The Taj "Expressions of Terroir" launch dinner

Have you ever tasted a white pinotage? Strictly speaking, this wine should be called a Blanc de noir, (a white wine from red grapes).

The Mellasat white pinotage is made fairly conventionally, with minimal skin contact, but is rather a strange expression of the grape because it does not show recognisable characteristics of the base wine or of its parents Pinot Noir or Hermitage (Cinsaut), but it was nevertheless quite quaffable. We found similarities to white Zinfandel. We preferred their flagship red, called M, a Cape blend of Cabernet, Shiraz and Pinotage.

This series of dinners, prefaced by a wine tasting on the launch evening, gives you a chance to meet and chat to the wine makers and marketers while tasting some delicious wines. And you don’t have to book for dinner to come and taste the wines. Click here to see the programme for these monthly tastings and the monthly Expressions dinner themes in the Mint restaurant.

Tiaan Burger, son of Schalk, brother of Stormers' captain Schalk and his Welbedacht wines

James Borland welcomed us

Tiaan Burger and Andrew Barns (Mischa)

The Menu:

The dinner was very, very good. Babel on Babylonstoren seems to be the flavour of the summer this year, bookings are hard to get, so it was good to be able to see what the chef Simoné Rossouw is doing.  

We were welcomed with a glass of Welbedacht Mon René MCC and the dinner started with one of her famous Green Salads, a plate full of green vegetables and herbs and flowers with a mint geranium dressing; it was very refreshing. This was accompanied by Mischa Rousanne 2011.

The main course was a stunning surprise. Large fillets of Franschhoek smoked trout, lightly cooked with a superb strawberry and Viognier sauce. Lynne had done a similar dish earlier in the week using pomegranate molasses, fish sauce and lime but the strawberry was superior by far.

Who would have thought that strawberry would so complement smoked trout? This was served with the Bosman Chenin Blanc 2009 and the Doolhof Malbec 2009, so you could have the colour you preferred with fish. Several of the other guests liked the Malbec with the fish, there being enough fruit to work with the strawberry and smoky flavours, but we preferred the more delicate flavour of the Chenin.

Then came a stunning dessert; a chilled plum soup with plum sorbet which had lovely undertones of five spice.

It was served with a glass of their MCC, which had been augmented by the Babylonstoren homemade plum cordial. We can still taste the clean fresh plum flavours and want more!

A fourth course of Gorgonzola Crème brulée with almond and Parma ham crisp was a fabulous, if very rich, ending to a lovely meal. This was served with Andreas Shiraz 2009 and one of our favourite dessert wines, Glen Carlou’s The Welder Natural Sweet Chenin Blanc 2011.

Please note that several of these courses have been incorporated into Mint’s menu for the whole month of March should you wish to try them. The wines are also available for tasting with the food.

A sign of increased responsibility. A table of winemakers' glasses at the end of dinner