Tuesday, August 08, 2017

This Week’s MENU. New Savage Releases, WineMag's Signature Red Awards, Truth breakfast, Yorkshire Puddings, Savage White 2016

Antarctic exploration ship SA Agulhas 2 in the V&A Waterfront
A week of battling a nasty co'd id de dose. Fortunately medication kept the sense of smell working reasonably well for the affected party; important because of the two significant wine tasting opportunities in the diary, more about which below....

We keep talking about rain and the scarcity of water in our blessed, beautiful province. We are consistently using less than 3000 litres per month in our home. It is not difficult, just be aware of what you do with water and look after this precious resource. Don't leave the shower running while you soap, use grey water to flush, don't run the dishwasher until it is full..... We're in crisis. Think about it! This July, we received 56mm of rain. Last July, 177mm; July 2016, 247mm which was more typical of average Cape Town July rainfall. So don't think that it's OK, we've had some rain. This is close to Kalahari desert level
Duncan Savage went on his own just a year ago, when he left Cape Point Vineyards. He started making his own Savage wines a few years before, so he had a base to start with. Duncan is a Rondebosch Boys' old boy who studied wine at Elsenberg and graduated as top student in 2002. He took over as head winemaker at Cape Point in 2004 and is a peer voted member of the Cape Winemakers Guild. He won many awards for Cape Point Vineyards and his own wines have also done very well for him at the Guild Auctions. We like his wines, we like Duncan; he is straight forward and honest about what he does. So we were delighted to be invited to a trade tasting of his new releases this week. And we are really looking forward to tasting Duncan's two “Love Boat” wines, a red and a white, which he has made with Adi Badenhorst for the Guild this year
What are Signature reds as defined by the Wine Magazine judges? A blend certainly, but not a Bordeaux blend, nor a Cape Blend (containing Pinotage), although at least one of the winners did contain Pinotage. The judges’ criteria are "those wines which are distinctive of their originators and draw particular attention in the market place". They think that "Perhaps the Rhône is a better reference point given local growing conditions" and given the effects already being shown by global warming and the current drought, we tend to agree
So it was with some interest and a feeling of exploration that we attended the awards ceremony last week, which is always followed by a tasting of the winners
So, where next to go for breakfast? Lynne asked on a food site she belongs to on Facebook. Several suggestions popped up, some of which we have already been to, some were out of town and some stood out, while others did NOT. After checking on Trip Advisor and looking at the menus on line, we settled for David Donde's Steampunk Coffee House in Buitenkant Street in town. And we were not disappointed
No bookings allowed, it's a first come, first served coffee house, with food. We visited a year or two ago when David installed Colossus, his vintage Probat coffee roaster and did a media launch. He is one of the people who has done a great deal to introduce Cape Town to the international coffee culture. Who can remember when all you were served was a cup of awful instant in most places? We have been meaning to return and did so at 9 am last Saturday morning. And yes, we are coffee snobs, grinding our beans at home

We bought some excellent fillet of beef this week, so well hung it was almost gamey. And so before winter is out, Lynne decided to prepare Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Sunday. If you can get good beef (and afford it!), it can be a magnificent meal. She made a rich red wine jus, duck fat potatoes and lots of vegetables. We thought you might like her Yorkshire Pudding recipe, it has been handed down. There are many variations, this works for us. It is quick and easy but it is also better made the day before and kept overnight in the fridge to allow the glutens to expand
1 cup of plain flour - 3 eggs - 200 to 220 ml full fat milk - salt - a teaspoon of oil - a teaspoon of cold water, For roasting you will need either beef dripping, duck fat or some canola oil.
Break the eggs into the flour, and stir. When it starts to become sticky, start adding the milk, a little at a time. Make sure you gather in all the flour from the bottom of the bowl and beat very well, so there are no lumps. You want it the consistency of pouring cream, coating the back of a spoon. Use more milk or another egg if you need to. Add the salt to taste, the oil and the water. Beat well, pour into a jug and put into the fridge overnight
We use deep muffin tins to bake them in. This makes eight. If you have smaller pans, you will get more. Or you can make a whole pudding but they tend to be less successful and do not rise as well
You need to turn your oven on to 220C and put a teaspoon of some dripping, duck fat or oil in the bottom of each depression. Put muffin pan into the oven to get smoking hot, give the batter another good stir and pour it into the tins. Put into the hot oven and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until they are nicely puffed up and going golden brown on the tops

