Thursday, June 06, 2019

This Week’s MENU. Bellevue, Kunjani, Wine Concepts’ Chardonnay Pinot, Wine Tasting Champs, Siris Trade Tasting, Old Mutual Trophy Awards, Pork Belly, Bellevue Chardonnay

A damp day at Waterford wine estate, Stellenbosch

 It never rains… and we really felt as though that was true. After a series of dry years, this has looked as though it would top (or bottom) them all but, suddenly, we have had a few days of “pour” – nowhere near enough, but it has been very satisfying to see the pond filling up and Lynne has been optimistic and planted some seedlings, so the little patch of garden in front of the house is looking a bit less like a desert. The fire burns every night and, suddenly, winter is here. Off to Robertson this weekend and it will be cold. Maybe it will rain…
We hadn'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 we met winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger and had a quick tasting of some new wines…
Kunjani held a celebration to celebrate their new branding as well as the 50th Birthday of one of the owners, Paul Barth, last week and we were invited. Paul comes from the Rheingau wine region of Germany and both his father and grandfather were winemakers. As a child, he helped with the harvest every year, so...
We really enjoyed tasting some of the best Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs at Wine Concepts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Celebration last Friday evening. There is such a wide selection and so many friends to chat to about their wine while tasting it. We made a good attempt and tasted as many as we could between 5 and 8 pm…
Once a year Jean Vincent Ridon, the Flying Sommelier and urban winemaker, holds the South African Wine Tasting Championships. It started in 2013. The mission of this show is "To find the best natural wine taster, across all South African communities, to educate and empower them, so they will fly the national colours high in the world competition." Last Saturday…

We are always delighted to be invited to cover Trade wine tastings and attended the Siris Vintners trade tasting at the Mount Nelson Hotel last Monday. Colyn Truter showed us how easy it is to remove the wax cap on the Arendsig wines from Robertson…

This years Old Mutual Trophy Awards were held yesterday, 4th June 2019 at the Mount Nelson Hotel. The results are now out and you can look at all of them on https://www.trophywineshow.co.za/2019-results/ Less awards this year but some great surprises and one rather well deserve and emotional trophy. The wines served at the function were…

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. Delicious with rich dishes like roast pork belly with crackling below

Pork belly is always one of the comfort foods we go to, especially when the weather turn chilly. Lynne has several favourite versions of this dish, especially Rueben’s version, but this is a new variation which we enjoyed very much, especially the crisp crackling…








6th June 2019

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Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169
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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 our website and ancillary works are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are often 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.

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Posted by MENU at 10:16 pm 0 comments

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Bellevue Chardonnay 2018


This 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. Delicious with rich dishes like the roast pork belly with crackling in this week's MENU recipe
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 7:04 pm 0 comments

On the MENU this week. Roast Pork Belly with Fennel


Photo courtesy of Olive Magazine
Belly of Pork weighing 1.5 to 2 Kg – 2 Tablespoons of fennel seed – 1 tspn of chilli flakes – 15g of rough salt – 2 onions, quartered – 2 carrots, roughly chopped – 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped – 2 courgettes, sliced into 3 cm pieces – 1 fennel bulb, sliced 5 cloves of garlic, peeled – 1 Tablespoon of fresh thyme and chopped rosemary – 2 bay leaves – – 1 Tablespoon of olive oil - 1 bottle of unwooded chardonnay – salt and freshly ground black pepper
Turn your oven onto its hottest setting. Grind the fennel seed, coarse salt, & chilli flakes in a pestle and mortar until you have a powdered spice mix. Using a very sharp knife or even a Stanley knife, score the skin of the pork in strips every centimetre. Do not go deep enough to cut the meat, just the skin and the fat. Rub the spice mix into the top skin, working it well in. In a roasting tray, put all the vegetables, garlic and herbs, give them a good sprinkling of olive oil and then rest the pork belly on top of them. Put into the oven for 20 minutes or until the skin starts to bubble and crisp, but not burn. Turn the oven down to 170ºC and roast for an hour. Then add two thirds of the wine to the base of the pan. Return the pork to the oven and roast for another hour. Check that it is not burning on the bottom; if it is, just give it a stir to mix up the juices. Then add the rest of the wine and cook until the pork is tender and pulls apart easily – at least half an hour, perhaps more. The crackling should be nicely crisp and most of the fat should have roasted off. Serve with mashed potatoes, all the vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan and the gravy they have produced. This will go well with a good Chardonnay like our Wine of the Week, Bellevue Chardonnay
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 6:43 pm 0 comments

