Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Cellarbake@Nitida

At last, a new and innovative way to showcase wine, this time with cake, dessert and other baked goods. You bought an elegant champagne flute and five tokens for R100 and you could do five pairings of wine with a small tasting portion of cake, tart, pie etc.  We had one each and we shared the 10 tastings but you could buy more tokens and taste everything and you could buy full sized portions of cakes, tarts, puddings, cookies, bread or ice creams to enjoy with a glass of wine.  Well known top artisanal bakers gathered from around the Cape to showcase their signature dishes paired perfectly by culinary connoisseur and Cellarbake Wine Consultant Michael Olivier, with Nitida and Môreson wines.   You could also do a huge high tea for only R165.  Make a note for your diary next year,  we do hope this successful event happens again.  Nitida owners and founders of Cellarbake, Peta and Bernhard Veller  were thrilled Cellarbake@Nitida was received so well by all who were in search of something satisfyingly new and they look forward to its growth and development as an annual festival.

This was what was on offer at the High Tea
This carrot cake was one of the best confections of the day
Small bites of fruit crumble
Chocolate and fresh fig cake
Strawberry and truffle brioche
Very vanilla cheesecake
Rooibos scones and cream with grape preserve
Mini apple and frangipani tarts
Sitting on the terrace by the lake at Nitida
Cookies topped with jelly
Great baskets were for sale from the Association for the Blind stand
Nitida tasting room manager Inga and trainee winemaker Faith offered tastings of all the Nitida and Môreson wines
Chocolate and different teas were also for sale
Tracy Raphaely of Nomu, her son and their friendly staff on their Nomu stand had lots of interesting cakes made from their excellent new range of boxed mixes
They all looked very, very delicious
And there was live music all day
We then ventured into the crowded tasting room. Lynne is chatting to the Nitida winemaker Brendan Butler
This chicken liver paté from Arugula Bistro was Lynne’s favourite of the day. Neil Swart, the owner, also had some amazing ice cream. His salted caramel was so moreish that we might have to visit the shop to eat some more
He makes good bread too
These, from The Ginger Girl Bakery, went very well with the Nitida Coronata Integration 2012
This was the best match of the day. Stefan Thietz at Cassia restaurant on Nitida paired his Baby apple and frangipani tarts with Nitida 2013 Chardonnay. A complete echo  of flavours and textures
The full sized cakes were very pretty and  tempting but you could not do too many. The smaller tasting portions are on the left hand side
Beautifully brightly colour icing always appeals
A very popular choice was the extremely rich baked Cheesecake from Whipped Patisserie paired with Nitida’s classic Sauvignon Blanc
Red velvet cupcake topped with a rather crusty ganache
Cakes and tarts to take home with you
Mini and maxi cupcakes
We took a small lunch break and admired two pretty ducks on the lake
Cakepops
Tina, Queen of Tarts' delicious salted caramel tarts and chocolate & berry meringues
John’s favourite and Lynne’s second favourite.  A very spicy, and well filled with nuts, moist iced carrot cake from Tables at Nitida which was a lovely match for the Nitida 2012 Shiraz
Nina Schiodt, who is organising Taste of Cape Town, takes a deserved break with the daughter of owners Bernhard and Peta Veller of Nitida
Some people bought a selection of cakes to try
Linda Harding enjoying the sun and a glass of bubbly
Lots of room for relaxing on the lawn by the lake
The “Bride and Groom” from the Wedding exhibition that was also taking place, takes a row on the lake. With one oar. In circles
Arugula's menu
Chef/baker Niel Swart of Arugula
A quick peek at the Wedding Exhibition table settings
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

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