.: 10/12/18

Friday, October 12, 2018

This Week’s MENU. Blaauwklippen Blending Competition, Yonder Hill, Cuccina di Giovanni, Veritas Awards, Vanilla Panna Cotta, Constantia Royale Sauvignon

Evening in the Devon Valley, Stellenbosch. From the terrace at Landtscap

Most of our weeks are busy. This was busier than most. In addition to our usual round of activities, John has been filming a TV commercial, the first time he will appear in any advertising made for the SA market. The product is secret and cannot be revealed until it airs, so please don’t ask. Summer is making its appearance, heralded by the South-Easter and some lovely warm weather, but weather in the Cape is always a bit of a lottery and the true nature of the season is not usually known until the end of November, so don’t put away your winter woollies or your umbrella, you may still need them

Blaauwklippen Blending Competition (BBC)

Time for the awards, now in its 35th year. Every year Blaauwklippen holds a blending competition for wine clubs. Clubs who enter from all over South Africa, are sent four varietals and asked to make a certain type of blend. This year it was to be a playful but chic blend to enjoy anytime with friends & family, but with enough backbone to be savoured at a special occasion; from Shiraz 2017, Malbec 2017, Petit Verdot 2017 and Merlot 2017. We were welcomed by good snacks…

Wine tasting at Yonder Hill, lunch at Cuccina di Giovanni

We visited Yonder Hill in the Helderberg ward of Stellenbosch on Saturday with our wine club. The Cellarmaster here is Abé Beukes. They made room for our large party in their tasting room and we had a wonderful time tasting the wines. They also had laid on a lovely cheese platter for us and we were given gifts of their olive oil from the farm owner Mr Naude has recently sold Olyfberg, always a great oil. A lovely warm welcome…

The annual Veritas Awards,

which is the longest running and most prestigious wine and brandy competition in South Africa, dating back to 1991, and is said by Bennie Howard CWM, who is the MC of the evening, to be the "Oscars of the South African Wine World". It is indeed always a very glamorous, formal black tie affair. The Awards Ceremony this year was held in the Ballroom of the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town. There is a formal dinner, served with winning wines and, this year, we were very excited to hear that the dishes would be by some of our top chefs. The Gold and Double Gold Medals are presented during dinner and afterwards there is coffee and a selection of winning brandy entries. This year’s awards can be viewed on the Veritas website https://cld.bz/NSgFkua. Our story here...

On the MENU this week. Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

Fresh berries are coming in and we are loving the quality of the strawberries this year. We had a bad Panna Cotta recently and thought we would give you our easy recipe which never seems to fail. See the whole recipe…

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Constantia Royale Sauvignon blanc 2016

This is from Nova Zonnestraal, a Constantia vineyard which is believed to be one of the oldest in the Cape, but which has only been producing its own wines in the last five years. It is made from the farm’s own Sauvignon blanc, with an addition of 15% Semillon which is bought in, as their own Semillon vines are too young to be harvested. Herbaceous passion fruit and a very light pyrazine hint on the nose and the palate, with crisp varietal acidity, good mineral structure and a long finish. Read on…

12th October 2018

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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

On the MENU this week. Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

Fresh berries are coming in and we are loving the quality of the strawberries this year. We had a bad Panna Cotta recently and thought we would give you our easy recipe which never seems to fail

500ml cream – 1t Vanilla bean paste or one vanilla bean – 25g sugar – 3 sheets of leaf gelatine – 250 g fresh strawberries. Hulled

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft – 5 minutes. If you are using a vanilla bean, cut it open down one side, scrape out the seeds and put them and the whole pod into the cream. Put the cream, sugar and vanilla into a pan and slowly bring up to scalding point while stirring (just before boiling starts). It must NOT boil. Remove from the heat and add the soaked gelatine, stirring till it has dissolved completely. Take out the vanilla bean. Pour into six ramekins and refrigerate for at least an hour to set. Blend 200g of the strawberries and push through a fine sieve to get rid of some of the pips and serve with the panna cotta which you have turned out onto a small plate. Top each with a strawberry. If you are scared to turn them out, you can make them in pretty glasses, then flood the top with the coulis and a couple of small strawberries, hulled of course

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Blaauwklippen Blending Competition 2018 prize presentation lunch

Time for the Blaauwklippen Blending Competition (BBC) awards, now in its 35th year. Every year Blaauwklippen holds a blending competition for wine clubs. Clubs who enter from all over South Africa, are sent four varietals and asked to make a certain type of blend. This year it was to be a a playful but chic blend to enjoy anytime with friends & family, but with enough backbone to be savoured at a special occasion; from Shiraz 2017, Malbec 2017, Petit Verdot 2017 and Merlot 2017

