Monday, October 31, 2016

This Week's MENU. Sauvignon Top 10, Robertson Wine on River, Laurel Cottage, 3 Robertson farms, Ocean Basket Med menu, Veritas tasting, Prescient Chardonnays, Caroline's White Wines, Green Wines 2016, SA wine farm conditions, Cederberg Chenin, Quesadillas

Wine farm workers fishing from a weir. Breede River, Robertson
The madness continues, but there are signs that it will soon slow down. Each week seems to bring more events that we cannot miss and this week has more stories than ever. It keeps us young and energetic, we still enjoy it and we hope that you do, so please read on... or click any of the following links to look at a story
2016 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Awards at Nooitgedacht, Stellenbosch     Every year the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group runs this competition, which is sponsored by First National Bank, "To celebrate and recognise excellence amongst local producers who have dedicated countless hours to perfecting their craft". This year there were 169 entries judged and this was our chance to see the winners and taste the wines. The award ceremony was held at Nooitgedacht Estate in Stellenbosch, and was followed by lunch
Robertson Wine on the River 2016     We and many of our fellow media colleagues really favour this festival. Held on the banks of the Breede River in the middle of vineyards, they put up lots of marquees and you get to sample the wares of the Robertson valley over three day. We went on Saturday and Sunday and had a marvellous time, although Saturday was perhaps a bit young and rather crowded for us. Sunday is calmer and more relaxed. We like bumping into many of our readers and like to see lots of you enjoying yourself at these festivals
A weekend at Laurel Cottage, McGregor    The Robertson Wine Valley asked us to come to Wine on the River and offered us accommodation for the weekend. We were given Laurel Cottage in McGregor and had a very comfortable stay
A day in Robertson discovering new places and old friends      When we travel long distances out of town, we reckon that, if we have paid for the petrol to drive the distance, we might as well stay over and explore the area in more depth, find new wine farms and farms we haven't visited before and re-establish old connections. This time we spent Monday in the McGregor area and in Robertson visiting three wine farms. The first was Lords Winery
Lord's near McGregor     Not to be confused with Lords Guest House, (also owned by the winery but way down the valley), Lords is set right up the McGregor Valley on the "Road to Nowhere" to the Boesmanskloof pass where you can take the long walk across the mountains to Greyton. It's a great stop for refreshment either way. We were so warmly received and entertained we really enjoyed our visit and will definitely return soon. The views from the farm are superb and the wines really impressed
Tanagra Winery and Distillery     The owners Robert and Anette Rosenbach have been pressing us to visit for several months; we were so pleased we could finally get there. It's a small farm in the McGregor valley with interesting wines and lots of different grappas and other tempting fruit and grape spirits. They also have guest accommodation and we were taken to see one of the most beautiful houses for hire, set in the middle of the wilderness. If you feel the need to get away from it all and contemplate nature, this is the place for you. Especially with a bottle or two of Heavenly Chaos red wine and some Eau de Vie de Lie
Zandvliet     We used to love going to Zandvliet as part of the Wacky Wine Weekend for their salmon braai. Paul de Wet sold the farm last year to A N B Investments owners of holding company ClemenGold and Citrogold citrus brands, a huge producer of naartjies (Clementines) and other citrus n Mpumalanga, so we were keen to go to the farm to see what its future holds
To Ocean Basket to try their new Mediterranean menu     Ocean Basket had contacted us to come and try out this new menu and what better time to go than after a three day break in Robertson area. Lynne didn't have to cook supper and the drive to Camps Bay was quick, once we had greeted the cats and unpacked our car at home
Tasting Veritas Gold and Double Gold    Shortly after the Veritas Awards ceremony comes the public tasting of the top wines, this year held in the Ballroom at the CTICC. We got to sample some old favourites, some new and innovative wines and one really old treasure - a 1933 Muscadel from KWV, a wine so thick and syrupy with age and full of robust flavours and aromas you had to change your glass afterwards as they lingered to overtake any following wine.
Prescient Chardonnay Report 2016     This annual event (now in its 6th year), sponsored by Prescient, was held this year at Smith Studio, an art gallery in Church Street and there were some really good winners who were awarded the top scores. Judged by Christian Eedes, Roland Peens and James Petersen, they tasted 60 invited wines. The competition is by their invitation only. They score the wines out of 100 and any wine getting over 90 is awarded this accolade. The wines do have more of a drier French slant, rather than some the generous buttery chardonnays that are also delighting the public (there are some, most notably the Tokara). But this is to be expected, as the wines are always tasted by the same three people and obviously they would veer more towards their personal tastes, especially as the wines are invited to enter. All of them are excellent. You will find the list of top Chardonnays on the winemag.co.za web site. We have not been sent anything
