A courtyard in the Sandeman winery, Jerez de la
Frontera
- Siris Vintners Trade tasting at the Mount Nelson
- Latest wine releases by David & Nadia
- Wine Concepts 8th Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Celebration
- MENU's Iberian Exploit 9. Jerez de la Frontera
- MENU's Iberian Exploit 10. Córdoba
- On the MENU this week Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup
- Menu’s Wine of the Week. Backsberg Family Reserve White 2017
Siris Vintners Trade tasting at the Mount Nelson
Once a year, Siris Vintners holds a trade
tasting for their commercial customers. This year, it was held in the Ballroom
at the Mount Nelson so there was plenty of space for the many brands they
represent
Latest wine releases by David & Nadia
A trip to the Swartland this week to taste
the wines of David and Nadia Sadie at their (soon to be opened) new venue in
Malmesbury called Bill and Co. which will become a market when the building
works are finished
Wine Concepts 8th Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Celebration
Last Friday evening saw us at Wine
Concepts' annual celebration of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, held at the Vineyard
Hotel. We decided that it was time to emulate the Burgundians and begin with
Pinots Noir and then go on to taste the Chardonnays. They say Chardonnay
muddies ones palate for Pinots. It was a good exercise for us, as we normally
don't have time to taste many Pinots after so many Chardonnays. And there were
a lot of wines to taste in the three hours we were there; we could only do a
selection
MENU's Iberian Exploit 9. Jerez de la Frontera
If you are planning to travel in this area
you need to know that from Seville to Cadiz, our next stop, it only took one
and half hours driving. We wanted to see this famous port on the coast, but our
experience can be summed up in just a few words from Lynne's notes: motorway
tolls, SatNav doesn’t work, reverse, reverse, reverse, green roads, too many
roundabouts, council estates, no access, dizzy, stress. They do have a seafront
like Sea Point, but not a single café or place to have lunch. We left and
headed straight for Jerez, where we had booked an AirBnB for a night - 3/4 of
an hour away. We eventually found these 2 competing cafés, five minutes’ walk
away, to have some sherry and some supper! One had food, the other football, it
was Liverpool 2, Roma 0
MENU's Iberian Exploit 10. Córdoba
The next city on this adventure was
Cordoba and our apartment was unusual but lovely. The streets in this old area
of Cordoba are narrow, cobbled and ancient. They have very confusing one way
systems which are almost impenetrable to those who are not familiar with the
area but using our phone we managed to find the place, guided by the voice of
our landlady, Arantxa
1 tbsp canola oil - 1
medium onion , finely chopped - 1 stick celery, finely chopped - 1 leek, sliced
- 1 medium potato, diced - 1 knob butter – 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock -
1 large head broccoli , roughly chopped, core and stalk removed, chopped and
put aside - 140g of good blue cheese, crumbled
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and then add the onion, and
fry gently on a medium heat until golden. Add the celery, leek, potato and a
knob of butter. Stir and allow to sweat, covered with a lid, for 5 minutes.
This really improves the flavours. Remove the lid.
Pour in the stock and add any chunky bits of broccoli stalk.
Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until all the vegetables are soft.
Add the rest of the broccoli and cook for a further 5
minutes. Don’t cook for too long or you will loose the lovely green colour. Carefully
transfer to a blender and blitz in batches, until very smooth. Be careful, hot
soup can be dangerous in a blender, don’t overfill. Stir in 100g of the blue
cheese and liquidize till smooth. Season with black pepper and serve. Taste and
adjust seasoning if necessary.
We accompanied our soup with three things, bagel croutons, the
other 40 g of blue cheese to sprinkle and crisp dried onions. We served a
Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2009 from KWV’s The Mentors range. The Strandveld
Sauvignon Blanc would also be a perfect match
Menu’s Wine of the Week. Backsberg Family Reserve White
2017
This wine won the
Grand Roche Old Mutual Trophy for the best white blend. It is an intriguing
blend of three grapes, two very well-known: a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc, more
often found as single varietals, and nestled in the middle of those two is a
Roussane, a grape probably unfamiliar to many, found in the Rhône valley in
France, often dry land and very rarely used alone, as it is a very good blending
wine. They use it in Crozes Hermitage and in the red Chateauneuf du Pape.
Roussane pulls the other two together and adds something very
special. Fresh fruity, layered and with a summery attitude, do try it with food
or just on its own. An excellent companion to duck or other poultry, rich
creamy sauces or with soft, complex cheeses. We hope it will delight and charm
you as much as it did us. With aromas and flavours of rich ripe peaches and
apricots, vanilla oak and some spice, it is a wine that just keeps on giving, and
will do so for a long while
15th June 2018
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information
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 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 mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list
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