Wine Concepts Chardonnay Pinot noir Celebration

Was held once again in the large venue at Moyo at Kirstenbosch

Having just been to the huge Chardonnay Association tasting,
we decided to taste Pinot Noir first and we started well

Ataraxia 2022 Pinot Noir has a classic nose and lots of raspberry fruit

The 2023 Young Blood Pinot Noir is made by winemaker Kevin Grant's son

and it is elegant and perfumed on the nose, layered fruit with hints of rooibos

Dane Raath with Bouchard Finlayson

The 2023 Galpin Peak is attractive on the nose, elegant and perfumed, full of flavour with deep dark fruit and good wood 

Baleia Wines 2023 Pinot Noir is silky on the palate with minerality and good dark berry fruit. 

Crystallum Peter Max 2024 is, as expected, a beautiful wine 

The Fledge & Co showed their Katvis 2023 Pinot Noir

Winemakers Leon Coetzee of The Fledge & Co, showing his Katvis Pinot Noir,

and Johnny Calitz of Glen Carlou had two Chardonnays on show

His 2024 Glen Carlou and the 2023 Quartz Stone Chardonnay show their terroir really well

Annemie Arendse showed the David Finlayson wines

The 2023 Pinot Noir is modern New World in style

and has good ripe raspberry and cherry fruit and earthy minerality 

David Finlayson Camino Africana Pinot Noir Reserve 2023 was special and in balance

It spent 15 months in new French Oak. 

Glenelly showed three Chardonnays: 2023 Glass Collection, 2022 Estate Reserve and the 2019 Estate Reserve

Eddie Smit was there with the wines of Hasher Vineyards in the Hemel en Aarde Valley;

their Marimist 2023 Chardonnay and the 2023 Ernest Pinot Noir

Kerry Sutherland showed the Hamilton Russell wines: 2024 Chardonnay and 2024 Pinot Noir 

Tayla Vermaak and Bea de Swardt were there with the wines of Haute Cabrière

The 2023 Reserve Chardonnay and the 2021 Reserve Pinot Noir, which has developed very nicely indeed

Jordan was represented by Melanie Melvill with their 2021 Blanc de Noir, the 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay,

the special 2020 Barrel Fermented Library Selection Chardonnay,

the top of the range 2023 Nine Yards Chardonnay and the 2023 TImepiece Chardonnay

Thea van der Merwe, marketing manager of Journey's End with the 2023 Haystack Chardonnay,

the 2023 V1 Chardonnay and the 2024 Destination Chardonnay

The wines

Julien Schaal, represented by winemaker Sophie Schaal with their 2023 Evidence Chardonnay,

2024 Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay, 2023 Influence Pinot Noir and the 2024 Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noir

John Collins was there with the Chardonnays of Springfield, including the Garuzis Brut Cap Classique

The Kat se Snor (Cat's moustache) wines were a 2023 Chardonnay and 2024 Pinot Noir

Terra Loci had their 2023 Fe Chardonnay and 2022 Babilon Pinot Noir 

Sarah du Plessis showed Richard Kershaw's wines The 2023 Smuggler's Boot Chardonnay,

the 2021 Clonal Selection Chardonnay and the 2023 Smuggler's boot Pinot Noir

All tasted recently at the Morvino trade show and all excellent

The Smuggler's Boot Pinot noir

and Kershaw's Clonal Selection Chardonnay

Krone with their range of Cap Classiques:
2023 Borealis Cuvée Brut; 2023 Night Nectar Vintage Demi-Sec, 2021 Koelfontein Blanc de Blanc Brut
and the 2021 Night Nectar Blanc de blanc Demi-Sec, so you could compare them

La Vierge was shown by Tom Mills

2024 Story Teller Chardonnay, the 2023 Estate Chardonnay,

2023 Story Teller Pinot Noir, which was fresh and young as expected

Made by Christo Kotze as is the 2023 Estate Pinot Noir which is also young, but has gravitas and potential

This will age so well

Muratie had  the 2024, so popular, Isabella Chardonnay and the 2017 Isabella Family Reserve Chardonnay, one to savour

The 2020 George Paul Canitz Pinot Noir is impressive, lovely deep fruit with long flavours, so well made

Georg Canitz planted the first Muratie Pinot noir in South Africa in 1927

This 2020, named for him, was the last wine produced from the original vineyard. Future wines will come from Elgin fruit

Oak Valley had 2023 Beneath the Clouds Chardonnay and the 2023 Groenlandberg Chardonnay

We tasted the 2024 Sound of Silence Pinot Noir with its attractive nose, good fruit and oak

It's one we often buy and also order at their restaurant

The 2023 Groenlandberg Pinot Noir has perfume of rose and raspberry on the nose

and on the silky soft palate with more fruit and good wood. An enchanting wine we scored very highly

The Paul Cluver 2024 Village Pinot Noir is lively with fresh raspberry fruit, young but delicious

Reciprocal Trading showed Louis Latour wines

Redamancy with their 2024 Brave Chardonnay and 2022 Chardonnay

Restless River had their 2022 Ave Maria Chardonnay

and the best wine of the evening for us and many others, the 2022 Le Luc Pinot Noir

