Monday, August 22, 2022

Return to The Lab boutique hotel, near Robertson

We enjoyed our stay at The Lab last year and were invited back should we be in the area again,
in return for their use of our photographs
So we were delighted to be invited for one more night after the Cape Wine Masters induction at Van Loveren
(see our separate story)
The Lab is very green, powered by solar electricity and is very high tech, with room facilities accessed by voice commands
Their car is an electric BMW, charged by the sun, and they have electric bicycles for use by guests

It was rather horrible weather that night and intensely cold when the temperature dropped to 2 degrees, but our room was nice and warm, as we could ask Echo, the computer, to pull down the blinds and turn on the air conditioning

A fire in the grate might have been good, but then it might have been smoky.
John enjoyed a shower in the morning, which was lovely and hot; Lynne waited till we got home later that day

We had a large lunch at van Loveren but by 7.30 were in need of some sustenance, so we had dinner at the Lab restaurant
The menu is on the wall

and it was quite busy. We were thankful for the open fire

A bottle from the winery up the road, Kranskop 2021 Chenin Blanc, made by our friend Newald Marais
It is full of crisp fruit, and goes so well with food

A new way to do riempie (leather thong) lacing which we might copy on our antique stinkwood rocking chair
which does need re-doing

Lovely watching a roaring fire on a very cold night

John had more appetite than Lynne and ordered the Thai seafood curry which came with several prawns

Lynne had the starter of seafood risotto. Not sure about balsamic vinegar on risotto....

A freezing mist lay over the valley when we woke at 7am
and there was frost on the inside of the window and on the grass outside

and John managed to photograph the moon as she set

As we walked to breakfast, we passed this lovely flowering cherry in blossom, so spring is on the way
and, later, we did pass some orchards beginning to burst into bloom

So delicate, so pretty

we managed to get to breakfast early and sat in front of the fire

The breakfast is large and very satisfying. First a bowl of fresh fruit, crunchy granola and plain yogurt
Then a blueberry muffin and some orange juice

Rabbit rabbit?

and this was followed by a full English breakfast with toast, marmalade and jams


John just had scrambled egg, sausage, bacon and tomato

A horse farm next door

Time to head off home after a lovely comfortable stay

We called in at Kranskop to buy some more of that excellent Chenin Blanc
Newald had taken his wife up the West Coast to see the flowers and we missed him
but we look forward to seeing him on our next visit

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Posted by MENU at 7:16 pm 1 comments

Independent wine producers show their wares at Villa 47

'Tis the season of wine trade shows after a long gap
and, recently, we were invited by Riana Smit to attend NT Wines tasting at Villa 47 in Bree Street
 There is quite a diverse range of wineries represented, so we knew we were in for some surprises and some delights
We tried to taste at least two wines from each producer and were tasting for quite a long time
We have to increase our capacity as we are a bit out of practice!

The restaurant kept a table of lovely things to munch during the tasting when we needed some light relief,
with rather good charcuterie

Old friends Paul and Nikki Wallace showed their wines, lovely to see them
Lynne began the tasting with some Little Flirt 2021 Elgin Sauvignon Blanc, always a favourite,
showing all the excellent characteristics of that cool verdant valley and its terroir, crisp,
full and long flavours, with hints of fig leaf and good fruit
The elegant, herbaceous Black Dog Malbec is a firm favourite

and a lovely Chenin Blanc, Off The Record, made by their sons Mark and Bobby,
which has lovely citrus and apple blossom perfume on the nose, which appears on the palate as well
The wine is complex, rich and layered, with lime, apple and lemon flavours, length and is very satisfying
Bobby Wallace, assistant winemaker at Iona, has now produced an Off The Record Syrah from Ceres grapes
 Only 1180 bottles were produced from the 2021 harvest
 The wine is rich in fruit, spice, and flavour, hints of violet, white pepper and good wood on the nose,
dark berry flavours from this cool climate area, with finesse and elegance and supporting tannins and wood

Alvi's Drift wines from Rawsonville, presented by Junel van der Merwe CWM
The reserve Sauvignon Blanc was a classic showing the terroir of the valley it is grown in
The Albertus Viljoen barrel fermented Chenin blanc was impressively rich and will benefit from cellaring for a few years

More dear old friends, winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger and Dirkie Morkel of Bellevue Estate in Bottelary, Stellenbosch
We love the wines they produce
The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and lively and excellent and received 18/20 from Lynne
The Reserve Collection Chardonnay 2019 has depth, great fruit and lots of golden oak
The Bellevue Cinsault 2020 shows its Pinot like character and is packed with attitude
A lovely nose, with incense wood, lots of mulberry and raspberry fruit which continues on the elegant & complex palate, very satisfying
And the 2019 Bellevue Malbec is superb. Dark mulberry, black cherry fruit, juicy with umami flavours,
a lovely texture and so enjoyable, and a food wine par excellence

The stunning Reserve Chardonnay with its many awards

Bernard Dewey, Sales & Marketing Manager of Chamonix
The stand was always busy so Lynne did not get to taste this time, perhaps we need another visit to the farm soon
We love their Sauvignon Semillon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Annalie van Dyk – Winemaker at Hidden Valley, Stellenbosch
Their Sauvignon Blanc was soft and juicy and would be lovely with spicy food
The Cap Classique Brut Rosé is 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and has rose petals on the nose,
a lovely prickle and juicy red plums on the palate, unusual but delish

