The Meerlust
manor house, built in 1776
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We will be at the Beer
Festival launch on Thursday evening, however and also hope to get to the Jordan Summer
Festival on Sunday, bearing animal necessities. It really depends on how
much clearing up we have to do and how tired we are! Hope to see lots of
you there.
We have many American readers, to whom we send our hope that you will have a joyful, peaceful Thanksgiving celebration.
Klink Awards The awards focus on what wine farms have to offer visitors, other than the wine. The awards were held on the terrace with those marvellous views of the city at De Grendel wine estate, last Thursday evening. Wesgro have come on board as sponsors; we hope the association continues for a long time. Wesgro is the official Destination Marketing, Investment and Trade Promotion Agency for the Western Cape.
We have many American readers, to whom we send our hope that you will have a joyful, peaceful Thanksgiving celebration.
Klink Awards The awards focus on what wine farms have to offer visitors, other than the wine. The awards were held on the terrace with those marvellous views of the city at De Grendel wine estate, last Thursday evening. Wesgro have come on board as sponsors; we hope the association continues for a long time. Wesgro is the official Destination Marketing, Investment and Trade Promotion Agency for the Western Cape.
"Out of its 17 categories ... the best performing
category, with 1512 votes, was the Gourmet. It awards the best cellar-door
restaurant that is set in a great location, offers first class service, focuses
on artisanal foods, has a sommelier service and wine list with older vintages,
own wines and other regional wines. Among Klink’s 77 nominees across its 17
categories, the overall Supernova (or nominee with the most votes) was De
Grendel. It took first place in both its category (the Gourmet) as well as
overall, receiving 634 votes, beating La Colombe and Waterkloof to the
true-blue foodie post." See the event and the results here
Casa Labia relaunch This
beautiful house, filled with treasures, is owned by the Labia family and has
been used as a museum for several years. It was returned to the family by the
state after several years in the shadows. They have now restored it perfectly
and on Thursday evening we rushed from the Klink Awards to the relaunch of the
house and the opening of the new restaurant and function venue, which will be
run by Andrea Foulkes of Dish Food and Catering. With a huge fire raging on the
mountain in Simonstown, we did not rate our chances of getting there on time,
but the trip down the M5 was fast and seamless at 6.30 pm. The good news is
that the road repairs outside Casa Labia have now been completed. Click here for photographs
Meerlust 40th Anniversary lunch How
to describe this classic Cape Dutch wine farm in the Helderberg? Owned by
charming Hannes Myburgh, who prefers to keep rather a low profile, the award
winning iconic wines are made by Chris Williams and shepherded into the cellar
by viticulturist Roelie Joubert. Guests are shepherded to the tasting room by
the ten friendly dogs, who have the most wonderful life on the farm. We were
privileged to have lunch on Friday in the beautiful lived-in Manor house, which
is filled to bursting with art, antiquities and curiosities. We had a
marvellous Cape country lunch and a tasting of great vintages of Meerlust
Cabernet and Rubicon, starting with the first ever vintage, made in 1975. And,
yes, it has lasted, as we expected.
We also visited the Compagniesdrift wine storage and
bottling facility next door, which Is the Myburgh Family Trust Social
Responsibility investment in their staff. The companies involved, MWT
Investments and Faure AgriVillage, are jointly owned (50% each) by the Myburgh
Family Trust and the Meerlust Empowerment Trust, which is comprised of 72
people who have long-standing relationships with the Meerlust, Vriesenhof and
Ken Forrester farms in the area. See the wines, the people and the farm here
Fire and Ice at the Wine Concepts
Champagne Festival at the Vineyard After a nap, Friday night
saw us enjoying life at The Vineyard Hotel, where we enjoyed Wine Concepts’
annual salute to French Champagne. It was a busy and very social evening, with
a chance to taste 18 Marques (brands) and at least two different champagnes on
each stand. Many of the top names were there to enjoy. Lots of prizes were
awarded to ticket holders, the band played great music and you could fantasise
about driving and buying the two classic cars in the room. And The Vineyard
supplied canapés throughout the evening. Glitter and glam here
Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Awards This
glittering affair was held at La Residence in Franschhoek on Saturday night
where the Winemaker of the year Award went to Johann Fourie of KWV for the
Mentors Pinotage. The Young Winemaker of the year was Phillip Viljoen of Bon
Courage for his NLH. It was a chance to put on one’s best bib and tucker and
enjoy the good wines entered into the competition with dinner. A truly glamorous
affair, see it here
Le Franschhoek Diners Club,
thankfully, offered us and many other guests accommodation for the night at Le
Franschhoek, which meant we could really enjoy the evening and, because
shuttles were provided, no driving was required at all for John. We had a very
comfortable room in a quiet setting and a good breakfast the following morning.
See the hotel here
Travel Massive We also did
some good travel networking this week at the local Travel Massive meeting held
at the NAC helicopter offices in the V&A Waterfront. Photographs here
This week’s recipe is a vegetarian dish for a change. It
serves 4 to 6 people. Carrots have an affinity with two spices - cumin and
nutmeg. You can add a dusting of them to the purée if you want more flavour but
not at the same time, either powdered cumin
or nutmeg.
Carrot and Cashew Nut Gratin
750g thickly sliced peeled carrots - 100g
raw cashew nuts - 2 T dried breadcrumbs - 100g fromage frais or mascarpone
cheese - salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cook the carrots in boiling water until soft.
Meanwhile, roast the cashew nuts till golden, either in the oven or in a dry
frying pan over a low heat. Take a tablespoon of the nuts, chop them coarsely
and mix with the breadcrumbs. Drain the carrots and put into a food processor
with the fromage frais and blend till smooth. Stir the whole nuts into the
mixture and season well. Spoon into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the nut
and breadcrumb mix and place under the grill till golden. Serve with green
vegetables or a salad. Great with a dry Viognier or a crisp Chenin Blanc.
25th November 2015
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