Friday, December 08, 2023

In MENU This Issue. Platter 2024, Caroline’s White Review, Hermanus Weekend, Creation lunch, Tokara Moss Garden, Elgin Open Gardens, Oak Valley lunch, Meerendal Blanc Fumé



This is our last MENU of 2023 and, because of a variety of reasons, it is a bumper edition with more stories than ever. They have all been published on our web site, Facebook and LinkedIn between the end of October and now. We have had some memorable meals, enjoyed wonderful wines and visited beautiful places in the Western Cape. Please enjoy them with us by clicking on the links and photographs

We hope that you will all have a most enjoyable holiday season, a Blessed Christmas and Hanukkah and that 2024 will bring you all the benefits you wish for

Platter's 2024 South African Wine Guide launch

The 2024 Platter's Guide to South African wine was launched at Andrea and Chris Mullineux's Roundstone Farm near Riebeek Kasteel. The farm is just off the road to Riebeek Kasteel, just before the mountain pass
We parked between vineyards and were taken by bus to the cellar. Read on...

Platter's 2024 Wines of the Year

These are the highest-scoring wines within each category, tasted within Platter's 2024 Wines of the Year blind tastings.  See them Here

Platter's 2024 Top Wineries of the Year

See the story Here

A Hermanus, Hemel en Aarde Weekend

We took a family friend to Hermanus while we were staying in the Hemel and Aarde; it really should be on all tourists' agendas. It is such a great place to visit and if you are lucky, as we were, you might spot some whales breaching and flapping their tails in the air. Read on…

Wine pairing lunch at Creation

For our weekend in the Hemel and Aarde, we made a reservation for lunch at Creation Wine Estate. Our family friend Angela from London had been there before and wanted so much to visit again. See the fabulous lunch Here

The Moss Garden at Tokara

We received an exciting invitation to visit Tokara wine estate during the Open Gardens weeks, including a visit to their special Adamastor Moss Garden. The gardens are spectacular, with many garden 'rooms' leading down from their home to the lake. Lovingly created by GT and Anne-Marie Ferreira, we wandered around in awe, exclaiming at the garden and enjoying the marvellous views back over the vines to Table Mountain in the distance. The most recent addition which has been evolving over the past two years is the Moss Garden. We really had no concept of how amazing a moss garden could be until we saw it, and how beautiful and large it was. See the garden Here

Elgin Open Gardens

Lynne is a member of the Cape Horticultural Society. With our friend Judi Thomas, who is also a member, we decided to go to Elgin for the weekend to visit the Open Gardens. We stayed overnight in an AirBnB. It was quite an experience; do always check the reviews before you book .... We began our visit at Freshwood. The gardens here are spectacular at this time of year. Read on Here….

Lunch at Oak Valley's The Melting Pot

After our visit to the Hemel and Aarde, we booked to have lunch at The Melting Pot on Oak Valley Wine Estate on our way home. It was such a successful visit that, as we were going to be in Elgin for the Open Garden's weekend, we immediately made another reservation. As they are now on the list as one of the Eat Out best restaurants to visit in the winelands, we wanted to show you the delightful food we enjoyed

Meerendal launches a new Blanc Fumé

An invitation to experience another new wine from Meerendal. Their Cellarmaster Wade Roger-Lund has made a new Sauvignon Blanc, this time in the Blanc Fumé style which, translated from the French, means smoked white. Called The Chapel 2023, the wine has been barrel fermented; it will be released on December 15th. This style of wine comes typically from the regions of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé in France's Loire Valley. Meerendal has put one whole vineyard block of Sauvignon Blanc into this very special wine. It is their oldest Sauvignon block, planted in 1997 on a high, cool site. Read on…






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

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