Wim Braak showed the wines of Peter Falke
The PR Blanc de Noir (white wine made from red grapes) was full of creamy toffee, vanilla, peaches and cream
It is smooth and silky and then a little wood appears
 The Peter Falke Kanoa 2017 was awarded 95 points in the Prescient Cape Bordeaux Red Blend Report 2022

Mark Fletcher and talented Meerhof winemaker Jaco Brand
Jaco's wines from warm country varietals blew Lynne away
Both the whites are food wines and should be on many restaurant menus
The 2021 Arbeitsgenot Grenache Blanc has notes of pears and grass on the nose,
lovely layers of fruit explode on the palate, a bit like popping candy, full of exciting ripe pear and peach flavours
The 2012 Arbeitsgenot Verdelho has a characteristic grey nose, like a Semillon and some old wood notes,
zingy and complex on the fruity, layered palate with ripe orange melon (spanspek), apple & grapefruit, it begs for food
The 2020 Premium Shiraz/Grenache has vanilla oak on the spicy nose
Dark berry/cherry fruit, with milk chocolate, spice and crisp plums with good tannin support. One to age?

Annelien Loubser showing the Stettyn wines to Magda of Pink Olive restaurant in Sunningdale
They have a good, warm country 2022 Chenin Blanc that was  enjoyable
The Babelki* tank sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir is popular in the market at its price,
a fun bubbly with peach and strawberry, slightly off dry

Luan Aucamp - Sales Manager at Ridgeback wine
Lynne was impressed with the Ridgeback 2019 Chenin Blanc
it is very much in the style of the Loire, but with quite a lot of oak supporting

Alta Saayman, Marketing Manager at Riebeek Cellars who used to sell us these wines when we had our wine shop
The Pieter Cruythoff sparkling wine is always impressive with its crisp classic flavours
and the Klein Kasteelberg Brut Chardonnay Pinot Noir was nicely zesty and crisp

Bernard le Roux, winemaker at Zorgvliet had us entranced
Richelle is one of his top wines, a classic Bordeaux blend, perfumed on the nose,
with good dark cherry berry fruit, soft chalky tannins and long elegant flavours
Simoné is a very good Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend, zesty, lively and full of quality and length
His Merlot knocked our socks off, superb layers of fruit, sumptuous, rich and deep with no hard edges,
supported with good wood and no mint
We liked his classic Cabernet Franc and the Petite Verdot has the classic delicate violets on the nose
followed by a blockbuster of a wine full of salty umami flavours

Bernard was describing his second label Silver Myn Sauvignon Blanc to Lynne,
made from grapes harvested on a neighbouring farm, but she was tasting something so different from his description;
it’s a clean, lean style with minerality and green figs and peppers, so good. One for us to buy soon

The two sisters of Capo Donna Chenin Blanc

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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Posted by MENU at 6:24 pm 1 comments

Mukanya Cap Classique

We had a visit recently from an old friend whom we have known in the wine and hospitality industry for quite a few years. After several years working as Sommelier at the Cape Grace, Tinashe Marlvin Gwese is now Group Sommelier of the three hotels within The Liz McGrath Collection, which includes The Cellars-Hohenort, The Marine and The Plettenberg. 

He wanted us to taste the sparkling wine he has made. We are very honoured. If you are wondering about the name, it is the name of Marlvin’s Totem. Made with Chardonnay grapes sourced in Franschhoek, it is a classic, crisp Blanc de Blanc with fresh flavours, lime and lemon notes and it has a good mousse; we opened it at a recent celebration and enjoyed it very much.

We first met Marlvin at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, attending the Cap Classique competition awards, and have watched his stellar career with admiration for several years. Like his compatriots Joseph Dhafana, Tinashe Nyamudoka and Pardon Taguzu, all four of whom we know, Marvin has a superb palate. Recently, they all starred in the recently released documentary Blind Ambition; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9914972/ which has now won international film awards

These four talented young Zimbabwean migrants all came, separately, to South Africa to seek a better life. They came from a country with little history and culture of wine. Despite their other qualifications, they found work in restaurants, where they discovered wine and fast developed their skills and talent for wine tasting by studying wine and, in the process, they got to know each other. In 2017, they entered the South African Wine Tasting Championship, organised by expatriate French sommelier Jean Vincent Ridon and they all placed in the top 10. Jean Vincent said to them, “If you can raise the money, you can form your own Team Zimbabwe and go to the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships in France”. With the help of crowd-funded sponsorship and wine writer Jancis Robinson, they were able to take part in what is regarded as the wine Olympics. The rest is history, after a lot of hard work and the study of wine. They have worked at many of the top restaurants in South Africa. We have great respect for all four of them. 

Pardon Taguzu is now Sommelier, Winemaker, Sales & Marketing Director at @Dzimbahwebrands and has been working as a head sommelier in the Netherlands. He has a degree in economics and an MBA equivalent. Tongai Joseph Dhafana has his own brand, Mosi Wines. He produces wines and gin which he is now promoting in Africa. Tinashe Nyamudoka has his own brand of wine, Kumusha Wines and in 1916 won the Eat Out Wine Service award while working with Luke Dale-Roberts at The Test Kitchen. He is currently in the USA, promoting his wines. All of them are now respected wine competition judges. 

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email

Posted by MENU at 12:57 pm 0 comments
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