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surveys the young vines in a vineyard
In
this week’s MENU:
Guala Closures
lunch at Jordan Stellenbosch Hills
at La Mouette Season of Sauvignon
at Durbanville Summer Chenins at
Meloncino Platter Launch Diners Club
Winemaker of the Year 2014 Lunch at Borage Elgin Chardonnay
Tweet Up This week’s recipe:
Gravadlax Important festivals
this month Food and wine (and
a few other) events for you to enjoy Learn about wine
and cooking
To get the whole of our story, please click on
“READ
ON.....” at the end of each paragraph, which will
lead you to the related blog, with pictures and more words. At the end of each
blog, click on RETURN
TO MENU to come back to the blog version of MENU.
This week’s Product menu Product of the week: Crème de Marron is a wonderful sweet
chestnut puree from France sold in small 78g tubes and which costs only
R>> per tube. It has been produced since 1882 and still has the same
classic packaging. You can eat this on toast like Nutella, sandwich macaroons
with it or put it on meringues and serve with fresh sliced strawberries. It is
an essential ingredient in a Mont Blanc dessert. If you have had this once, you
will never forget it. We do also have larger tins.. See them here
Guala Closures
lunch at Jordan Are you still feeling the
“Romance of the Cork”? Or are you realistic about how many bottles of wine
closed with cork can potentially fail because of the cork? Thursday saw us at
Jordan for lunch and a presentation by Guala closures on the use of aluminium
closures on wine. We came with a little knowledge as, when we visited Excelsior
on Monday, we saw their bottling line in action and watched and learned as the
screw cap closure machine swiftly did its job. It is fascinating. There were
three presentations, one by Guala Closures themselves, who told us how the
closures work and their low impact on the environment, as all these cap
closures can be recycled an infinite number of times. And they are easy to open
and close again, should you not want to finish the bottle. Billions of screw
caps are used world-wide, mostly on soft beverages and beer, with more and more
in the wine industry, mainly in the New World. We were told that 75% of all
aluminium ever produced on the globe is still in use.
We had two very amusing
presentations. One from Michael Fridjhon who used the analogy of coating an
expensive car with a fragile paint made from rare molluscs and a video from Ken
Forrester, both supporting the use of screw caps. To quote Ken, “A random piece
of cork can ruin all the hard work in the vineyard and the cellar”.
We then had a very good (as
expected) lunch prepared by Chef George Jardine and his bevy of talented chefs
and assistants. This was accompanied by excellent wines from different
producers, all from screw capped bottles. Read on
Stellenbosch
Hills at La Mouette Stellenbosch Hills invited us
to a wine-paired lunch at La Mouette in Sea Point. After we had all gathered
and tasted their new Polkadraai Pinot Noir Rosé semi-sweet Sparkling 2014,
aimed at the younger market, and eaten some rather good canapés, we were
treated to a 7 course pairing menu, which was served with other Stellenbosch
Hills wines. It is a co-operative winery, which was known for most of its
existence as Vlottenberg and is now 69 years old. The grapes come from 16
different producers in five Stellenbosch wards: Polkadraai, Lynedoch, Vlaeberg,
Vlottenberg and Stellenbosch Kloof. Read on
Season of
Sauvignon at Durbanville We really
wanted to go and see what everyone had planned. We must admit that the
programme this year didn’t exactly grab our attention, but we love the area and
its wines, so off we went and had a great time in lovely sunshine. We started
at Durbanville Hills and found it pumping and full of people enjoying
themselves. And it was the same at all the farms. There was live music, lots of
food for sale, things to keep children happy, wine tastings not only of their
own wines, but Sauvignons from all the other 11 farms involved in the Season of
Sauvignon and “The Twelve”, the bottle containing grapes from all 12 farms. We
managed to squeeze in four more farms before wending our way home at 4.30 Read on
Disappointed A farm
in Stellenbosch also had a festival over the weekend, a “Secret festival”. So
they hung posters in the Durbanville area. This is called Ambush Marketing,
guys. We didn’t see any in Sea Point. Read on.....
Summer Chenins
at Meloncino There are some tastings we
always look forward to and the Chenin Blanc Association’s Summer Chenin
Showcase is one of them, as we are great fans of Chenin Blanc. Invited by the
Sponsor, Standard Bank, to Meloncino in the Waterfront at 10.30, we knew we
were in for a good showing of Chenin. There were 5 flights of wines from this
versatile grape and it was followed by a very good lunch. The first flight was
titled. Minerality - mixed vintage; and included such gems as Beaumont 2014,
DeMorgenzon DMZ 2014, Villiera 2014, Raats Original 2013 and Remhoogte 2013 –
nice to start with a bang! And it only got better. Lynne’s two top scores went
to Spionkop 2013 and Rijks Touch of Oak 2012, but the quality overall was very
high. And the prices of many (not all !) are still very affordable. Read On.....
