Wednesday, October 18, 2023

In MENU this issue - Meerendal Estate 50, Meerendal Cocoafair taste pairing, Vickie de Beer Clever Cooking launch, Extreme Wines tasting; Wine Concepts Chardonnay Pinot Celebration

Another period with bursts of activity in between fixing damage caused by the Cape’s late winter storms. Meerendal is our main focus this issue with a celebration of their having been a designated South African wine estate for 50 years, one of the first fourteen, and a great new cookbook by food writer, stylist and food editor Vickie de Beer.  Also a special wine tasting event we hate having to miss. Click on the links to open and read on

Meerendal Estate celebrates 50 years as Wine Estate


Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville is celebrating its 50th anniversary as an Estate. We were invited to join them, celebrate and learn some of the history of the farm. It was founded in 1702 and 60,000 vines were planted then. Today they have over 150,000 vines on the Estate. The Cape Dutch style homestead was built in 1936 and is now a fine Boutique hotel.

The Cape started growing vines in the early 1650s and has produced wine since February 1659, longer than any other wine area outside Europe and the Mediterranean. Meerendal's first modern vineyards were planted to Shiraz and Pinotage, and they are still producing wine, now from seriously old and precious vines. Click here to Read On….

The new Meerendal Tasting Room with Cocoafair taste pairing

Meerendal in Durbanville has made some exciting new changes. They want to make Meerendal a destination for wine lovers and Foodies. There is a new, commodious Tasting Room where food and wine pairings will feature and the CocoaFair chocolate factory, bakery, and Deli where they will be selling their own produce. There are very exciting, innovative wine and canapé pairings in the tasting room. The new Tasting Room is exceptional and you can taste inside and outside on the terrace. Click here to Read On….

Vickie de Beer Clever Cooking book launch

Renowned food writer, stylist, cookbook author Vickie de Beer has just released another superb cookbook. It is called Clever Cooking; we attended the launch at Wordsworth book shop in Cape Town recently. Vickie, who now lives in the Netherlands, was here on a whirlwind promotional trip for the book.  Click here to Read On….

Extreme Wines Trade tasting at Judd's Local, Kloof Street

Judd's Local, a restaurant and wine bar in Kloof Street was the venue for the trade tasting of Michelle Stewart’s Extreme Wines. Click here to Read On….

A special event that we will be sad to miss:

Wine Concepts Chardonnay Pinot Noir Celebration

Wine Concepts 11th Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Celebration will take place at The Steenberg Golf Club on Sunday 29th October from 12.00 – 16.00. This popular celebration gives wine lovers of these two noble varietals the opportunity to taste over 100 wines produced from 40 of the Cape’s premium wineries. Snacks that complement the styles of wine will be prepared by the chefs of The Steenberg Golf Club and served throughout the duration of the Celebration.

Venue: The Steenberg Golf Club, 11111 Tokai Rd, Tokai, Cape Town, 7945
Cost: R450.00 per person – includes entrance, wine glass, tastings and snacks
All showcased wines will be available to order at discounted prices from Wine Concepts on the afternoon

Newlands 021 671 9030 | Kloof Street 021 426 4401

www.wineconcepts.co.za | newlandshop@wineconcepts.co.za

Booking essential - tickets available
online at webtickets.co.za or any Wine Concepts shop

In our next issue: Cape Winemakers Guild Auction, Veritas Awards, Hacienda Mexican supper

All our published 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 7:18 am 0 comments

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Extreme Wines Trade tasting at Judd's Local, Kloof Street

a restaurant and wine bar which was the venue for the trade tasting of Michele Stewart's Extreme Wines

Michelle Stewart and her Extreme team members Colleen and Harry

It was a busy and well attended tasting with some gems

Elton Minnies, Assistant Winemaker at Bizoe Wines
The wines are made at Croydon winery near Somerset West by winemaker Rikus Neethling
They have two interesting Semillons from the Robertsvlei Road in Franschhoek,
acknowledged to be one of the best areas for that wonderful grape
The one Lynne tasted was crisp, with layers of good fruit and long flavours, a good wine with food





The Bizoe range

Nice to see Adam Mason, who is now making wine at Terre Paisible
(a difficult name to pronounce, meaning Peaceful land)
This wine and olive oil farm on the fertile Berg River alluvial plains is owned by a Congo man
who is building a spa on the property
Their Vigne D'or Sauvignon Blanc really impressed with layers of fresh crisp lime, tropical fruits and complexity 

Canapés that look like mini Christmas puddings but were meatballs

A caprese on a stick

Tiny egg muffins

Suppli rice balls with a dip

Lomond from the Cape Agulhas area now produces wines that echo the terroir
These were made by winemaker Hannes Meyer who has moved on
The wines we tasted have freshness but need a bit more time
The 2023 Estate wine SSV (Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Viognier) is unusual and enjoyable,
the viognier adding spice and apricot to the blend

Charles Fox Cap Classique Blanc de Blanc is one of our favourites and never disappoints
The 2017 is elegant, fresh and beautifully crisp and lasting on the palate
It earned Lynne's highest score for the evening
The 2020 Rosé Cap Classique, a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier,
is crisp and dry with a little red berry fruit and is simply delicious
Charles Fox's wines are always so impressive

Something new for us:  X House of Hier Wines (marks the spot at the end of the book?!)
The wines are from the farm Rivergold in Bonnievale and are made by Entrepreneur and Cape Wine Master Jaco Pienaar
on Lourens van der Westhuizen's farm Arendsig, which is across the way
The House of Hier 2020 Chenin Blanc has a beautiful classic Chenin nose,
a lovely mouthfeel and flavours in layers with wood present
His House of Hier 2021 Cinsault was made in a concrete egg; it is Pinot-like and needs time
Only a small quantity of the Hadassah Pinot Noir was made in a concrete tank and barrel
It is very good but not easily available


The team from PicardiReBEL Liquor Retailers, enjoying the afternoon and the wines

Every time we taste Carsten Migliarina's wines we are knocked out by the quality and finesse he produces
His wines are all food friendly. He sources grapes from across the entire Western Cape
and only uses those that represent the most exciting possibilities
His 2022 Bush Vine Chenin Blanc is from 45 year old Stellenbosch vines
It is succulent, with layers of beautiful crisp, clean and lean fruit, very French in style
His 2022 Chardonnay from Elgin is clean and crisp and also very French in style
The 2020 Bushvine Chardonnay has a golden nose, full and satisfying with layers of fruit, wood and lasting texture
Luminosity 2022 Blanc de Noir, made from 93% Pinot Noir and 7% Pinot Gris, is also crisp and dry,
with white peach and lime and so quaffable
The Migliarina 2022 Grenache from Polkadraai grapes has good berry fruit and good tannins
His 2021 Syrah has a beautiful dive-in nose with fruit, spices and perfume which follow through on the palate
with long flavours of choclalate and red berry fruit
The Migliarina 2020 Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon blend is new and knocked us out with its quality and deliciousness
with smoke, cherry, mulberry and perfume on the nose
Perfections with richness, layers of red berry fruit, softness, fullness, good acidity and good fruit and wood balance
with licorice,  spice and pepper on the end
20 out of 20 for Lynne

Carsten Migliarina

His range of wines. You must taste these

Pilgrim wines from the Swartland, made by Henry Kotze and his viticulturist wife Riette,
make a splash with two very different cultivar wines
Viura, the most planted Spanish cultivar, is from Goudini vines; "It is a safe bet on dry land areas"
It's a white wine with pear and lime with a slight sweetness on the finish
Bastardo do Castello aka Trousseau from the Jura in France is very attractive on the nose
with white pepper incense wood and perfume
Soft and succulent on the palate, juicy with berry fruit and long flavours
Their 2023 Chenin Blanc is sappy with lots of minerality, greengages and limes

Winemaker Etienne Louw on the The Vinoneers Orpheus and the Raven stand

Their range has an Old Bush Vine Chenin Blanc from a mature Durbanville vineyard
Cape Red Blend No.42, an interesting blend of nearly equal parts of Pinotage, Pinot noir and Cinsault
No.7 Pinotage which has great mouthfeel and hints of spice with firm tannins typical of young Pinotage
Swansong Riesling - made from the last Altydgedacht harvest before the vines were uprooted
All excellent, showing Etienne's years of experience with Durbanville terroir
Also Conspiracy of Ravens Pinot Noir, Eye of the Tiger Chenin Blanc and Eternal 8, none of which we tasted

A smiling Etienne Louw

and finally, a great selection from Vrede en Lust in Franschhoek
Jess Rosé is made from Grenache, Pinotage and Shiraz and is zesty and crisp
The Anni Sauvignon Blanc has tropical notes as well as crisp greenness typical of Sauvignons from cooler areas
The Kogelberg Chenin Blanc from their farm in Elgin is rich, full and well wooded



Kris Snyman, responsible for Sales & Marketing at Vrede en Lust Wine Estate

After the Ball was over....