Siris Vintners Trade tasting at The Mount Nelson

We are always delighted to be invited to cover Trade wine tastings and attended the Siris Vintners trade tasting at the Mount Nelson Hotel last Monday
Colyn Truter showing us how easy it is to remove the wax cap on the Arendsig wines from Robertson
The wines available for tasting and, hey, are all worth it!
James Pietersen of The Wine Cellar tasting them with Colyn
It was a very busy tasting with many sommeliers, restaurateurs and wine retailers
Lots of tasting and lots of chatter amongst the wine industry representatives takes place
Mark Herd of Sunset Beach Wines chats to Megan Mullis of Domaine des Dieux, who were showcasing their award winning MCCs and their other wines
Gielie Beukes, winemaker/viticulturist, Sue Anderson who does their PR and Johan Fourie, General Manager,
Doolhof Wine Estate with these three impressive wines. We loved them all and think the new branding is very appealing
and will jump off the shelf in wine shops
Riaan Moller with his Lievland Liefkoos Rosé from Grenache and a little Mourvedre
On the Fable Mountain stand was Keelyn Gibbons with their Raptor Post wines and The Night Sky Red and Syrah
Clayton Reabow, winemaker at Môreson, Franschhoek
David Nieuwoudt was showing The Berrio Wines from Elim, the Cape's most Southerly wine growing area
and Reenen Borman was on his farm’s stand with Boschkloof, talking here to Bubbles Hyland
Girls having fun tasting the wines. Caroline van Schalkwyk and her friends Danielle Chalmers and Billie Lambrechts
At Paserene, winemaker and owner Martin Smith with his wife, who are awaiting their first child
The wines available for tasting and, hey, are all worth it!
James Pietersen of The Wine Cellar tasting them with Colyn
It was a very busy tasting with many sommeliers, restaurateurs and wine retailers
Lots of tasting and lots of chatter amongst the wine industry representatives takes place
Mark Herd of Sunset Beach Wines chats to Megan Mullis of Domaine des Dieux who were showcasing their award winning MCCs
Gielie Beukes, winemaker/viticulturist, Sue Anderson who does their PR and Johan Fourie, General Manager, Doolhof Wine Estate with these three impressive wines. We loved them all and think the new branding is very appealing and will jump off the shelf in wine shops
Riaan Moller with his Lievland Liefkoos Rosé from Grenache and a little Mourvedre
On the Fable Mountain stand was Keelyn Gibbons with their Raptor Post wines and The Night Sky Red and the Syrah
Clayton Reabow, winemaker at Môreson, Franschhoek
David Nieuwoudt was showing the The Berrio Wines from Elim
And Reenen Borman was on their stand with Boschkloof
Girls having fun tasting the wines. Caroline van Schalkwyk and friends
At Paserne winemaker and owner Martin Smith with his wife, who are awaiting their first child

Posted by MENU at 6:07 pm 0 comments

Western Cape tasting at The Taj for the 2019 South African Wine Tasting Champs

Once a year Jean Vincent Ridon, the Flying Sommelier and urban winemaker, holds the South African Wine Tasting Championships. The competition started in 2013. The mission of this show is "To find the best natural wine taster, across all South African communities, to educate and empower them, so they will fly the national colours high in the world competition." Last Saturday, it was the turn of professional and amateur wine tasters in the Western Cape to challenge themselves once more. It took place at the Taj Hotel during the day. The competition is also held in Durban - this was on the 11th of May - in Johannesburg on the 8th of June and again at the Cape Town Tops @Spar Wine Show on the 13th of July at Grand West. The winning team will represent South Africa at the World Blind Tasting Challenge, the Olympics of wine tasting, in France. The National Finals to select that team will be held on the 21st July 2019 at the Taj Cape Town
Checking in to take some photographs and taste some wine. We do not enter the competition, but love to see who is tasting
The Cape Town results from this tasting have already been announced and the following have qualified for the finals:
Samarie Smith
Gareth Robertson
Edwina Frantz
Matija Leskovic
Georgio Meletiou
Anita Streicher Nel (Captain of 2018 and before)
Anton Swarts (member of Team 2018 and before)
James Walls
For more details check out the web page of Wine.co.za, who are sponsors 
There were 152 visitors, with 112 taking the test
First you go to taste the wines from several wine farms - you need to taste them all. The wines in the competition are among these wines and you will later have to identify them in the competition room. The wines are not selected by the judges; they also have no idea which wines are to be tasted
Eben Bezuidenhoud had wines from Creation to taste
Joris van Almenkerk pours one of his wines for Fairview winemaker Stephanie Wiid
Some easy drinking sparkling wines from Spier - good palate refreshers
Abigail Mitton, Marketing Manager at The Winery of Good Hope, showed the Radford Dale wines
And there were wines from Spice Route
The tasters take this competition very seriously and put a lot of thought and memory into their efforts
Lynne with Fairview winemaker Stephanie Wiid and Black Pearl owner/winemaker Mary-Lou Nash CWM
Taking a selfie with Jean Vincent Ridon, who organises the tastings and is one of the judges
Jean Vincent Ridon
This is the room where the competition takes place. First you register, then taste 10 wines blind - 5 white wine and 5 red wines. You need to identify the wines and note down where they come from
Raymond Noppe CWM studying the questions. There are also some questions about wines and winemaking
Gareth Robertson - Sales and Marketing Manager, Anthonij Rupert Wines - with pen to hand
Lots of serious tasting and contemplation. It is very, very quiet in the room
Relaxing afterwards, Jacqueline Lahoud chats to another competitor about the tasting.
Joris talks to one of his previous interns
Enjoying the experience!
Can I remember what this was?
Posted by MENU at 5:35 pm 0 comments

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2019 Awards luncheon at The Mount Nelson

This years Old Mutual Trophy Awards presentation was held on Tuesday, 4th June 2019 at the Mount Nelson Hotel. The results are now out and you can look at all of them on https://www.trophywineshow.co.za/2019-results/ . Fewer awards this year, but some great surprises and one rather well deserved and emotional trophy
The wines served at the function were the Silver medallists and we were welcomed with two MCCs: the very fine Noble Hill Blanc de Blanc and the Quoin Rock Black Series. We were pleased to see the sparkling wines being served in proper Riedel wine glasses, which allow a better appreciation of the wine, and not the narrow flutes, which fell out of favour internationally years ago

Crisp and sparkly deliciousness lined up on the bar
Getting our badges on entry
Francois Rautenbach of Singita, who was a judge again this year, and Jeremy Borg of Painted Wolf Wines in discussion
Michael Crossley, Michael Fridjhon and John Skotnes
A bunch of wine makers, each hopeful of a high award, and many did receive them
Canapés were served. Sago crackers with lamb kitfo (raw lamb) and Trout tartare on cauliflower latkes
Blaauwklippen winemaker Narina Cloete (who was one of the judges) and winemaker Cobus van Zyl of Neethlingshof
Lunch and the awards ceremony were held in the Planet Restaurant
The Trophies on display
Michael Fridjhon begins the formal part of the day
Ms Thobile Tshabalala, Head of Brand for Old Mutual and sponsors of the Old Mutual Trophy competition. She told us she has become a wine convert since she has been involved with the show. No longer does she drink Catembas - red wine and Cola - she now has a taste for fine wines. Old Mutual recognises the impact the wine industry has on our economy
The Gold Medal awards were presented and the recipients photographed with their certificates
The luncheon menu

