An invitation to visit our friends the von Arnims at their Haute Cabrière cellar in Franschhoek to see the new labels and to sample the newest vintages over lunch. We met other guests at the V&A Waterfront and were taken to and from Franschhoek in a minibus. We wish all wine producers would do this. Asking us to drive home after sampling their wines is irresponsible
Well, how could we refuse!
Roxi Laker was there to greet us
and there were three Pierre Jordan MCC bubblies to enjoy, with their new, elegant labels
and this is the new label on the three Pinot wines
and on the Tranquille and the Ratafia
Very good canapés were served; this is an olive, feta, caramelised onion Pissaladière
Saldanha Bay oysters with a classic sauce mignonette
A rich and creamy duck liver parfait on brioche with a spiced pear and saffron chutney. Delish
The seared tuna with a ponzu dressing and avocado was so moreish
You could see everyone was loving the plentiful canapés
We had been asked to wear yellow to the function and some of us did
Chef Nic van Wyk welcomes us and tells us about lunch
Hildegarde von Arnim with Allan Mullins
Ian Manley shows that he is wearing the yellow theme too
Takuan von Arnim with Lodine and Ludwig Maske of La Cotte Inn Wine Sales and Fromage de France
Journalists Greg Landman and Mel Minnaar
Takuan with the new logo on yellow
We take our seats inside the restaurant, which was closed to the public for the function
The foyer bar
Takuan and Nic banter about the food and the wine being served. They told us that they will make several modifications to the restaurant and the terrace in the winter that will make the Haut Cabrière experience even better
Takuan’s yellow shoes
They show us the new labels on the publicity poster
Journalist Graham Howe
Clifford Roberts and Anel Grobler with their yellow notes
The wines on display
Fresh bread is served with butter and a sweet tomato jam
The main course of Charcoal grilled venison, which was Blou Wildebees served with a pave of sweet potato, on a bed of braised kale, topped with crisp fried kale and with a spiced gastrique sauce. Sadly, we still find kale hard to chew and digest. A gastrique is a sweet-and-sour sauce made from caramelised sugar or honey with equal parts of vinegar. We both had the venison and drank the Reserve Pinot Noir with it, a very good pairing; such a lovely wine. The other main course was Grilled Yellowtail, with bulgar, quinoa and barley salad, rocket and a sun dried tomato vinaigrette
Dessert was a slice of pie of roasted figs wrapped in shortcrust pastry, with liquorice ice cream. Also on the plate are Lakrids by Bülow. Different flavoured balls of chocolate wrapped around liquorice pieces. They come in berry, orange, caramel, salt, coffee and other flavours. If you like liquorice, you will like these. You can buy them in the tasting room at Haute Cabrière
Hildegard von Arnim showing us photos of her 5 year old grandson's first encounter with grapes in the vineyard. He is already a grape gourmet and so it looks likely that he may go into the family business in years to come
3 comments:
Thank you for this-lovely pictures as always!
Hmm I have always found Haute Cabriere food more style than substance.
This whole place looks amazing and I love wine so it looks like a dream to me. I am currently planning to visit franschhoek wineries and hope to have a good visit like you have mentioned.
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