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 6:02 pm 0 comments

Friday, October 13, 2023

Vickie de Beer Clever Cooking book launch

Renowned food writer, stylist, cookbook author Vickie de Beer has just released another superb cookbook
It is called Clever Cooking; we attended the launch at Wordsworth book shop in Cape Town recently
Vickie, who now lives in the Netherlands, was here on a whirlwind promotional trip for the book

Lynne bought a copy and is most impressed with the nutritious menus of delicious and easy to prepare food,
some of which she has already cooked
It helps you to plan your meals and has many clever tips about bulk preparation, batch cooking and freezing
If you watch your carbs or have a member of the family who is diabetic this book will also work extremely well for you

The author with her new book

One of her other great cookbooks with colourful and easy recipes

She answered lots of questions from the audience and said there will be more books on the way

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 3:59 pm 0 comments

Meerendal Estate celebrates 50 years as Wine Estate

Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville is celebrating its 50th anniversary as an Estate
We were invited to join them, celebrate and learn some of the history of the farm
It was founded in 1702 and 60,000 vines were planted then. Today they have over 150,000 vines on the Estate
The Cape Dutch style homestead was built in 1936, is now a fine Boutique hotel

The Cape started growing vines in the early 1650s and has produced wine since February 1659,
longer than any other wine area outside Europe and the Mediterranean
Meerendal's first modern vineyards were planted to Shiraz and Pinotage, and they are still producing wine,
now from seriously old and precious vines

An aerial view of the first vineyard on Meerendal, which is still in existence
It shows the oldest vineyard in Durbanville, a Pinotage vineyard that was planted in 1955, 68 years ago

Herman Coertze and his wife Aletta are the owners of Meerendal

In September 1973, Meerendal was officially declared a Wine Estate,
one of the first fourteen wine farms in South Africa to receive estate status
Meerendal marketing manager Bennie Howard CWM was one of the founding members who began this journey

A welcome to Meerendal by Bennie 

We were served a taste of the just degorged new Meerendal Sauvignon Blanc sparkling wine,
made by Meerendal GM and Winemaker Wade Roger-Lund
It  spent 6 month on the lees and is delicious, with yeasty, long, clean crisp flavours and a good lively mousse

and we drank a toast to the farm, to wine and to life

Something new at Meerendal, chocolate company CocoaFair has moved there, so exciting things are planned
More about this soon...

These two ancient Pear trees were planted so long ago that no one really knows when,
but they are the oldest trees on the estate

and they still produce fruit; these are late and shrivelled pears that survived the winter

Bennie knows all the history of the farm; he has worked there for many years

Meerendal general manager and winemaker Wade Roger-Lund

Wade showed us these very old Muscat d'Alexandrie (Hanepoot) vines
which must be the oldest surviving Hanepoot vines in the Cape

They have been gently pruned by old vine expert Rosa Kruger and will produce fruit every year

The amazing survival of a very old vine

We took a tour of the Heritage wine cellar

These are the old Kuipe (cement wine tanks), built in 1943, in which the wine was and still is, fermented
when the grapes first come in
(They also ferment wine in steel tanks and oak barrels)
They have been brought up to date with modern plumbing, cooling and automatic punch-down machinery

Meerendal has so many wonderful wines and two restaurants, but they also cater for many other interests
with running, hiking and mountain bike trails, events, conferences and weddings
Check out their website and Facebook page
We then tasted some older wines. First, Meerendal Shiraz 1989, so 34 years old
The vineyard was planted in 1972/3 by Oom Kosie Stark from cuttings taken from a 1930 vineyard
It became the mother block for their Shiraz grapes and plants
The nose opened with good fruit and you can still smell the French oak
Then rich raspberry fruit and other berry fruits, with morello cherry and some chalk and earthy minerality on the end Extraordinary
The 2005 Heritage Block Pinotage has incense wood, fruit gums, cassis and mulberry on the nose
Lovely red berry fruit, tea leaves, chalky grippy tannins and sweet and sour fruit. It still has time

Meerendal was the first of the 14 Durbanville estates to put the logo on the back labels of the wine - in 1957

We also tasted three current wines: the Sauvignon Blanc, which has all the classic Durbanville flavours
- granadilla, green pepper and lime, a bit tropical on opening then the green shows. A great wine for food pairing
The 2022 Rosé is 100% Pinotage with fruit gums on the nose, mulberry follows through on lighter palate
The Pinotage has such richness, dark cherries with smoke and huge minerality and salinity on the nose,
soft and sweeter fruit on the palate, long flavours ending in licorice wood

Meerendal is a Certified Heritage Vineyards Member



and so to Chocolate, a Deli and the new Tasting Room...
Read on...

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 3:41 pm 0 comments
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