Made by Duncan Savage. The pure white label has the name embossed into the paper; he likes simplicity. It is a blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Semillon and 17% Chenin Blanc. Limes and pineapple on the nose, it was familiar. Duncan has always impressed us with his long lived white wines. Crisp with limes and granadilla, William pears and some seashell minerality. Long satisfying flavours with a lovely full mouthful from the semillon influence. Like his previous award winning white wines, a wine that is great now and which will reward with more time


8th August 2017
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
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What is on the MENU this week. Yorkshire Puddings

We bought some excellent fillet of beef this week, so well hung it was almost gamey. And so before winter is out, Lynne decided to prepare Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Sunday. If you can get good beef (and afford it!), it can be a magnificent meal
 She made a rich red wine jus, duck fat potatoes and lots of vegetables. 
We thought you might like her Yorkshire Pudding recipe, it has been handed down. There are many variations, this works for us. It is quick and easy but it is also better made the day before and kept overnight in the fridge to allow the glutens to expand
1 cup of plain flour - 3 eggs - 200 to 220 ml full fat milk - salt - a teaspoon of oil - a teaspoon of cold water, For roasting you will need either beef dripping, duck fat or some canola oil.

Break the eggs into the flour, and stir. When it starts to become sticky, start adding the milk, a little at a time. Make sure you gather in all the flour from the bottom of the bowl and beat very well, so there are no lumps. You want it the consistency of pouring cream, coating the back of a spoon. Use more milk or another egg if you need to. Add the salt to taste, the oil and the water. Beat well, pour into a jug and put into the fridge overnight 
We use deep muffin tins to bake them in. This makes eight. If you have smaller pans, you will get more. Or you can make a whole pudding but they tend to be less successful and do not rise as well
You need to turn your oven on to 220C and put a teaspoon of some dripping, duck fat or oil in the bottom of each depression. Put muffin pan into the oven to get smoking hot, give the batter another good stir and pour it into the tins. Put into the hot oven and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until they are nicely puffed up and going golden brown on the tops

MENU's Wine of the Week. Savage White 2016

Made by Duncan Savage. The pure white label has the name embossed into the paper; he likes simplicity
It is a blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Semillon and 17% Chenin Blanc. Limes and pineapple on the nose, it was familiar
Duncan has always impressed us with his long lived white wines. Crisp with limes and granadilla, William pears and some seashell minerality. Long satisfying flavours with a lovely full mouthful from the semillon influence. Like his previous award winning white wines, a wine that is great now and which will reward with more time

The New Vintage Release of Savage Wines


New Releases by the noble Savage
Duncan Savage went on his own just a year ago, when he left Cape Point Vineyards. He started making his own Savage wines a few years before, so he had a base to start with. Duncan is a Rondebosch Boys' old boy who studied wine at Elsenberg and graduated as top student in 2002. He took over as head winemaker at Cape Point in 2004 and is a peer voted member of the Cape Winemakers Guild. He won many awards for Cape Point Vineyards and his own wines have also done very well for him at the Guild Auctions. We like his wines, we like Duncan; he is straight forward and honest about what he does. So we were delighted to be invited to a trade tasting of his new releases this week. And we are really looking forward to tasting Duncan's “Love Boat” wine which he and Adi Badenhorst have made for the Guild
He has moved into premises in Spencer Square in Salt River, which was previously occupied by Tim Martin
The large room has been turned into a cellar and is full of mostly 500 litre barrels
Duncan chatting with Lydia Nobrega of Chapman’s Peak Hotel and Wine shop

There were four wines to taste. We began with the Savage White (hence the pure white label! He likes simplicity) . It is a blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Semillon and 17% Chenin Blanc. Limes and pineapple on the nose; it was familiar. Crisp with limes and granadilla, William pears and some seashell minerality. Long satisfying flavours with a lovely full mouthful from the semillon influence. Like his previous award winning white wines, a wine that is great now and which will reward with more time
The information sheet for the wine