Caroline's White Wine Review 2016     The second of Caroline Rillema's annual wine reviews, this showcases her pick of the best White Wines out there, those that have scored highly in the industry with points and awards and wines she likes and sells. It is always a tour de force of amazing wines. We always struggle to taste that many wines, but it is such a good tasting
Green Wine Awards     Knowing what a long hard path you have to take to become classified as Organic or IPW (Integrated Production of Wine) in the wine industry, your respect should soar for those farms who achieve it. This achievement is lauded and celebrated every year with these Green Wine Awards now in their 8th year, held this year at Rozendal in Stellenbosch. 120 wines were entered in the two categories: Best wines made from Organically Grown Grapes and Best Wines from Integrated Production of Wine. Judges in the Best Farming Practices category looked at not only what goes into the bottle, but considered the wellbeing of farm employees and surrounding communities and the wider impact of farming on the surrounding environments. The Awards are sponsored by Nedbank and Getaway Magazine
WOW! (World of Wine) VINEXPO 2017 in Bordeaux will have an area entirely dedicated to organic and biodynamic wines
We just received this announcement from Vinexpo. A very radical move, let’s hope some of our best producers, many of the above, will be assisted by the industry and the Government to attend. We think we have lots of great wines to show the world
It's easy to distort. A Danish film about South African wine farms     A film "Bitter Grapes - Slavery in the Vineyards" has been released in Scandinavia by Danish filmmaker Tom Heinemann. It shows wine farm workers living in horrific conditions on South African wine farms. We can’t say anything about the agenda of the people who produced the film. What we can say is that it is very easy to take three farms out of over 1000 wine producers and make a story which tarnishes a country whose wine industry has more Fairtrade accredited wine producers than there are in any other country. There are bad apples in every barrel and, if left to fester, they will spoil the whole crop. By all means expose them and work to bring about change. But it is wrong to paint a distorted picture. An enormous amount of effort has gone into cleaning up the wine industry in the last 20 or so years and a film like this which emphasises the bad without telling about the much larger good side of the story can undo the benefits in a short time. It does appear that the producers of the film used obsolete material to illustrate current financial factsRead on
Tropical, aromatic, with guava, grass and granadilla on the nose, these follow through on the palate with a lovely racy acidity and warmth that deals so well with spicy food. A long lime finish too. Cellar door price is R98 per bottle
We had beef leftovers again and the need for a simple quick supper. We always keep sliced, pickled jalapenos and peppadews in jars in the fridge and tortilla wraps in the freezer. We always have grateable cheese, fresh tomatoes and we live off avocados. So this fits the bill. We have made the recipe for two, but you can double up. We used a combination of local and English cheddar and some halloumi cheese, it's what we had. As long as it melts, it will do. The main mistake most people make with tortilla wraps is that they forget to toast them first, if you don’t do this, the texture is a little slimy and raw. Do this in a dry pan for just a couple of minutes each side to warm and lightly toast; you will see small brown circles, and the tortilla will become soft and floppy and malleable - then they are done. Don’t let them crisp. If you have any basil, coriander or other micro herbs you can add those. And you can add sliced avo if you don't have guacamole. And any other cold meat or chicken would work just as well
2 wraps per person - 300g thinly sliced cold roast beef or steak - 50g grated cheese - 3 or 4 jalapeno peppers - 5 peppadews - 6 baby tomatoes, sliced - 3 T chipotle salsa - guacamole - cream cheese
Turn your oven on to 180C. You will need two shelves. Put in two dinner plates to warm. Roughly chop the jalapenos and peppadews, mix with the sliced tomatoes and the chipotle salsa. In a flat dry frying pan, toast two tortillas and put one on a hot plate, keep the other warm. Cover the base of the tortilla with half of the cheese. Spread over half of the salsa mix, top with half the sliced beef. Cover with the second tortilla and put into the hot oven. Make the second one. Leave them for about 5 to 6 minutes in the oven until the cheese has melted. Serve topped with the guacamole and the cream cheese and a simple salad. And the wine of the week





