De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay with lunch at Charango Bar and Grill, Cape Town

This was the release of the 2016 vintage of Limestone Hill, De Wetshof's unwooded easy drinking Chardonnay from the De Wetshof stable of 6 different Chardonnays. Charango is in4 Bree Street so we took the bus and enjoyed the welcome Pisco sour. Then over lunch we discovered that Limestone Hill is the perfect wine to go with all sorts of different foods, heat levels and tastes. And great to quaff.

Charango Peruvian Bar and Grill has menu dedicated to Peruvian-Japanese fusion, or Nikkei cuisine supervised by Head Chef Kieran Whyte. They have a fairly small but very interesting menu

Both De Wet brothers Johann (viticulture and marketing) and Peter (winemaker) were there with PRO Emil Joubert to welcome us

The Pisco sour welcome drink. Pisco is a high alcohol grape brandy made in Peru. It is made with egg white, lime juice, simple syrup, and bitters and served on ice. It is wonderfully sour and packs a punch

The barman adding the necessary touch of bitters to the cocktail

Old friends Michael Olivier and Mike Bampfield Duggan and, behind them, Peter de Wet

Opening speeches by Emil Joubert and Johan de Wet

Johann tells us all about the Limestone Hill which takes its name from the terroir heavy clay with limestone on which it is grown in Robertson. It is full of lively limes, apple and lemons with good minerality and long after flavours. It aids and supports the food it is served with, making them more delicious. American wine critic Robert Parker has said about it: "Understated and less tropical than some of the better un-oaked Chardonnays, this wine possesses far better balance and sheer drinkability – not to mention more finesse – than 99% of the world’s Chardonnay I have experienced.” We loved it enough to make it our wine of the week

The wine

Head Chef Kieran Whyte tells us about the menu which will be served tapas size and style

Sending information on to Facebook and Twitter! Next to Lynne is Bennie Stipp Marketing Director for De Wetshof

The menu

The gentle seared Tuna Tataki came first bedecked with sesame seed , caviar and mayonnaise in a ponzu (soy with a citrus added) and miso sauce with preserved ginger. We love winter in the Cape when we get beautiful fresh tuna like this. It did need more dipping sauce as the ponzu was only a drizzle. Luckily , it came with the next course. The ginger sang with the wine. So great for sushi too

Prawn toasts. You often get these in Chinese restaurants. They are topped with minced prawn, sprinkled with sesame and then deep fried till crisp. They came with a good soy dipping sauce

Next: Dirt rubbed Tuna tacos. More of the fresh tuna, covered with a spicy earthy rub then cooked briefly before being enclosed by the soft tacos with crisp slaw, avocado and wasabi. Really good. The slaw came with lots of mayo and could have disguised the tuna but the wine cut through it to the fish

Allan Mullins of Woolworths chats to Jeanri-Tine van Zyl. Next to Allan is Michelle Coburn, Features Editor of Woolworths TASTE magazine

Then shredded pork tacos with apple, pickles and chipotle chillies. Completely different from the tuna, equally as good. These bite sized dishes were bursting with flavour and texture. The pork was a bit fatty, the wine swept the grease away

'Chicha' Pork Belly with sweet corn, and chorizo sausage. This seems to be a traditional Andean dish. The sweet corn sauce was lovely and the pork quite tender. The crackling however was a bit of a disappointment. It was melt in the mouth with little flavour. We prefer the other style with the crunch and the taste of pork fat.

Dessert: there were two. First a crisp wafer taco filled with a rich dark Peruvian chocolate mousse, popping candy and mini whispers - fun, messy and very moreish. The wine stood up the chocolate!

And then Picarones, the traditional warm sweet potato donuts served with dulché de leché (caramelised condensed milk). A great end to a good introduction to a lovely wine and some interesting food. We must go back and try some more, with a bottle of the Limestone Hill

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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Fathers' Day Lunch with the Winter Specials menu at Den Anker, V&A Waterfront

We had to postpone Father's Day this year because daughter Clare had flu and this meant we were able to take her with us to Den Anker the following Sunday. They had invited us to come and sample their winter menu. This is another great and worthy restaurant having been in the V&A Waterfront for 21 years. They have one of the best locations there too and a great international menu as well as local specialities

They have a great range of winter specials, with amazing value

They brought us an amuse from the chef of the seared tuna with sesame on courgette. Delicious, worth returning for as a main course for lunch

It's a long restaurant with lovely views of the docks and the mountain

And was filled that Sunday with good customers and friends. Dr Johan Nel was here with his family

Jean Vincent Ridon, winemaker and owner of Signal Hill winery, the only winery in central Cape Town, was also there with his family

The bar where they serve a great selection of Belgian and other beers as well as wine and other alcohols

We settled for two De Konincks, a fruity beer to go with food

Clare's first Bisque de Homard rich (lobster soup) which she loved

A pot of ...

... Den Anker's famous West Coast mussels marinere was Johns starter

Lynne opted for the crisp Tempura prawns with sweet chilli sauce

Having removed the shells John had a feast of tender plump mussels in a great herby sauce

An Anker beer to go with John's main course ...

...which was a very delicious tender beer braised beef with crisp French frites

Lynne had the duck breast which also had a slightly bitter beer sauce

Clare had the classic hamburger and Frites with two mayonnaise dips, one with mustard one with plain

And we were delighted to meet the owner of Den Anker, Elizabeth de Visscher, who was visiting from Belgium. She comes here every two weeks in the summer months

We could not pass up on dessert. Lynne had the classic Belgian waffle with thick syrup, cream and ice cream. Light as a feather and very sweet

John had the chocolate tart, dark and sumptuous

And Clare had the orange pancakes flambé

Not sure the flambé worked, but they were very good indeed

Thank you den Anker for allowing us to try your winter menu. Father enjoyed being spoiled very much

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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