He is using good corks
Then came the lighter red blend, called Follow the Line, which has a witty label. A blend of 41% Cinsault, 35% Grenache and 24 Syrah. The Cinsault and Grenache predominate on the nose, it is slightly funky, with herbal notes, with a slight sweetness from the French vanilla oak and on the palate berry fruit with rhubarb, quite intense, good fruit acid, tannins holding and long length, all pointing to long life. Aging potential and drinking very well now is hard to achieve, its here. Wood is supporting in the background and appears on the end as dark toast
Duncan Savage in conversation with Wade Bales and Candice Baker
Then, time for the aptly named Are We There Yet 2016. His father Peter, who is working with Duncan, told us the story of when he went to Malgas to source the grapes from David Trafford at his Sijnn vineyards and had to drive down the seemingly endless dirt road. We think the label deserves a question mark! It shows one of those modern electricity generating windmills which you pass on the road to Malgas
It is a blend of Touriga National, and has wildness, incense wood, with raspberry jam, and rhubarb on the nose and palate. A nice kick of fruit acid and then some darker fruit. A substantial wine, this is also a food wine and it has aging potential.
The information Sheet
Next was the 2016 Savage Red, just released
81% Syrah, 11% Grenache and 8% Cinsault. Dusty spice, some perfume and red fruit on the nose, sweet berries, cherries and cranberries on the palate. A very mellow wine of good quality, very easy to quaff. Also a good food wine

The line-up of wines. The red and white have plain labels - you tell the difference by the wax coating on the cork ends and the difference in the colour of the paper
It was a very well attended trade tasting. There was a public tasting the following day. These will be held regularly in the future so if you want to attend do contact them direct email info@savagewines.com or phone 083 456 1984
Duncan with Caroline Rillema of Caroline's Fine Wines
The technical side of winemaking is at the back. It includes his own bottling machine
A few small stainless steel tanks
He has small but good equipment
Larger barrels for fermenting
Peter pouring some wine
Peter Savage, Zani and Duncan Savage
Tawanda Marume, Dave Nel, Duncan Savage

Winemag Signature Red Blend Report 2017 Awards

Pinning down a butterfly
What are Signature reds as defined by the Wine Magazine judges? A blend certainly, but not a Bordeaux blend, nor a Cape Blend (containing Pinotage), although at least one of the winners did contain Pinotage. The criteria are "those wines which are distinctive of their originators" and "those which draw particular attention in the market place". They think that "Perhaps the Rhône is a better reference point given local growing conditions" and given the effects already being shown by global warming and the current drought, we tend to agree
So it was with some interest and a feeling of exploration that we attended the awards ceremony last week, which is always followed by a tasting of the winners
The venue for these awards was Stuzzico on Bree Street
And the room was filled with well known and respected winemakers. Here are Carl van der Merwe of De Morgenzon and Tyrrel Myburgh of Joostenberg
Judge Roland Peens with André Morgenthal. Andre is working on a project identifying old heritage vineyards in South Africa. We hope many will be able to be preserved, many are sadly disappearing under the plough and new crops
Photographer Danie Nel chatting to Jean-Claude Martin of Creation
Christian Eedes, Editor of WineMag.co.za and Chairman of the judges. He says it is essential that we promote South African red blends overseas, not necessarily Cape Blends, it is what we make so well. The judges use the 100 point scoring system and taste blind. There were 82 entries from 62 producers received this year. The judges found many wines sweet, and questioned whether winemakers are leaving some sweetness to appeal to the market? Are there problems with fermentation, are alcohols killing off the yeasts ? There were some with intense reduction flaws, premature oxidation, and lack of precision. The wines they liked were lighter, fresher, drier, more Southern Rhone whole bunch fermented. Roland Peens said it is important not to let wood dominate. Our comment is what really constitutes an SA Blend? It is as difficult as trying to pin down a butterfly.
Winemag business manager Jacqueline Lahoud announced the awards
Christian gave out the certificates
Broadcaster Guy MacDonald with Winemag Director Derek Prout-Jones
Waiting to hear who won. There was a lot of variation in the entries, as expected with the huge range of varietals in the blends. All of the wines were indeed worthy of awards. Three of the top four wines were more elegant and restrained, as we have come to expect from these judges. Many in the room were appreciating many of the lower scoring but more African, warmer, riper fruit wines
The list of the winners with the points they scored
92
Joostenberg Bakermat 2015
Price: R186
Newton Johnson Granum 2015
Price: R273
Olifantsberg Silhouette 2013
Price: R195
Vrede en Lust Artisan Range Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Price: R139




91
Creation Syrah Grenache 2015
Price: R190
De Morgenzon Maestro Blue 2015
Price: R200
Eikendal Charisma 2015
Price: R104
Guardian Peak Summit 2014
Price: R160
Luddite Saboteur Red 2015
Price: R250
Opstal Carl Everson Cape Blend 2015
Price: R175
Rust en Vrede 1694 2014
Price: R1 300
Vondeling Erica 2014
Price: R195

