.: Thelema and Sutherland Trade wine tasting at Auslese

Thelema, situated on the slopes of the Simonsberg at the top of the Helshoogte Pass, is one of our premium wine farms and its wines have a great reputation. They also make wines in cooler Elgin, marketed as Sutherland wines, and these are also excellent. We went to taste these wines, some of them new season releases, last week at Auslese in the Gardens where chef owner Harald Bresselschmidt delighted John with his food pairings

Auslese is a function venue you may hire from Chef Harald Bresselschmidt. It is in Hope Street in the Gardens

Thelema’s MCC Brut 2013 gets us off to a good start

Pardon Taguzu, Sommelier of Aubergine Restaurant and Auslese, tries some of the Brut with Ralph Reynolds

Mark Herd of Sunset Beach wines chats about the Thelema White wines. We liked their crisp and zingy Verdelho 2015, probably profuse in the future of the Cape with global warming. Ed's Reserve Chardonnay 2014 always awakens interest with this interesting 'muscat' clone of chardonnay which give is perfume, litchi and zestiness

Paired with these white wines was a seafood paella

Many of the top sommeliers were at this tasting

Another pairing for the white wines was this Potato parfait and goats cheese. We found it went well with the Sutherland 2013 Viognier/Roussanne. A southern wine for summer, filled with apricots, orange blossom and warm citrus. The Sutherland Chardonnay 2014 deserves to end up on several wine lists. Fresh citrus flavours with toasty oak and a long fresh finish makes it a great food wine

This was the most popular pairing of the tasting, everyone was raving about how well the Rieslings, the Semillon 2013 Late Harvest and the 2013 Vin de Hel Muscat Late Harvest went with these spicy Thai fish cakes. The delicate off-dry rose petal Muscat de Frontignan is full of litchi and the Semillon has thick honey, apricots, ripe figs and cream; made for the gods

The Sutherland white wines

Time to move to the reds

The Thelema reds were paired with this lamb stuffed ravioli. All are good, but of special note is The Mint 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. Such an elegant, elevated wine, full of cassis and plums with dark After Eight mint chocolate on the end. The 2012 Rabelais has a perfumed nose from the Petite Verdot and is soft and sweet with some spice and with warmth on the end. A food wine

To another table to taste the Sutherland reds, which were paired with this classic Quail coq au vin; unusual with orange beetroot which added a lot to the flavour

Winemaker Rudi Schultz was busy on this popular table showcasing the Sutherland reds. We often buy the Sutherland Shiraz and think the 2011 is worth laying down for a while. Then we found a gem and we were not the only ones, it was the most talked about wine at the tasting: Sutherland Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot 2011. Perfumed with violets from the Petit Verdot, it is silky soft on the palate, then comes a nice kick of warm spice, dark fruits and lots and lots of length. Some is on order! The Pinot Noir is packed with cherries