De Grendel’s wines always impress; the restaurant produces very good food, the wines are excellent and the farm has one of the best views of Table Bay and the mountain. On Tuesday, we joined a group of wine and food writers to taste this wine, ‘Op die Berg’ 2013 Chardonnay, paired with a three course menu prepared by chef Ian Bergh and his team, who are all on show in their open kitchen
The Chardonnay grown on this Durbanville farm has been used in The Winifred, their recently discontinued white blend, and their MCC, which is where they will continue using it. The Chardonnay vines on their Ceres farm are now ready and their grapes have been improving so much over recent years that
they wanted to produce it on its own. The wine is big and bold, leesy, with
perfume and slight smoke on the nose. It has been in oak for 8 months and
has a full, rich mouthful of buttery golden delicious apples, then marmalade, followed by some dark toasted oak, which will soften with time. It has long, defined flavours and goes very well with food
The sad news
is that this Chardonnay means the sacrifice of The Winifred blend of
chardonnay, Semillon and Viognier. We are trying to encourage them to try to
continue making this elegant wine which we love, by finding or growing some more
chardonnay!
The tasting room terrace has wonderful
views of Cape Town
We met in the private dining room and
were welcomed by Restaurant manager Gerrie Dreyer with a glass of their own MCC, 2012 vintage, which is is a blend of
76% Chardonnay and 24% Pinot Noir and is beautifully crisp and appley
Public Relations for De Grendel is handled by Errieda du Toit, who is
quite famous for her work with Kokkedoor, the Afrikaans TV cooking programme, which resembles
Masterchef in some ways. She has edited the Kokkedoor cookbooks
Lynne chatting to old friends from the media,
Michael Olivier and Graham Howe
The wine is poured and we await our first course
at the beautifully laid table
The Chardonnay ready on the table, a serving of water is poured
Chef Ian Bergh explains the menu and
the pairings
and generates some amusement
Winemaker Elzette du Preez has been
with Cellarmaster Charles Hopkins at De Grendel for 8 years. She trained at Elsenberg and worked at Backsberg for 6 years before joining the team at De Grendel. Here she tells us all about the wine
Rapt attention - lots of questions
followed
Maryna Strachan of Wine Extra listens intently to Elzette
is echoed by all
The menu. Printed in red at the bottom
are the tasting notes for the wine which Chef Ian Bergh used to pair the food.
The starter was super soft poached
chicken breast in a lovely, gentle but savoury, chardonnay velouté - accompanied by
tortellini filled with pea purée, which was also on the plate, as were courgette
ribbons. A lovely mix of flavours and textures, but the star was the moist
chicken. Peas are a very good match for this wooded chardonnay. A very
sophisticated dish
De Grendel has flocks of geese around their dam
The absolutely superb main course. On
discussion with the chef, Lynne learned that the crayfish had been cooked sous
vide, which accounted for its tenderness and the marvellous flavour of the sea. Bravo! So many people ruin this luxury by overcooking it. The sea bass was also
perfectly cooked - moist and flaky. The whole dish, balanced on a slightly al
dente risotto, was cooked in a stock reduction made from all the roasted shells of
the seafood and chardonnay. A triumph. And another perfect match for the
Chardonnay, especially the slightly smoky flavour from the roasted shells.
Graham Howe and Errieda enjoying the day
De Grendel has a wedding chapel on its
hill
Relaxed members of the media over a
great lunch
So simply and beautifully presented:
dessert was a small slice of rich pear frangipani tart with apple slices, vanilla
ice cream and some dulce de leche (condensed milk) with some toasted crumbs for
texture. This was served with the Chardonnay and with a small glass of the De Grendel Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc
2012 (with 190 g/l sugar), which is full of litchi, citrus, apricot and peach,
spice and honey.
The wonderful view of the city and our
mountain from De Grendel
A quote we like from their web site: “De
Grendel Restaurant is 100 percent South African. Farm produce and ingredients, sourced from local suppliers, are given an inventive, modern edge. Home-grown
South African chefs and staff are employed and trained to international
standards, generating jobs for local people.”
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