to drink a red wine. The sauce, seasoning and cooking method can matter just as much as the main ingredient.

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