Courtesy: Cape-Winelands-Info.co.za

In my novels, I have always searched for an underlying theme that will weave its way through the story despite how the plot might twist and turn. In The Housemaid’s Daughter the theme was Music; in The Girl from Simon’s Bay it was the forces of Nature; in The Fire Portrait it was Art. In The Case Against Fili Du Bois, the theme that pervades the book is Wine. And, alongside it, the unique and beautiful flora and fauna of the Western Cape.

My first vintage would be a cabernet, a famous red grape with hints of blackcurrant and cherry, and a liking for several years’ rest in oak barrels that had come all the way from France.

A glint of emerald green darted over my head – a malachite sunbird, pointy-tailed, lightning fast – heading for the protea-rich slopes beyond the vines.