90
Fairview Extraño 2013
Price: R100
Haskell II 2013
Price: R180
Haut Espoir Gentle Giant 2012
Price: R90
Le Riche Richesse 2015
Price: R140
Orange River Cellars Lyra Vega 2015
Price: R95
Spier Creative Block 8 2014
Price: R159
Stellenbosch Vineyards Credo Shiraz Merlot Viognier 2014
Price: R149
Warwick Three Cape Ladies 2013

Extraño, a Coastal blend from winemaker Anthony de Jager at Fairview, a blend of 73% Tempranillo, 14% Grenache Noir , 13% Carignan. 90 points. Rich, spicy, warm, YES
Haute Espoir 2012 Gentle Giant gives a nod to their winemaker Rob Armstrong, who is rather a large and very friendly man. The wine is a blend of 55% Merlot; 23% Cab Sauvignon; 16% Tannat; 6% Cabernet Franc. 90 Points, The wine is somewhat wild, warm and full
Some canapés, tomato bruschetta topped with mozzarella and basil
Le Riche 2014 Richesse, a complex and layered blend of 27% Cabernet Sauvignon,24% Merlot, 18% Petit Verdot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 12% Cinsaut, 6% Malbec. 90 points
Spier 2014 Block 8 is a Cape blend of 8 varieties include Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Petit Verdot, Cinsaut, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. 90 points Complex, spicy, dark
Warwick 2013 Three Cape Ladies, one of the more mature wines, a blend of 50% Pinotage, 34% Shiraz, and 16% Cabernet. 90 points. Good fruit, nice length, warm and spicy
Truffled cheese bruschetta
Creation 2015 Syrah Grenache, always one we favour, it is an 80/20 blend, with the Grenache adding such character and depth, great fruit and a little wildness. 91 points
De Morgenzon Maestro Blue 2015, another addition to their Maestro label. A blend of 44% Grenache Noir, 29% Mourvèdre, 21% Syrah, 6% Petite Syrah. 91 points This wine takes you straight to the Rhône
Eikendal's 2014 Charisma is an unusual blend of Shiraz 61%, Petit Verdot 27%, Sangiovese 12%, rather southern European in character. 91 points. Spice and leather, dive in nose, the Petite Verdot shines
The best canapé of the afternoon and we reckon worth returning to the bar for more, (and we have eaten almost no pasta for three years, was the blue cheese cappelletti. It so enhanced the wines
Guardian Peak 2014 Summit, a blend of Syrah 66%, Mourvèdre 25%, Grenache 9%. 91 points. Another full of rich spicy fruit
2015 Saboteur from Luddite, always extraordinary, usually a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre. 91 Points
Carl Everson 2015 Cape Blend from Opstal. Winemaker Attie Louw is famed for his excellent Chenin; now he can also boast about his Cape Blend, an equal blend of Cabernet, Shiraz and Pinotage. 91 Points. Perfumed, chalky tannins, soft sweet fruit
Rare sliced steak on a rich mash, but somehow it tasted burnt? Did the flame grill go too far?
From Matthew Copeland at Vondeling, his enjoyable 2014 Erica, a blend of 73% Shiraz, 12% Mourvèdre, 7% Grenache, 5% Carignan, 3% Viognier. 91 Points. Complex nose and palate, warm linen
Rust en Vrede's 2014 version of 1694, a straight blend of 56% Shiraz, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon. 91 points. Warmer, fruitier mellower
Two different arancini risotto balls, one flavoured with beetroot - bright pink inside and the other more conventional. Crisp outside and gooey inside, but with little flavour and we couldn't find any cheese inside
Joostenberg's 2015 Bakermat, a blend of 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Syrah, 12% Merlot , 12% Touriga Nacional, which got it 92 points. Vanilla wood, silky on the palate, impressive
Newton Johnson's 2015 Granum, very elegant and sophisticated, this is a blend of Syrah with some Mourvedre. 92 points. Fresh, wild and in the dryer style the judges prefer
Olifantsberg 2013 Silhouette took many people by surprise. This is not a wine from the Olifants river area, but a farm near Worcester. This wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre. 92 Points Perfume of violets, and also fresher in style
Vrede en Lust 2013 Artisan Range a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. 92 Points. A perfect nose, perfumed fruit and fresh in style
Attie Louw of Opstal, Nico Grobler of Eikendal and Roland Peens of The Wine Cellar