Nedbank Green Wine Awards lunch at Myoga in The Vineyard Hotel

We lunched at Myoga restaurant at The Vineyard to witness the presentation of these awards. We are very impressed at the huge improvement in the wines entered but we are interested to see how long the low sulphur wines will last in the bottle. To quote judge François Rautenbach: ‘Overall, the organic category looks much better than ever before! It’s as though there’s been an appreciable move towards commercialisation and upping quality.’ Impressive is the growing commitment of the industry to get involved in biodiversity. However, we still need the Government to legislate on what is properly considered to be organic produce in this country. There are no national rules, only self applied ones based on what overseas countries are doing and they vary a lot. We support the industry BioDiversity initiatives as they are focusing their time and money on very worthwhile projects. Click here to see the awards and see the excellent lunch produced by Mike Basset and his staff.

*Winning Wines

Best wines made from Organically Grown Grapes

Best Wine Overall – Reyneke Chenin Blanc 2013

Best Red – Waverley Hills CW Reserve Shiraz 2011

Best White – Reyneke Chenin Blanc 2013

Bloggers’ Choice – Waverley Hills Shiraz/Mourvedre/Viognier 2011

Best Value – Nederburg Earthbound Chenin Blanc 2014

Best Biodiversity and Wine Initiative Wines

Best Wine Overall – Hermanuspietersfontein Die Bartho 2012

Best Red – Cederberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Best White – Hermanuspietersfontein Die Bartho 2012

Bloggers’ Choice – Neethlingshof The Maria 2014

Best Value – Jordan Chameleon Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay 2013

*Best Farming Practises Winners

Overall Winner – La Motte

Runner-up – Vondeling

Best Contribution to Conservation – Paul Cluver

Best Contribution to Farming Practices and Production Integrity – Bartinney

Best (Sustainable) Contribution to Tourism – La Motte

Best Contribution to Community Development – La Motte

You need to title all the names

White wine and canapés on the terrace

Smiling staff welcome us

The restaurant set up for the tasting, awards  and lunch

A canapé sir?

Getting to know each other at the table

Choux canapés

Ian Dinan, publisher of Getaway magazine, MC for the awards, opens the proceedings

Sydney Mbhele, Divisional Executive for Integrated Marketing at Nedbank.

Parmesan crisps, asparagus sprues and shredded parma ham canapé

What we are going to taste with lunch. And yes they were all winners of awards

First course was a deconstructed waterblommetjie and monkfish ‘bredie’ (stew) with crispy lemon gnocchi. They were really delicious.  Served with the best value BWI award winner Jordan 2013 Chameleon blend of sauvignon and chardonnay.

A happy Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts

Entre was a mystery to start with then we realized it was the tea smoked salmon covered in a licorice gel with pressed and crisp parsley apple squares on one side of the plate and an Umame paste with condensed milk and a boquerones (white anchovy) 'on toast’ . The salmon was perfect, moist and gently smoked and the gel was not overwhelmingly licorice.  The boquerone was rather too sharp and acidic. This course went with the two Waverley Hills red wines

Head judge Fiona McDonald tells us about the judges experiences

Smile for the camera Neil Pendock and Greg Landman!

Chef Mike Basset explains the menu and how they did the pairings

We are having a great time. Natalie Ritsch and Anel Blignaut, both judges on the The Best Farming Practices category

Main course of beautifully cooked loin of springbok served with a cauliflower ‘risotto’ below the ground vegetable, cured bacon cooked in salted molasses caramel.  It was lovely except for the burnt leeks on top.  Carbon is thought to cause cancer, we don’t want to eat it.

Dessert was a stone fruit compote with vanilla, burnt white chocolate and caramel nougat, toasted almonds and mascarpone meringue roulade. Very, very sweet and enjoyed a lot by those with a very sweet tooth.  Went perfectly with the Neethlingshof The Maria 2014 a noble late harvest dessert wine

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014