Tracy van Maaren continues to expand her list with
excellent wines, which makes this trade tasting exciting each year. Chef
Proprietor of Aubergine and Auslese, Harald Bresselschmidt, arranges food
pairings for some of these wines and they are interesting matches which make
one think about how you would serve these wines. This was held on Wednesday
last week
Auslese is in Hope Street in
the Gardens area of Cape Town. It's a function venue and can be hired for all
sorts of events
We began with Silverthorn's three
MCCs, The Genie, The Green Man and Jewel Box, made by John Loubser. John is the MD of Steenberg in Constantia.
Silverthorn is his own brand and making. The 2013 Jewel Box Brut shows the
lovely raspberry fruit flavours of the Pinot Noir component first then the
leanness of the rich Chardonnay, a gem of a sparkle
It was paired with these
opulent oysters in a spring onion vinaigrette with pumpernickel crumb
Oh so tender chicken breast
poached in rosé, with lemon
verbena and raspberries was the pairing to go with the non -vintage MCC Rosé
Genie. This has a wonderful mouth feel and is clean and crisp and full of
raspberries.
All three Silverthorn wines
have elegance and quality.
Someone we haven't seen for a
long time, innovate winemaker Anthony de Jager, winemaker of Fairview since
1996. Many people will not know that it was Anthony made the first Viognier in
South Africa which is still a benchmark for others, the first single Mourvedre,
Grenache and Malbec under 1990's. Here he is in conversation with journalist
Mel Minnaar
Anel Grobler who writes the
blog Spit or Swallow with her friend Frans
The three Fairview wines for
tasting., including their new MCC with its crisp prickle on the palate; the
Nurok a blend of skin fermented Chenin; naturally fermented Viognier, Roussanne
and Grenache Blanc with dusty roses on the nose, a lovely mouth feel, crisp but
full of honey and peaches; and the Stok by Paaltjie Grenache
We liked the Fairview 2013
Extrano (the label reminds us of Cinzano!) with its silky fruity smooth and spicy
mouthful and then a dose of heat, licorice and dark cherries. It shouts
"Age me please!" Taming Tempranillo with some Grenache and Carignan was
a good idea
It was paired with braised duck
leg in a coffee extraction with blueberries. I must have got a giant duck as my
pairing tasted just like beef. (It 's beef, it's beef - sorry, UK people will
know this advertising slogan)
Delicious crocodile tail on
haricot vert paired with the Nurok (Label designed for dyslexics like Lynne)
The sublime Eagles Nest
Viognier, restrained warm linen and honey on the nose has had no malolactic fermentation. The
initial full sweet honey peaches changes to lemon lime citrus , developing into
a great food wine. The pairing was a savoury cheese tartlet with crisp wafer
thin pastry topped with a peach gel and some peach. Yes!
Tender juicy cubes of ostrich
with the Eagles Nest Shiraz. Incense wood and violets on the nose then full red
and black fruit melange with warmth and subtle spicing. Another that time will
reward. We also liked the Sauvignon Blanc, a typical green Constantia number
with asparagus and green pepper on the nose, with passion fruit flavours:
clean, crisp, refreshing
The B Vintners poured their
very floral but dry Muscat de Alexandrie, and their Pinot Noir
The B Vintners Strandwolf
Chardonnay 2016 a classic rendition was beautifully paired with a moon fish
Tartare. a new fish for us, it's a tropical fish
The Richard Kershaw stand was
extremely popular with the sommeliers, restaurateurs and hoteliers. Richard is
producing extremely good wine
A great pairing with his 2014
Shiraz was this cold glazed lamb rib eye. The wine is spicy, sophisticated, fun
, with wood, licorice, and warmth. The 2012 was more gentle but enticing with
an almost cola note
The pairing for the excellent
long and crisp Clonal Selection Chardonnay 2015 was tender octopus with a
seafood flavoured paella
Wow did Cathy Marshall impress
with her two Pinot Noirs. The 2016 Sandstone is perfumed, juicy sweet fruit,
layered perfection. We think chef Harald must have agreed as he produced the
best pairing of the evening. So tender, cured duck breast with a plum compote
She had a busy time of it. And
surprised us all by showing her new 2016 Riesling. Lean, clean and no terpene,
quite marvellous. It refreshed the palate, showed the underlying fruit with
honey and nuts but remained crisp and dry. This is how SA should be making
Riesling
The Clay soil 2015 Pinot Noir
has elegance and beautiful fruit which is gives up slowly. Full of raspberries
and other berries, no faults and very French in style. Paired with rolls of
springbok Carpaccio stuffed with herbs and dressed with a pomegranate gel, another
great pairing. Best wine of the evening for Lynne
A happy smiling Catherine
Marshall
Bruwer Raats impressed again
with two excellent wines. The Eden High Density 2014 Chenin Blanc is his usual
classic full on Chenin. Paired with Rabbit and pineapple to enhance those
Chenin flavours. His other wine was the Raats Family Cabernet Franc 2014
Savoury, full of black fruit, herbal, full and elegant with a punch, a
benchmark Cabernet Franc. We did not taste the pairing
Chef Edgar Osojnik of
Buitenverwachting discussing the wine with Eamon MacLoughlin
Chef Edgar with
his stepson, Diego Noble
A new gin Bloedlemoen (Blood
orange). It contains different citrus and lots of other aromatics and
botanicals. Good but we felt it could have done with a bit more juniper, but
then we are rather traditional when it comes to gin
Cathy Marshall with Manuel Cabello,
the Sommelier at Ellerman House
Mariette Kershaw with Kara Fox of Wine Pair
Cathy with Caroline Bagley of
Savoy Cabbage
Hugh Whiley and Felicity O'Connor
Elaine and Jaap-Henk Koelewijn
of Tokara with Sean Skibbe of South Hill
Braised pork loin and Bresaola
was paired with the Bryan MacRobert dry and crisp Steen, the old South African name
for Chenin Blanc
His Pinotage was paired with a
Pinotage and fennel saucisson on a blue cheese mouse on pumpernickel bread. Chanel perfume and cooked plums, still with serious tannin, typical of a young Pinotage
A great showcase of wines,
thank you Tracy
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