Platter Launch How to top off a very good day? Follow a
good tasting and lunch with the excitement of the Diners Club Platter Wine Guide
launch at the Mount Nelson. This year there were 50 five star wines and one
five star Brandy and, following the well organised award ceremony, we had the
opportunity to taste all of these five star wines. It was very exciting indeed
and we love seeing happy beaming wine makers. Winery of the year was Swartland
based Sadie Family Wines - the only winery to get three 5 star wines. White Wine
of the year went to De Morgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2013 and Red Wine of the
Year to David Trafford for the De Trafford Blueprint Syrah 2012, his most
affordable red. There was a very large crowd and some killer wines. But not all
suit all palates, nor should they. Vive la difference! Read on.....
Diners Club
Winemaker of the Year 2014 The
finalists of the prestigious Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2014 are Jacques
Erasmus (Spier Wines), Alicia Rechner (Backsberg Estate Cellars), Alvi van der
Merwe (Alvi’s Drift Private Cellar) and Bryan MacRobert (The Hughes Family
Wines). Both Jacques Erasmus and Alvi van der Merwe have been nominated for two
of their wines – the Spier Creative Block 2 2014 and 2013, and the Alvi’s Drift
AD CVC 2011 and 2012, respectively. This year’s category for the Winemaker of
the Year is Dry White Wine Blends and the winner will be announced at a black
tie gala dinner at the La Residence Hotel in Franschhoek on 15th November. For
more information, visit www.dinersclub.co.za
Lunch at Borage You may not know it but this is Restaurant
Week, when for 10 days each October you get to eat at some good restaurants for
a special price. http://www.restaurantweek.co.za/ A 2 course lunch costs R95 and a three course
dinner is R175. Restaurants can add further stars and each adds another R50 to
the bill.
Although we are busy, we
wanted to try this new restaurant in town of which we have had good reports.
Chef Frank Marks worked at La Colombe, The Test Kitchen, Pot Luck Club and
Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, so he has a good pedigree! The restaurant is on
The Hans Strydom Avenue face of the new blue Portside skyscraper which fills
the block bounded by Buitengracht, Bree, Mechau and Hans Strydom. We had a
lovely meal and hope to go back soon. Read On
Elgin Chardonnay
Tweet Up Lunch was followed by another Elgin
Tweet-up, this time we tasted 12 Elgin Chardonnays. And very different some of
them are. There was a huge range of
styles and flavours and depth, but the usual suspects tend to rise to the top
in this cooler area which is producing such good fruit and wine. Favourite
wines of the tasting were the Paul Cluver, the Kershaw Clonal Selection and the
Iona. The latter two are Five Star Platter wines. But they were followed
closely by Oak Valley and Almenkerk. It is such a good area for Chardonnay.
Prices are mostly over R100 a bottle and upwards. The Kershaw sells for R305
and this price caused some controversy but, as Richard says, he gets it from
his market.
Wine
|
Vintage
|
Cellar Door
|
Alcohol
|
Winemaker
|
Corder
Cool Climate Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 90.00
|
13.50%
|
Joris
van Almenkerk
|
Winters
Drift Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 97.00
|
14.00%
|
Koen
Roose
|
Lothian
V'yards Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 140.00
|
14.00%
|
Stefan
Gerber
|
Oak
Valley Wines Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 150.00
|
13.50%
|
Pieter
Visser
|
Almenkerk
Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 180.00
|
13.50%
|
Joris
van Almenkerk
|
Iona
Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 175.00
|
13.00%
|
Werner
Muller
|
Kershaw
Clonal Selection Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 305.00
|
13.50%
|
Richard
Kershaw
|
Paul
Cluver Chardonnay
|
2013
|
R 150.00
|
13.50%
|
Andries
Burger
|
Thelema
Sutherland Chardonnay
|
2012
|
R 100.00
|
13.50%
|
Rudi
Schultz
|
Elgin
Ridge Chardonnay
|
2011
|
R 110.00
|
13.50%
|
Brian
Smith
|
Oneiric
Oh! Chardonnay
|
2011
|
R 112.50
|
14.00%
|
John
Seccombe
|
Elgin
Vintners Chardonnay
|
2011
|
R 100.00
|
13.50%
|
Kevin
Grant
|
Recipe This week’s recipe is the Gravadlax
mentioned above
We last gave this recipe in
2010 and since then there have been some more modern variations and we have
adapted our recipe slightly. Modern chefs often briefly marinate the salmon in
beetroot juice which gives a beautiful dark red jewel like stain to the outside
of the salmon.
It is really not very
complicated to make. If you don’t have Aquavit you can use plain Vodka or leave
out the alcohol, but the taste will be different. A good South African Aquavit
can be obtained from Roger
Jorgensen in Wellington. You can make some small cuts on
the skin side to allow the rub to penetrate.
If you are worried about parasites in raw fish, briefly freeze the
salmon first.
Gravadlax
(Buried Salmon)
1t = 1 teaspoon 1T
= 1 Tablespoon
One side of fresh salmon,
deboned completely, but leave the skin on the base of the fillet
Rub: 3 T flake salt
- 1 t ground white peppercorns - 1 t ground allspice - 2 T pale brown sugar - 2
T finely chopped fresh dill - 50 ml Aquavit/gin/vodka
Mix well, you can do this in a
food processor, then spread on all sides of the salmon. Cut the side into two pieces, spread on the
marinade, sandwich flesh sides together and put it into a large container like
a plastic ice-cream container, covered it with cling film or baking paper
(don’t use foil, it gives a metallic taste), then put another similar container
on top and fill this with heavy jars to weigh it down. You need to flip it
daily and keep it refrigerated. Marinate
for between 3 and 6 days. When ready, remove from the marinade, wipe down and
thinly slice and serve. If doing two
sides of salmon, double up on the rub and place them together with the skin on
top and bottom, flip it every day. Serve
with a creamy mustard sauce and thinly sliced full seed brown bread.
Tastings and Festivals The World Is Your Oyster. Vertical tasting of 12 Oysters with MCC and Champagne at Mondiall in
the V&A Waterfront. Oysters and bubbly are a match made in heaven. We take
the nuptials a step further by pairing different sizes (i.e. different ages) of
oysters with different ages of Methode Cap Classique wines: cocktails with
non-vintage, medium with vintage and large with Grande Marque bubbly and French
champagnes. Strictly No Under 18. 12 oysters with champagne tasting - R250.
Saturday, 1st November from 11h00 to 15h00. BUY TICKETS HERE
Bosman Release Celebration on Lelienfontein estate
on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th November. Bosman Wine Club members each
receive two complimentary tickets. Tickets can be booked online through
Webtickets. Additional tickets for family and friends can also be booked at
R150pp. Ticket includes access to both days, a wine glass and a R50 voucher
redeemable with your first purchase of six bottles of wine on the day. Tasting
journey through the 250 year old cellar. Children under 12 enter free of
charge. Food is sold at an additional cost of R50 per station. Live
entertainment.
Wine Concepts will celebrate their thirteenth year of staging their
“Finer Things in Life” Champagne Festival with the theme of Ebony &
Ivory on Friday 21st November. They will be offering more than 30 cuvees for
tasting from premium and boutique Champagne Houses to tantalize your taste
buds. Expect names like Taittinger, Piper Heidsieck, Drappier, Mumm, Ruinart,
Montaudon, Jacquart, Philipponat and many more. Tickets cost R380.00 if purchased from Wine Concepts stores or online on
www.webtickets.co.za Tickets will be on sale for R400 at the door on the evening.
There is a huge and rapidly growing
variety of interesting things to occupy your leisure time here in the Western
Cape. There
are so many interesting things to do in our world of food and wine that we have
made separate list for each type of event for which we have information. To see what’s happening in our world of
food and wine (and a few other cultural events), visit
our list of wine and food
pairing dinners, list
of Special events with wine and/or food connections,
list of Wine Shows and Tastings and list of special dinner events.
All the events are listed in date order and we have a large number of exciting
events to entertain you right through the year. Events outside the Western Cape are listed here.
Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more
about wine.
Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine
education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see
details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here
and here and the CWA courses here. Karen Glanfield has taken
over the UnWined
wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here
The Hurst Campus, an accredited school for people who want to become
professional chefs, has a variety of courses. See the details here
Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here.
In addition to the
new Sense
of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a
four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details
here
Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has French cooking classes in Noordhoek
and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see
more details here.
Emma Freddi runs
the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her
home in Constantia.
Lynn Angel runs
the Kitchen Angel cooking school and
does private dinners at her home. She holds hands-on cooking classes for small
groups on Monday and Thursday evenings and she has decided to introduce LCHF (Banting
classes). The Kitchen Confidence classes, which focus on essential cooking
skills and methods, have been expanded and are now taught over 2 evenings. She
continues to host private dining and culinary team building events at her home.
She trained with Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here
30th October 2014
Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best
to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we
can send it to you! Check our online shop for details and prices.
PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined,
click on it for more information
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656
4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
Our Adamastor
& Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take
small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South
Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made!
Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch-flavoured
Afrikaans.
Recommendations
of products and outside events are not solicited or
charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs,
recipes and text used in these newsletters and our
blogs are ©John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus.
Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals
and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go
independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed
our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and
they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. Our Avast! ®
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