Dark plum, raspberry, black cherry on the full nose and palate, rather French in style

Layers of so much carefully handled fruit with elegance and sophistication. In good French oak, 30% new

Stuart and James Downes of Shannon with PR guru Pozy Hazell

Shannon never disappoints with their Pinot Noirs

The 2021 Rockview Ridge is perfumed, structured and layered with good French oak - a wine to pair with food

The 2023 RocknRolla Pinot Noir is perfumed, elegant

with chalky tannins and dark complex fruit just waiting in the wings for age to let it bloom

The Steenberg 1682 Cap Classique Pinot Noir Rosé non vintage was impressive,

such well handled fruit and good crisp mousse

Tanya Reynolds with the Steenberg Cap Classiques

Bubs Hyland showed Tesselaarsdal Wines

with winemaker Berene Sauls' son

Vriesenhof showed their 2024 Unwooded Chardonnay,

their well-known and well regarded Barrel Fermented Chardonnay and the 2022 Pinot Noir

Yardstick 2024 Chardonnay and 2023 Pinot Noir were shown by their winemaker Adam Mason

All the stories we have produced since 2012

can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page

Click here to follow our blogs

Follow us on Facebook,  Instagram and LinkedIn

If you would like to purchase a signed print of one of our photographs, please click here
All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

Tokyo set menu lunch at Yatai Ramen Bar

Restaurant week is on in Cape Town again, a bit of a misnomer as it started in the last week of September

and continues until the first week of November
Lynne perused the listings in Cape Town to see what interested us, what was new and what we could afford
Prices have gone up alarmingly this year in the restaurant trade, so we were looking for a deal
Do check the restaurants' normal menus before you commit
You might find that you are not getting any special deal or that there is another one you might prefer.
We like Asian food and love Japanese food and, as our favourite restaurant is not on the list this time,
we made a booking at Yatai, which is a Ramen Bar below its partner Nikkei in Bree Street,

both owned by the Pan Collection

A basement restaurant with moody lighting and the bar

We were shown to a table in a corner with a pretty window decorated with silk cherry blossoms, 

wanting to see our food clearly and with good light for the food photographs

The Restaurant 'Week' menu. R445 per person, not including any alcohol

When we booked on line, we were asked if there were any allergies

and we added mushrooms for John and oysters (unlikely here) for Lynne

But when we asked if either of these was in the dishes, they didn't know about our warning

Mushrooms are in all their stocks and soups. Oops. It does show on the Dineplan booking, but they didn't see it

There was a long discussion with the chef as to how they could either make John a simple separate miso,

or provide something else. They handled this with great patience and skill and we were very happy with the compromises

They are common allergies, so they do need to take it on board

The table setting

The wine list is small and well-chosen, but prices are high. We often drink beer with Asian food

However we like taking a chance on wine when we don't know quite what will pair well with the food

so we ordered a 2025 Nederburg dry Rosé and this Grenache Carignan blend was crisp and zesty, so a good pairing

The Welcoming Dish is described as a Miso bomb served with Chawanmushi, a thick custard

You put the bomb in your mouth and burst the gelatin and it's filled with warm miso soup,

which, unfortunately, went all over the table!  

The Chawanmushi, a savoury steamed egg custard, was hidden beneath the Bomb dish

So pretty, it looked like a tiny forest with tiny shimeji mushrooms and macro herbs. It was delicious

John was served a different dish from their menu, no mushrooms involved

Tofu on a stick, grilled with a  chilli and soy glaze, topped with shredded spring onion

He is not a huge fan of Tofu, but said he enjoyed it, with its good soft texture and umami

The next dishes were small plates to share

1. Delicate and fresh thinly sliced Cape Bream tartar with unyielding charred cabbage,

Yuzu Kosho (a condiment made with yuzu citrus, salt and chilli pepper),

lime aioli, nori dust, and crisp rice paper 'worms'. Lynne had taken hers off the plate

2. Steamed Prawn dumplings. Just one each to share and they were epic

Served with a lime slice and a crisp radish salad, chilli and coriander

Not very generous, we think two each should be the minimum! 

This was Lynne's full plate of the Tori Paitan Ramen,
deep fried crispy coated tender chicken that had been marinated in buttermilk and togarashi spice,
long and tender Tokyo ramen noodles, Paitan chicken broth, half a marinated egg, a sheet of nori, radish,
deep fried shimeji mushrooms and excellent crispy garlic
It all went together so well, except the rather tough nori seemed out of place

Very satisfying, good flavours and very filling, at last

John's plate came without the mushrooms.

A Shiso sorbet on a green wakame very sugary crumble base with soy mirin, sweet custard smear beneath

and squares of, not the persimmon on the menu, which is out of season, but melon

Called the Goodbye Dish, these 10c piece sized very crisp brown tea biscuits

were sandwiched with rich black sesame ice cream, lit up by yuzu sourness. Just a mouthful each 

Our bill had the service already added, not something we appreciate

With the wine and very good service from Jayden Freund,  it came to R1220.00

The other restaurants in the stable

All the stories we have produced since 2012 can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page

Click here to follow our blogs

Follow us on Facebook,  Instagram and LinkedIn

If you would like to purchase a signed print of one of our photographs, please click here
All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic