The old farmhouse at Spier, #StellenboschisCool
Another very active week, totally centred
on wine, but nearly all of it accompanied by very good food, and we had a night
in a very good Winelands hotel for good measure. Our diary is almost too full
for the next three weeks and we are juggling assignments while we plan our next
excursion to points north, more about which we’ll tell you in another issue of
MENU, when we’ve finalised our arrangements. So keep on reading, please, and
enjoy this week’s stories and stay in touch for the coming episodes
Two wine trade shows this week and they
could not have been more different. The first was Douglas Green Bellingham
(DGB) held at the Mount Nelson. We began, as we usually do, with a tasting of the
MCCs from Graham Beck and once again fell in love with the Blanc de Blanc so
crisp and seductive. We chatted with Chris du Toit, CEO of Graham Beck Enterprises…
This year's Raath Trade Show was held at
The Athletic Club and Social on Buitengracht in Cape Town. They took over the
entire place. Didn’t see a single item of gym equipment thankfully, we were worried we would have to work out…
Journey’s End is high up in the hills
behind Somerset West and Sir Lowry’s Pass Village with good views of False Bay
and they benefit from its cooling breezes. We were invited there this week to
meet winemaker Mike Dawson, taste their wines and have some lunch with a small group of fellow members of the media…
A great invitation from Stellenbosch Wine
Routes to "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" with them last weekend.
#StellenboschisCool. We joined several other members of the media for the first
event, a wine tasting at Haskell Wines with Armand Swart the Tasting Room Manager…
When we arrived at Blaauwklippen, we were
welcomed with a glass of MCC… but, first, it had to be opened. One of the staff
members demonstrated sabrage on a bottle of their Zinfandel bubbly to welcome
us. And bang went the cork with the top of the bottle! And one of member of our
media group also had a go, with explosive result…
The next stop on our Stellenbosch Wine
Routes "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" last weekend was to the
hotel at Spier wine estate where we would spend the night, have dinner at PJ
Vadas Smokehouse and Bakery on Spier and, after breakfast, go to the tasting room for a wine
and soup pairing. We checked in and then were taken by golf cart to our room…
The final stop on our Stellenbosch Wine
Routes "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" last weekend was Jordan, for
lunch at the Bakery. The sun was shining and we were well wrapped up and so
were very happy to sit out on the terrace. The tasting room is open, should you want a wine tasting…
It is amazing how television chefs often
trigger a memory of a dish you cooked long ago. This happened this week to
Lynne who went searching for her recipe and thankfully found it. We had this
for dinner this week and it made enough for two nights and there was still some
for our once a week queen of the vacuum and ironing for her lunch. It produces
a rich, unctuous dark beef stew with lots of flavour…
made by winemaker Natasha Williams. We
tasted it tonight at Caroline's Red Wine review and it was a revelation.
Cinsault is coming of age in South Africa. No longer the disliked harsh and
metallic wines mostly used for blending in the past, but wines with such fruity
freshness and style that they just beg to be drunk with good food. They are not
pretentious wines, just ones you want to enjoy often…
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