Beach Road, Sea
Point. Sunset with some blessed rain
A spectacular thunderstorm over the Cape Peninsula
yesterday evening was very exciting. We watched a beautiful sunset with flashes
of lightning from a flat on the Sea Point beachfront. Our car was washed by the
rain. We are feeling the onset of an early winter and have already lit our
first fire. The rain we have had has been Festivally feeble and a long way from being
enough to fill the dams and end the drought, but every drop is manna to the
soul and we hope that this will be a very wet winter.
For many of us, this is a very significant
religious weekend. We wish you and yours a happy Easter and a very good
Passover celebration. Drive carefully and enjoy all that is special which may
come your way
- A GlenWood Experience
- A morning visit to Stony Brook in Franschhoek
- An Appointment with the Winemaker at Chamonix
- Long Table Lunch at Haskell Vineyards in Stellenbosch
- Wine Concepts Craft Festival
- On the MENU this Week. Honey Ice Cream
- MENU's Wine of the Week. Chamonix Cabernet Franc 2015
As you drive into Franschhoek, you
might have noticed a sign pointed to Robertsvlei on the right hand side. Should
you take the turn you will find yourself in a quiet, hidden valley behind the Franschhoek
hill. The road turns to gravel for just 8 km and in the middle of this you will
find a gem of a winery called GlenWood. If you continue, the road will take you
to the top end of Franschhoek, near the Huguenot Monument, a circular route we
bet few know about; it’s worth exploring.
GlenWood Winery was established by the owner,
Alastair G Wood in 1984. They have 30 hectares under vines and DP Burger, the
Cellarmaster (Dawid Petrus is fondly known only by his initials) has been there
for 27 years, surely a record for any winemaker. They have Chardonnay,
Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot and Shiraz grapes planted and produce an
multi award winning Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blend. The farm has Integrated
Production of Wine (IPW) certification, which is a voluntary environmental
sustainability scheme which complies with international criteria; and
Bio-Diversity and Wine Initiative accreditation (BWI)
What do you do the following day when you
have stayed the night in Franschhoek? Well of course you visit some of the
farms who have invited you to come and see them. Especially those that you have
been meaning to visit for a long time.
So we began at Stony Brook which is at the top of
the Valley, turn right at the Monument and wind your way along Green Valley
Road until you see their sign on the left. Owned by the McNaught family this is
truly a family run farm. Nigel McNaught's wife Joy runs the tasting room and
son Craig is the winemaker. 14 hectares of this 23 hectare farm are under
vines. The focus from the beginning at this boutique winery was on crafting
premium-quality wines that reflected the area and the styles of wine that
excited them.
Continuing our day in Franschhoek, we had
arranged to meet winemaker Thinus Neethling in the tasting room. The farm is above
Franschhoek on the right hand side when you enter the village. It is also on
the Franschhoek Tram route. The farm has been owned by German businessman Chris
Hellinger, who bought the farm over a quarter of a century ago. We were so
pleased to see that they have extended the seating area for the Tasting room
outside in the sunshine. Inside can be a little dark.
We were invited to sample the new menu as
Haskell have reopened the Long Table restaurant. They call it a small plate
menu, with dishes that you can share; they say four per couple would be ample
and we agree
This new festival was held last Friday night
between 5 and 8 pm and was well attended. There are so many new craft beers,
gins, vodkas, even Rum, Whisky and Brandies being made in the Cape. Mike Bampfield
Duggan decided it was time for us to sample some of them. We were delighted to
be invited, but worried about tasting lots of alcohols. Uber was very popular
indeed that evening. We decided just to sample beers and Lynne did one very
interesting rum, she is not good with high tack after beer. We hope to taste
them one at a time in the future. It was a lot of fun; these crafters are very
committed to their products
This is a fairly easy dessert if you are
entertaining over the Easter holidays. Yes, you can use bought vanilla custard
from Woollies or another supermarket. Just make the day before
4
Tablespoons runny honey - 120g sugar - 1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon - 300ml
double cream - 300ml thick vanilla custard - 2 egg whites
Put
the honey, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan with 100 ml water. Heat until the
sugar dissolves, then boil for 5 minutes or until it becomes syrupy. Whisk the
egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the hot syrup in a thin stream,
whisking all the time to keep the mixture stiff. Whisk till cool. It is easier
in a mixer. It will look like soft meringue.
Whip
the cream until it just holds its shape, fold through the meringue mixture and
then add the custard. Spoon into a freezer container and freeze overnight. Take
out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Serve sprinkled with nuts and
some good fresh berries. And if you can get some, broken up honeycomb.
Note:
there is a lot of rather dubious honey in the shops, much of which is imported
from China, and much of which has been adulterated with other substances. Honey
is expensive and dubious practices are used to bring prices down. As always,
you get what you pay for. Read the label carefully. Preferably, it should be
approved by the South African Bee Industry Organisation (SABIO). There is a
simple test if you are in doubt: Fill a glass with water. Add one tablespoon of
honey into the glass. Adulterated or artificial honey will dissolve in water
and you will see it around the glass. Pure honey on the other hand will settle
right at the bottom of your glass.
MENU's Wine of the Week. Chamonix Cabernet Franc 2015 We tasted
this wine in our wonderful tasting at Chamonix with winemaker Thinus Neethling.
Winter is on its way, somewhat earlier than usual, and we will soon be looking
for robust, warm, sustaining dishes; comfort food
It will be a great partner to rich casseroles, made with duck, slow-cooked beef or lamb or, especially, venison. It is savoury with a dark berry nose, and perfume. Hot savouriness on the palate; smoky blueberries and cassis, delicious. It is drinking very well now but, as is so often the case, you are sure to be rewarded if you keep it for a few years. About R240 per bottle from the farm at the new 15% VAT rate.
29th March
2018
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© John
& Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited
or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All
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