One of our residents – Mervyn Cole, writes:

“Monday, 8th January 2024, 40 villagers from The Somerset Lifestyle and Retirement Village, in Somerset West, walked through the door of The Lord Somerset Clubhouse to attend the first private wine tasting of the year.

Our first speaker was Anthony van Schalkwyk, of Bosman Wine Farms.

The farm is directed by the 8th Generation of Bosmans and the farm has been in the family since 1810. Anthony is a Senior Executive for the Bosman organisation with a special interest in promoting sales, to the European and, especially, American markets. Anthony is the son-in-law of one of our residents, so some delicate pressure may have been applied to get him to “volunteer” his services.

We had six wines to taste, three reds and 3 whites.

.

.

Bosman has many different cultivars on their Wellington and Hemel-en-Aarde Farms, so extensive varieties of wines are produced. This will allow us to arrange for a different presenter, from the same farm, to let us taste other wines from their cellars, on another occasion. Anthony said that they would be happy to do this.

Anthony was very generous and brought more wine than was necessary for the tasting, which left a few bottles for the social, after the meeting had ended. Not everyone stayed on, but you can be sure the usual band of reprobates did! No, I cannot divulge their names, a gentleman would never tell tales!

The Club would like to thank the staff of Western Province Caterers who laid out the tables and chairs and helped in so many ways to make the evening a success.”

The Somerset is a luxury retirement village situated in Somerset West. It’s an elegant haven for over-50s who wish to retire in a luxurious, tranquil and secure setting where they can discover their own sense of belonging.