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 facts. Read 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 180⁰C. 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
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172
/ 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point
8005
If you like the photographs you see in our
publications, please look at our Adamastor
Photo website for our rate card and samples
from our portfolio
Recommendations of products and outside events are not
solicited or charged for, and are made at the
authors’ pleasure. All
photographs, recipes and text used in these newsletters and our blogs are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We
prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we
are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it.
Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid
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