31st October 2016
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It's easy to distort a story. Danish film about South African wine farms

A film "Bitter Grapes - Slavery in the Vineyards" has been released in Scandinavia by Danish filmmaker Tom Heinemann. It shows wine farm workers living in horrific conditions on South African wine farms. We can’t say anything about the agenda of the people who produced the film. What we can say is that it is very easy to take three farms out of over 1000 wine producers and make a story which tarnishes a country whose wine industry has more Fairtrade accredited wine producers than there are in any other country. There are bad apples in every barrel and, if left to fester, they will spoil the whole crop. By all means expose them and work to bring about change. But it is wrong to paint a distorted picture. An enormous amount of effort has gone into cleaning up the wine industry in the last 20 or so years and a film like this which emphasises the bad without telling about the much larger good side of the story can undo the benefits in a short time. We hear that the producers of the film used obsolete material to illustrate current financial facts
Danish incomes cannot be used as a yardstick for comparison with ours any more than one can equate their much higher cost of living with ours. People from the Northern Hemisphere come here and tell us that everything is “so cheap”, but they don’t always take into account that their incomes are a large multiple of ours and comparisons of prices don’t work unless you also compare incomes. A fair income here would be unlivable in Europe. We have to be very careful about travelling to Europe or North America because there is very little there that we can afford, even though we, personally, have a high standard of living in South Africa. When we travel, it tends to be to countries like Greece or Vietnam where prices compare favourably with our own. Eating out in England would be an unimaginable luxury for us and Scandinavian prices have always been a multiple of England's. When John worked in Norway, he had double the income he had in London and he could not live as well in Oslo as he had lived in London. That was many years ago, but the comparison is still valid. Visiting Norway again is a dream which can only become real if we win a lottery. A typical wine farm worker's income, which is well above our legislated minimum wage, can never be compared in bare numbers with the amount needed to survive in Denmark, Norway or Sweden, let alone in the UK or France, or even Spain or Portugal
It is significant that the Swedish Systembolaget, the organisation responsible for all wine imports into Sweden, has conducted its own audit and is satisfied that the South African producers from whom it buys wine do not transgress their high standards. These producers include at least one of the producers featured in the film, Robertson Winery. Sadly, even though 26 years have elapsed since our country moved from the old, repressive regime, there are still people who see us as a soft target and use us as a subject to pursue their sensationalist ends
What a film like this achieves is to undo much of the good that has been done by the wine industry in the last 30 or more years. If it succeeds in damaging our wine industry, all it will do will be to marginalise more of our wine producers, only 35% of whom make a profit according to British writer Tim Atkin, and increase our frightening 26.6% official unemployment rate. Maybe Herr Heinemann calls that working with a social conscience
Buying our wine, or any other products made here, such as motor cars (our biggest manufactured export), gives people jobs and puts money into their pockets. Producing a film like this, even though it pretends to tell a noble story, can put people out of work and increase their level of hardship. We have a difficult enough job making enough money to survive without having to contend with destructive stories like this which can as easily be made about wine producers in other countries.If you really wish to improve the living conditions of workers in South Africa, please recognise that we make excellent products, wines that compare very well with any others in the world and win international competitions, and buy them. We don't want your charity. We do want to compete on a level playing field and win on merit
We don't need to be a soft target for sensational and one-sided story tellers. Remember the old adage about the Road to Hell and Good Intentions

Sunday, October 30, 2016

On the MENU - Mexican Beef Quesadillas

We had beef leftovers again and the need for a simple quick supper. We always keep sliced, pickled jalapenos and peppadews in jars in the fridge and tortilla wraps in the freezer. We always have grateable cheese, fresh tomatoes and we live off avocados. So this fits the bill. We have made the recipe for two, but you can double up. We used a combination of local and English cheddar and some halloumi cheese, it's what we had. As long as it melts, it will do. The main mistake most people make with tortilla wraps is that they forget to toast them first, if you don’t do this, the texture is a little slimy and raw. Do this in a dry pan for just a couple of minutes each side to warm and lightly toast; you will see small brown circles, and the tortilla will become soft and floppy and malleable - then they are done. Don’t let them crisp. If you have any basil, coriander or other micro herbs you can add those. And you can add sliced avo if you don't have guacamole. And any other cold meat or chicken would work just as well
2 wraps per person - 300g thinly sliced cold roast beef or steak - 50g grated cheese - 3 or 4 jalapeno peppers - 5 peppadews - 6 baby tomatoes, sliced - 3 T chipotle salsa - guacamole - cream cheese
Turn your oven on to 180C. You will need two shelves. Put in two dinner plates to warm. Roughly chop the jalapenos and peppadews, mix with the sliced tomatoes and the chipotle salsa. In a flat dry frying pan, toast two tortillas and put one on a hot plate, keep the other warm. Cover the base of the tortilla with half of the cheese. Spread over half of the salsa mix, top with half the sliced beef. Cover with the second tortilla and put into the hot oven. Make the second one. Leave them for about 5 to 6 minutes in the oven until the cheese has melted. Serve topped with the guacamole and the cream cheese and a simple salad. And the wine of the week
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Veritas Awards wine tasting 2016