We were welcomed by good snacks, too large to call them canapés, but delicious

The four teams who were finalists were there and just a few media; many are down with flu

We stood out on the terrace, getting to know each other and drinking some Zinfandel bubbly

The trophies, the main one hidden, before the announcement was made

Lunch was at the long table

The menu

Three different butters

And some very good olive bread

Our starter was titled The Smoking Battlefield and was hidden under a glass dome filled with smoke

Removed by the waiting staff, it released a puff of rooibos smoke

and was an interesting dish of excellent gravadlax in beetroot and orange, with naked pickled squid rounds, refreshing segments of lemon, orange and grapefruit, slices of raw beetroot, a morsel of sweet beetroot cheesecake (hmm, jury out on that), raspberries and a sesame crisp. Couldn't find the promised licorice pearls? Overall a good dish. Served with a glass of the 2018 white Zinfandel

The winning blend was served with our main course, but the winner was still unidentified. We sat with many of the contestants and it is fun to see who recognises their own blend. Not many do! This is probably the best blend we have tasted in many a year; it fulfilled its brief so well: playful and also chic, it is rich, soft and enjoyable and, yes, one to drink with family and friends. The winning blend has 36% Shiraz, 23% Malbec, 17% Petite Verdot & 14% Merlot. It is savoury first on the nose, then violets from the Petite Verdot, spice from the Shiraz and lots of dark red fruit. On the palate, soft and sweet with liquorice and rich red fruit, a kick of spice. Alcohol and fruit acid mean it might keep well for a year or three. And salty on the end

The main course was a large portion of tender and flavourful braised beef short rib in a rich and shiny mushroom demi-glace sauce, with a butternut and sage risotto, unusually topped with lots of crisp panko crumbs and small light butternut fritters. A good match for the wine. The best thing on the dish (and this does not take away from the good cooking of the rest of it) was also the simplest: the wonderful fresh broad beans. It is such a treat to have this wonderful (nicely cooked) vegetable served, it is so rare in South Africa. We all said we could have had a bowl of this as a course all on its own!

PRO Emile Joubert with the announcement of the winners

Nanette De Hart, who is the Hospitality Manager

and is the sister of Narina Cloete, the winemaker, who told us that the competition had been started 35 years ago by Walter Finlayson. This year there were 74 entries. The four finalist wine clubs were Business Time (Western Cape), Digital Blenders (Western Cape), Hartbeespoort Vélo et Vin (North West) and the Lydenburg Wynproewersgilde (Mpumalanga). All four of these cultivars, Shiraz, Malbec, Petite Verdot and Merlot had to be used in the final blend and each of the wines, which are marked for use in the Blaauwklippen range, received a variation of oak regimes. Each of the wine components was limited to a minimum of 5% of the blend and no more than 50% of the total blend. Judges for this year’s competition were Narina Cloete (winemaker at Blaauwklippen), Clive Torr (Cape Master of Wines), Spencer Fondaumiere (Sommelier at Warwick)

Christo Hamman, Farm manager and Viticulturist at Blaauwklippen

Each of the finalist teams had a chance to introduce itself

Paul Ackerman, the spokesman for Business Time (Western Cape)

Ananda Abreu of Digital Blenders (Western Cape),

Niel van Deventer spoke for Hartbeespoort Vélo et Vin (North West)

and dentist Jakkie Swanepoel of Lydenburg Wynproewersgilde (Mpumalanga)

Head Judge Clive Torr CWM told us that all four finalists made completely different but good blends. The judges were impressed. In the past several clubs have come up with the same blend, this year there were 3, but none were winners

The first award was for the Newcomer of the Year, Hartbeespoort Vélo et Vin

getting a hug from the Winemaker

and the BBC winner is... Yes, it’s Hartebeespoort Vélo et Vin (North West) ...

... all looking very happy indeed

In the sunshine with their wine

The Trophy

AND ... another newcomer is soon on the way! Niel van Deventer (on the right) who is a film producer, and his wife have just moved to Cape Town from Gauteng

Time for The Flaming Cannonball. Lynne had to restrain her neighbours, who were planning to drop one ball on another from a height to break them,

as she had a inkling of what was going to happen next

Flaming brandy was poured over the chocolate ball

and it slowly melted, revealing the delicious, decadent contents: a rich dark chocolate delice with hazelnut and brandy cake, a trio of raspberries and hints of Turkish delight. One of the best and certainly the most theatrical desserts we have had this year. Applause! not just to this but for an excellent meal

Great service too by the staff, so well trained and pleasant

and here they all are with talented chef Louise Veldhuisen

Can’t wait to see who and what wins next year

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The Veritas Awards 2018 at the CTICC

