Saturday, October 19, 2019

Elgin Blossom Weekend. Galileo Farm, Highlands Road Estate

While we were in Elgin for the Chardonnay Colloquium and the Elgin Blossom Weekend, Cath Boome,
the Executive Head of Elgin Grabouw Tourism had kindly organised for us to stay over at Galileo Farm in one of their cottages
The orchards on the farm were in full blossom, both pear and apple
We were given Lemon Cottage for the night
A huge, very comfortable room with an enormous bed, a separate bathroom and a small self catering area; with a table to eat or work at and good WiFi. Good linen, a comfortable bed and it was nice and warm despite Elgin being a little chilly at night
The bathroom also has a large walk in shower
To book, contact Lisa Beaumont at bookings@galileofarm.co.za
We got up after a good sleep and went through to the Elgin Railway Market to buy some of their good vegetables and we also popped in to the Peregrine Farm Stall to buy some of their famous Venison pies for our freezer and for dinner later that week
The market cat is tiny and very, very sweet. She loves gentle strokes and didn’t mind at all the buzzing beehive exhibit
which was being demonstrated behind her
Then to Highlands Road, where winemaker Vanessa Simkiss had invited us to visit and taste some of her award winning wines
We loved the Chardonnay when we tasted it at the Colloquium the previous day
It has won many awards and gained two major ones this week - Veritas double gold and top 10 at the Prescient awards
The Sine Cera blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc is one of our best blends, one to buy, treasure and drink with special food
which it so enhances. Crisp and green with herbaceous notes, full of citrus fruit and lanolin mouthfeel, a classy wine
Owner Michael White was there and we chatted with him and Jacqueline Lahoud
Lynne learning about the wine and the winemaker
The Semillon is dusty, grassy with loquats and yellow fruit on the nose and very elegant, generous on the palate
with limes, lemon, crisp but not acidic, another major food wine
The enjoyable 2014 Pinot Noir has a very pretty nose with raspberry and strawberry, incense wood
In the style of Gevrey Chambertin on the palate, delicate initially then it opens out
with sweet raspberry fruit and lots of depth and length; you cannot put this glass down
For the Blossom Weekend, Vanessa was cooking stir fried Calamari and large prawns in the Skottel Braai
She uses a prego sauce and is a dab hand at this
Very skilled and they were delicious
We shared a bowl and got nice and involved and covered in sauce. It went so well with the 2015 Shiraz with incense wood and lovely spicy red berry fruit with notes of amaretto. A blend of dark black and morello cherry fruit and black pepper on the end
A view over the Highlands Road dam
Nymphoides thunbergiana, Small Yellow Waterlily, Geelwaterlelie, not really a true waterlily,
but prolific and good for small or large areas of water
Other guests arriving for a tasting and some lunch
They had pre-ordered this superb meat and cheese platter with pickles, chutney, fruit, olives and peppers
So relaxing to sit outside and taste the wines and soak in a Sunday in the sun. Thank you Highlands Road

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