Shortly after the Veritas Awards ceremony comes the public tasting of the top wines, held this year in the Ballroom at the CTICC. We sampled some old favourites, some new and innovative wines and one really old treasure - a 1933 Muscadel from KWV, a wine so thick and syrupy with age and full of robust flavours and aromas that you had to change your glass afterwards, as they lingered to overtake any following wine
There is always a lot to taste at this popular annual tasting
Sparkling Winemaker Elunda Basson of Distell pours their JC le Roux Scintilla
Bennie Howard, Chairman of the Veritas Awards welcomes us to the tasting
There was also a tasting of the top SA cheeses this year. Cheese does go so well with wine
And the top cheese, the Ladismither was put on every wine counter to taste with the wines
Favourites from Perdeberg The Dryland Collection Barrel fermented Chenin was our wine of the week recently
Winemaker at Buitenverwachting Brad Paton with Marguerite Nel of DGB
Vondeling winemaker Matthew Copeland visiting Simonsig winemakers Debbie Thompson and Hannes Meyer
Chris von Ulmenstein with 2015 Winemaker of the Year Johann Fourie, who has moved from KWV to Benguela Cove. Chris seems to be enjoying the 1933 KWV muscadel
Jonathan Snashall with two happy ladies
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

MENU's Wine of the Week - Cederberg Chenin blanc 2016

Tropical, aromatic, with guava, grass and granadilla on the nose, these follow through on the palate with a lovely racy acidity and warmth that deals so well with spicy food. A long lime finish too

Cellar door price is R98 per bottle

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Three Robertson wine farms: 3. Zandvliet, Ashton

We used to love going to Zandvliet as part of the Wacky Wine Weekend for their salmon braai. Paul de Wet sold the farm last year to A N B Investments owners of holding company ClemenGold and Citrogold citrus brands, a huge producer of naartjies (Clementines) and other citrus n Mpumalanga, so we were keen to go to the farm to see what its future holds
We were welcomed by Werner Els, Zandvliet's Brand ambassador, who had organised a Zandvliet wine tasting of four of their most popular wines, paired with ClemenGold products. You can buy a box containing all the components, so you can do this tasting at home or with your wine club. The box contains four wines and the four products and costs in the region of R830. As it was such a pleasant day, we sat out in the garden under the trees
A view of the farm showing the huge shade cloth area where the horse paddocks used to be, and the vineyards in the background. The Nardacot Clementine orchards have been planted under the shade cloth. The vineyards have been brought down from 150 hectares to 100 hectares. Gone are varietals that didn't produce well. More shiraz will be planted, not Chardonnay and they will get back to 150 hectares of grapes. They are redoing the cellar, The question on many lips has been "What do these guys know about wine?" Werner told us. Zandvliet was too good a brand to lose. "The Directors at ANB, they certainly know a lot about citrus, being amongst the largest producers in South Africa, but actually not much about wine; except that they grew up with the Zandvliet brand and loved it!"
The four wines we tasted. We used to sell three of these in our wine shop, Main Ingredient. The VLW is new. We began with the 2016 Chardonnay, a brand new vintage with more new oak introduced, is very fruity almost with naartjie flavours. This was paired with a good bitter ClemenGold marmalade on a plain biscuit, which echoed the flavours of the Chardonnay. Then one of our favourite Shirazes, the Kalkveld from the 2014 vintage. Made with only French oak (Paul de Wet used to make two versions, one in French and one in American oak). Elegant, with incense wood notes, good dark fruit on the nose and palate with good grippy tannins. This was paired with a 70% dark chocolate containing ClemenGold peel. We didn't like the chocolate, it was not of good enough quality to complement the wine, and it had bloomed. Then the 2012 VLW Cape Vintage Shiraz. VLW stands for Vintage Liqueur Wine. A very sweet dessert wine, rich and fruity with liquorice and chocolate. Lighter than Port (16.6 % alcohol) and spicy, rather like Christmas pudding. Paired with the ClemenGold chocolate Panforte which was a perfect match. They have older vintages in older barrels. Then a new addition to the very popular My Best Friend range, a natural sweet Muscat 2016. Werner told us that Natural Sweet wines are very popular in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, so this will go to that market. Only 7.5% alcohol and 100 r/s. We found it a pretty wine falling between two stools, not zesty and fruity enough for a refreshing hanepoot and not quite as sweet as a muscatel or NLH. Its nose speaks of age, its palate of young fruit. It's a sweet quaffer. And dipping the ClemenGold biscotti into it is just the thing to do. Probably good with spicy food
The tasting glasses with the four paired ClemenGold products. Had we more time, we would have like to have tasted some of the more conventional wines, and we look forward to making another, longer, visit to do that
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Three Robertson wine farms: 2. Tanagra, McGregor