The starter was delicious. A small, warm twice baked asparagus and cheddar cheese soufflé with a good sufficiency of tender dill cured sea trout, served with a horseradish cream and some spears of fresh asparagus with some salad leaves. There were good crisp rolls on the table to go with this
The main course was a tender grilled beef sirloin, with a mushroom wrapped oxtail sausage
- very flavourful on a cauliflower puree with baby rainbow carrots and tender young green beans
John's was served without the wrapping of mushrooms
JC Le Roux Winemaker Andiswa Mapheleba, who was at our table,
with the Old Mutual Trophy for Best Museum class Sparkling Wine: the 2011 Desiderius Pongràcz
Also at our table was winemaker Lutske Doubell of D'Aria who received the Trophy for Best Museum Class:
Sauvignon Blanc D'Aria The Songbird Sauvignon Blanc 2014 
Winemaker JD Rossouw of Wildeberg (previously Boutinot) received the Trophy for Best Semillon: Wildeberg White 2018
This is quite an award for a new farm in Franschhoek that is still planting its grapes. The wine was sourced from another Franschhoek estate. Definitely one to watch. He was also at our exciting table. We love to sit with winners!
And we also had with us Glen Carlou winemaker Johnnie Calitz, awarded a Gold Medal for his Glen Carlou 2017 Syrah 
Winemaker Mick Craven of Mulderbosch with Anthea Eedes, who presented him with the Harold Eedes Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc. Mulderbosch also won the Old Mutual International Judges’ Trophy and Old Mutual Trophy for Best White Wine Overall: Mulderbosch Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc Block 2017. Cellarmaster Adam Mason could not be present on the day, sadly
Dessert was a Green Apple Delice with layers of cake, cream, nuts, coconut and almond paste, a sliver of green Pistachio cake, and was topped with a Guava and Vanilla ice cream on apple. The very sweet dessert was accompanied by two classics, Miles Mossop's 2017 Kika and the KWV Classic Collection Cape Tawny Dessert Wine NV (this had some age!)
And then, after dessert, it was time for the final awards:
Old Mutual Trophy for Best White Wine Overall: Mulderbosch Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc Block 2017
and they also took the Old Mutual International Judges’ Trophy for the same wine
Old Mutual Trophy for Best Red Wine Overall: Kruger Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Old Mutual Trophy for Discovery of the Show: Best Value Gold Medallist Bonnievale Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Old Mutual Trophy for Most Successful Producer Overall: Painted Wolf Wines 
Michael Fridjhon with a delighted and rather emotional Jeremy Borg of Painted Wolf Wines with his Old Mutual International Judges’ Trophy for the Best Producer Overall. We also had a tear in our eye. This award has been long coming and is so deserved. Jeremy also received Trophies for his 94 point Painted Wolf Black Pack Mourvèdre 2017 and 94 point Painted Wolf Roussanne 2018. If you read our Feedback report, we mentioned that the judges had said there were both an excellent Mourvedre and a Roussanne that they had tasted; now we know that they came from - the same talented winemaker
All the proud Trophy winners - formal
and joyous!
And we didn't forget about the hard workers, to whom we say a sincere thank you for a very well organised event: Janice Fridjhon, Alex Mason Gordon, and out of picture Tarryn Vincent & Monica Mountjoy. Packing up to get ready for the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show Public tasting to be held in Johannesburg next Wednesday at the Sandton Convention Centre and in Cape Town on the 20th of June at the CTICC. Tickets are available on WebTickets
The table seating plan
Posted by MENU at 4:38 pm 0 comments
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