.: Lunch at Bellevue, Stellenbosch

We haven't visited our friends at Bellevue for a while and wanted to see what wines they were releasing and find out about their winter specials. We began in the tasting room where had a quick tasting of some new wines with winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger

And said hello to Chef Eddie Enslin. The first special on their programme will be a LIVE MUSIC EVENT on Friday, 7th June

To book, call 021 865 2054 or email restaurant@bellevue.co.za. No extra cost, only pay for your food and beverages

We really like the new very elegant labels on the Bellevue wines. The just released 2018 wooded Chardonnay has had 12 months in 100% new French oak but is not over wooded. It has a typical bready Chardonnay nose, with elegance, minerality, golden fruit notes and whiff of smoke on the end. Round on the enjoyable palate, nectarines and peach, limes, citrus and golden oak on the finish. R180 on the farm. Its our Wine of the Week this week.

Wilhelm also gave us tasting of two new wines just bottled and soon to be released. The 2019 Eselgraaf (Donkey Grave) Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc R75 Perfumed with hints of Hanepoot fruit, peach and elderflower (no cats pee!). Also round on the palate with salty minerality, white pear and blossoms with good balanced grape acidity. Nice use of wood, just shows at the end. The 2019 Sauvignon Blanc R80 - bottled 3 weeks ago - has classic Sauvignon Blanc notes on the nose, green leaf pyrazines & herbs. Crisp acidity, buzz tingle on the tongue, grapes, figs, granadilla. Good minerality and length unwooded, just lees stirring in tank. Bellevue is of course famous for growing the first Pinotage grapes and still produce wonderful Pinotages and other good red wines

We also tasted the Reserve Pinotage 2016 with rich red and black berry fruit, whiffs of steel, wood and vanilla oak. Plums, dark damsons, sweet cherry and some savoury umami licorice on the end. We exited to the stoep while Wilhelm went back to work

An old work bench becomes a plant table

The very good Winter Pensioners' Special lunch menu

Their normal menu

The choice of Pizzas

Or you can order platters

They are very child friendly and, besides the good Kiddies Menu, they have a climbing frame in the garden

More importantly, the wine list

The stoep is covered

And it is nice long stoep. They are planning to extend the roof to cover the whole area

They hold numerous functions and the restaurant is also very popular

Lynne ordered the Cinsault Pizza which has a very good crisp, thin crust. On the normal Margarita base, it is topped with caramelised onions, bacon bits, corn, brie cheese and thyme oil. She tasted the Classic Cinsault with her pizza. It is spicy on the nose with dusty smoke and red berry notes that remind one of Pinot Noir. It had been well chilled so, initially, was rather shy, then dark bitter wood, wild mulberry, rhubarb flavours appeared; even some savouriness, then more notes of ripe, light Pinot fruit as it warmed up with wood on the end. Good with food