The owners, Robert and Anette Rosenbach, have been pressing us to visit for several months; we were so pleased we could finally get there. It's a small farm in the McGregor valley with interesting wines and lots of different grappas and other tempting fruit and grape spirits. They also have guest accommodation and we were taken to see one of the most beautiful houses for hire, set in the middle of the wilderness. If you feel the need to get away from it all and contemplate nature, this is the place for you. Especially with a bottle or two of Heavenly Chaos red wine and some Eau de Vie de Lie
We were welcomed by Anette Rosenbach
and their lovely dog
Robert makes the wine with help from Lourens van der Westhuizen, who is also their viticulturist. This is the tiny winery and distillery
Their house contains the tasting room. The basket press is still put to use in harvest time
Cooled by a huge wild fig tree
A swimming pool for guests who stay in the cottages
They took us on a trip down the valley to see some of their cottages there. This is the Honeymoon Hill cottage, which was occupied for the week
The land they own borders the Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve, a birder’s paradise, with hides and walking and mountain bike trails in the area
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Magnificent views from the house for hire called Faraway, which is off the grid
Its kitchen
Bathroom and bedroom
A bathtub with a view
The lounge with fireplace for chilly evenings, There is a barbecue on the veranda
The house from the outside. It has solar panels, gas fridge and cooker and LED lighting
A fat beetle in a vygie. The plants in are area are very interesting dry land Karoo with many succulents
The house also has a small plunge pool off the veranda
Robert shows us the distillery with its modern German still
In the tasting room, there are lots of different things to buy besides the wine and the spirits. Local jams and olive oil, booklets, local handicrafts and droƫwors
First the 2016 Blanc de Noir made from Cabernet Franc
It is yeasty with vanilla perfume, dry crisp and clean with long refreshing flavours
Then on to the reds. The 2014 Cabernet Franc, is dark brick red, cherries, savoury umami nose with green leaves and black cherries. More cherries on a palate with salty liquorice drop, a very deep and sophisticated food wine which finishes with more cherries. We liked it a lot. All the wines are certified as Single Vineyard. The 20124 Cabernet Sauvignon has cassis berries and leaves on the nose. minerality and elegance with soft sweet cassis fruit. Its juicy with a nice kick of alcohol and a finish of more liquorice drop and cherries.
Some guests were also tasting with us . Next was the 2014 Shiraz. The first hit is black pepper and spice with some peppermint, then soft fruit with some green leaf notes and chalky cheek coating tannins. This needs time to develop. The 2014 Carah is 40% Cabernet 60% Shiraz blend with cassis and spice on the nose, very soft sweet entry with spice and pepper then long cassis flavours remain. Heavenly chaos is made on the farm by Robert in his old basket press. It’s a lighter style red wine, 50% Merlot, 25 % Cabernet and Shiraz. Smoky from the wood, with cassis, red cherries, warm linen nose and is nice juicy fruity bound wine.
Swallows nest inside and outside the house. We are sure they can read. They keep flitting in and out feeding their young
Time to taste some of the spirits. We began with the Marc de Hanepoot. its grippy with heat, good sweet nuances rather than flavours and a hot chilli burn Then the Marc de Chardonnay Barrique made from Springfield wineries chardonnay skins. With oaty flavours, like a soft malt whiskey with wood, it really impressed us. The Eau de Vie de Lie is made from Springfield’s Life from Stone fruit skins and indeed has a familiar nose and taste, with some apricot and fullness on the palate. The Marc de Sauvignon Blanc also from Life from Stone skins has green leaves fully perfumed warmth and is pretty and deadly! The alcohols were beginning to get to us even though we were taking tiny sips and John was spitting. The Shiraz Eau de Vie is pretty and perfumed with wood like a Speyside whiskey with some cherry and spice. The Lemon Eau de vie is just pure lemon, you cannot miss it And the Orange Liqueur is bitter orange marmalade with an orange oil nose and soft orange sweetness on the palate. very pure fruit flavours. We had to stop regretfully as it was time to rush to our next appointment. Robert generously let us pick our favourite and a bottle of the Marc de Chardonnay Barrique came home with us to be enjoyed on special after dinner occasions. Thank you both for a lovely meeting. We shall be back in the new year with friends from Holland
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016