The annual Veritas Awards, which is the longest running and most prestigious wine and brandy competition in South Africa, dating back to 1991, and is said by Bennie Howard CWM, who is the MC of the evening, to be the "Oscars of the South African Wine World". It is indeed always a very glamorous, formal black tie affair. The Awards Ceremony this year was held in the Ballroom of the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town. There is a formal dinner, served with winning wines and, this year, we were very excited to hear that the dishes would be by some of our top chefs. The Gold and Double Gold Medals are presented during dinner and afterwards there is coffee and a selection of winning brandy entries. The full list of this year’s awards can be viewed on the Veritas website https://cld.bz/NSgFkua

Small pastry bits with chicken, raw onion and cucumber

Some more canapés - smoked salmon mousse on mini blinis

The rugby test match between the All Blacks and the Springboks was due to finish at 7 pm, so it was being shown in the coffee shop of the CTICC when we arrived. Not a good result this time, with a narrow, last minute loss, but South Africans are passionate about their rugby and a good number of eminent members of the wine industry have been rugby Springboks

The crowd of invited guests and contestants gathering in the foyer with glasses of MCC bubbles

while we meet and greet and wait for the doors of the ballroom to open

Two top chefs, whom we have known and appreciated for several years, Craig Cormack of The Goose Roasters and SALT at Paul Cluver and Rudi Liebenberg of the Mount Nelson. They were responsible for the main course (Craig) and the dessert (Rudi)

La Motte winemaker Michael Langenhoven with De Wetshof's Bennie Stipp and Johann de Wet

Glenelly winemaker Luke O'Cuinneagain in his mini kilt. We suspect that his Irish one was at the cleaners. Very dapper Luke, but just dip, don’t bend when accepting your awards please

Master of Ceremonies Bennie Howard CWM

Veritas Chairman Christo Pienaar gave the guests the industry background

This year’s recipients of Living Legends honorary scrolls for their services to the wine industry were Albert Eksteen, Christine Rudman, Melvyn Minnaar, Pierre Marais and Martin van der Merwe

Two people we see rather a lot of at media events were deserving winners of their awards:

Christine Rudman CWM and Journalist Melvin Minnaar. Well done guys!

The sensational starter made by CTICC's Executive Chef Roberto de Carvalho, It was a tour de force of seafood, well prepared. and very pretty to look at. Smoked salmon, cold or smoked and gravadlax, on a runner of salmon carpaccio, a delicious poached prawn stack, a black squid ink stained panko crumb coating on a large peeled prawn, a light bacalhau fritter, salmon roe and chopped capers, picked sushi ginger, crème fraiche, Japanese yuzu dressing and two roundels of parmesan crisps. Yes we know you are not supposed to do cheese with sea food, but this added good umami savouriness to the dish. Chef Roberto is to be loudly and roundly applauded as his kitchen prepared all the dishes and there were more than 600 guests. The food was consistent in presentation and quality too. And served hot where appropriate. That is some organisation. The food came out quickly and the waiting staff were superbly efficient and just plain nice

Wines we enjoyed at our table with dinner

The waiters would bring a selection and we could choose within reason

Cellarmaster Morné Vrey from Delaire. Note the chic dinner suit worn with veldskoen!

Proud recipients of gold medals were the team at our table from Distell's Spirits division

Those gold medals

The main course was conceived by seasoned Chef Craig Cormack of The Goose Roasters and SALT Restaurant at Paul Cluver wine estate. Rich and satisfying slow braised Brisket on Denningvleis purée (Denningvleis is a South African lamb stew with a mixed spice marinade from Cape Malay influence, here used as a sauce). It also had an apricot atjar (spicy chutney) and was served with brocolli, baby carrots, turmeric arancini (rice balls) and the natural jus

This beautiful floral bouquet of local proteas and fynbos was the centre piece of every table

The cheese course, floodlit by the roaming coloured floodlights. Tiny delicate warm cheese beignets at the top and slices of the winner of the Qualité awards 2018. Made by Parmelat South Africa, their Mature 18 month Cheddar cheese

The dessert was by celebrated Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg of the Belmont Mount Nelson. It was a poem of flavour, delicacy and pure joy. Described as a Vanilla and white chocolate crunch beside a layered Delice of raspberry mousse, and chocolate crème topped with raspberry jelly, raspberry paté de fruit, macerated raspberries and a lime salsa with a vanilla bean ice cream. We felt we were having tea at the Nellie!

The final awards are completed, and now the dancing can commence

The valiant organisers, Elsabe Ferreira and Bennie Howard CWM

The food was the best we've had at Veritas to date, Thank You!

The Distell team with their brandies and their gold medals

The De Wetshof family men: Viticulturalist and Marketer Johann, father Danie de Wet and Winemaker Peter

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