You might think the West Coast is quite sleepy but
it is not! There are so many things to do up there. While we were on holiday, we accepted two invitations, which included wine and food, from Darling people: Lukas Wentzel at Groote Post and Charles Withington of the Darling Wine
shop, who was doing a wine tasting at Chicory Cheese restaurant. We decided to see
them both on the same day so we could spend the other days relaxing by the sea!
Tasting wine from the tanks, lunch at
Hilda's and a game drive at Groote Post with Lukas
It is a short and very pleasant drive from
Yzerfontein to Groote Post, especially now that the roadworks are finished, and
we arrived there mid morning on a hot and sunny day
Lynne toasting Lukas and
wishing for a great Harvest. He was very generous and gave us a superb tasting
in the cellar from tanks and barrels. Their range of wines is impressive,
nearly all of them have been awarded 4 stars and above in Platter; well
deserved. Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Shiraz, Riesling, all impress
us
Lukas makes a lovely Pinot Noir, some of which
we bought. We all admire Newton Johnson very much and he generously added this
bottle of the Family Pinot (adjudged by Decanter to be one of the two best
Pinots from the world outside Burgundy) to be drunk with lunch
There are some
magnificent ancient gum trees on the farm. These were planted for shade when
people travelled by ox wagon and horse
Into Hilda's Kitchen, run by chef
Debbie McLaughlin, for lunch. They have lovely friendly staff
The red wines we drank with
lunch
We love the terrace, but the
day was so hot that we elected to sit indoors
John began with the classic Tomato
and Camembert tart
Lynne enjoyed the smoked
salmon, cream cheese on a Blini
and Lukas a generous portion of
Roast Butternut and Feta salad
A delicious main course of Coq
au Vin with lots of vegetables
and of course the superb Steak
sandwich with chips (this one was photographed in January when John took American tourists to Groote Post)
At the insistence of Lukas and
the kitchen we shared three desserts:
Melktert
chocolate ganache tart
a wicked chocolate gateau
Hilda’s getting ready for Christmas
The 18th century Cape Dutch manor house, which houses the restaurant
The Winery, which contains the
tasting room, basking in the afternoon sun
And then it was time for the
game tour. Groote Post is a huge farm and besides grapes and cattle they have a
large wild section. We went hunting the newly introduced Giraffes, without success. And found this bontebok
with his family
some of the herd of eland with
the huge bull. You too can do this game drive after a wine tasting. Check out
their web site: http://grootepost.com They
also have a free monthly Country Market that is great fun. Dates for 2017: 26th
February | 26th March | 30th April
And then it was time to drive
to Darling to meet Charles and Janet Withington of the Darling Wine Shop at
Chicory Cheese restaurant, where Charles was getting the room ready for the wine
tasting, ably assisted as always, by Ida van Tonder
A busy Charles. The tasting was
of wines grown and made in Darling; wines made elsewhere from Darling grown
grapes like KWV Mentors Sauvignon Blanc, a Thelema Riesling, Niel Joubert
Malbec and a couple of foreign wines introduced to excite, confuse and confound
us: a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a Mosel Riesling. It was very enjoyable
and the invited audience were very appreciative. Charles holds these tastings
quite regularly and you can book to attend.
They are organised with Anesia Darné, who is the chef and owner of Chicory Cheese, seen here talking to Janet Withington
and in her kitchen preparing
the dinner which followed the tasting
On the menu were Coronation
Chicken, Broccoli, Beetroot and Bacon salad, a Strawberry, black pepper, spinach
and candied almond salad, a superb blue cheese and tomato fig tart of which
Lynne would love the recipe to share with you. A fun and very satisfying meal
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
