Thelema's Boland Braai

Rabelais is Thelema’s top Cabernet based blend and last week, at their Annual Boland Braai for the trade, Gyles Webb took us through a tasting of four vintages, starting with the 2010 and working back through to 2007. The first three all have an element of Petit Verdot whilst the oldest just has 20% Merlot. All were superb, but the oldest one was the real block buster. If you have any, we suggest you serve it with Christmas dinner. The 2007 does have the classic Thelema ‘mint’ from the eucalyptus trees on the property, which adds another dimension to the wine. The newer vintages’ Cabernet is from a vineyard higher up the mountain, which does not have the eucalyptus influence, so they show purer cassis fruit.

We love going to this very relaxed event held from late afternoon on the farm. This year, his viticulturalist Werner Schultz braaied some excellent boerewors. All the Sutherland and Thelema wines are available for tasting and this year and there were many people we know so it became a real party. Thank you, Webb family.

Gyles Webb and Lynne sharing a joke

Gyles presenting the four Rabelais vintages

Michele van Eeden arranged the event and poured the wines. Chef Christophe Dehosse from Joostenberg is in the background

There were some new generation wine family members present! This is Michele’s husband, Frans van Eeden and their son, Eben. Buffet table behind them

Thomas Webb was doing a sterling job pouring tastes of the complete range of the Sutherland and Thelema wines to the large gathering of wine people

Another relaxed party on the lawn with lots of children having fun. Next year they might have to get a jumping castle

Lots of room to play

and master braaier, viticulturalist Werner Schultz getting the braai fire going

Frans van Eeden gets the sausage on

Christian Eedes with Thomas Webb

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

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New Kauai store opens at the V&A Waterfront

It is not often that we get invited to shop openings, so it was with interest that we went to the opening in the V&A Waterfront of the 150^th Kauai shop. They have moved from inside the Victoria Wharf complex to the old Union Castle building, outside next to the big wheel. We arrived on time, but the staff were concentrating on laying out the food for rather a long time before they noticed that many of their guests were there. They held a competition, with some celebrities making the best tasting or the most nutritious smoothie. We drank some carrot juice and tried some classic Bircher Muesli, and really enjoyed the fruit and nuts with plain thick Greek yogurt which, they told us, they import.

Arriving on time

Welcome drinks

Bircher Muesli

Fruit cocktail

Fruit and nuts on Greek Yogurt

A healthy selection

MC for the morning was Siv Ngesi

The Lei awaiting the opening

Havent a clue who he was. Opening speech by ?

It’s official, it is OPEN

The recipe card for the competition. The winners will be available for tasting in the shop

Kauai catering for the Banting crowd

Judge ‘Mr Health” John Ryan tells us what he wants to see in the smoothies

First three celebrities get their instructions Michael Mol, Shirley McMurray-Wolmarans (Events Manager of Virgin Active) and Dene Botha

Some of the ingredients they could use

Adding more ingredients and tasting in progress

The clock is ticking, get your smoothie made!

And Dene Botha  presents his Pink Berry Smoothie, which was the winner

Adding the final touches

Tasting and judging

Three smoothies for judging

The happy staff

Dixie Strong, Janine & Alan Verwey, the owners of the store

Another 3 celebrities with their smoothies.  Ray Makade, Liesel van der Westhuizen and Suzanna Kennedy

And the winner is... They all received prizes of Juicers

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

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Main Ingredient's MENU - Truffles, Cape Wine Academy, Wine Tourism Awards, Festival of Beer, Jordan Summer Festival, Le Lude, Magic of Bubbles Festival, Keermont, Miravel

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In this week’s MENU:

  This week’s products: Exciting products from France

 Food and wine pairing at Cape Wine Academy

 Great Wine Capitals 2015 Best of Wine Tourism Awards at Waterford

 Cape Town Festival of Beer

 Jordan Summer Festival

 George Jardine's 'behind-the-scenes' photographs in his kitchen

 Le Lude

 The Magic of Bubbles Festival

 Keermont

 Miravel

 StreetSmart Update

 This week’s recipe: Asian Inspired Duck Salad

 Learn about wine and cooking

To get the whole of our story, please click on “READ ON.....” at the end of each paragraph, which will lead you to the related blog, with pictures and more words. At the end of each blog, click on RETURN TO MENU to come back to the blog version of MENU.

This week’s Product menu      We have just been told about some exciting products by one of our suppliers. These include brick dough, mainly used in North African dishes (pastilla), but also for normal samosa, etc….  They are made from wheat flour and sunflower oil, can be kept in a dry area, and in a fridge when the pack is opened. He also has packs of smoked salmon (Scottish and Norwegian) from Labeyrie and a range of Provence herbs and Mediterranean spices. They are not in our online shop yet, but send us your enquiry and we will quote you.

Food and wine pairing at Cape Wine Academy     How nice to receive an invitation from our alma mater to attend a Food and Wine pairing evening guided by chef Wanda Cronje. It is a very clever concept and we thoroughly recommend them to anyone who wants to know more about this subject. It costs R395 a person and you get a full dinner with lots of wine, in smaller portions

When we got there we were faced with 8 glasses of different wines and a small platter containing a walnut (tannin), a (salty) biscuit, a slice of apple (fruit), a slice of lemon(acid) and a small dish of soy (umami). No, this was not the only food of the evening, we were relieved to learn. You taste each of these with a sip of the wine to see how they affect it, as many of these flavours are found in wines and some compliment and others clash. The wines were a popular selection of what many people drink with food. Then came several courses which were tasted with the wines and discuss how we found the matches and learn more. Read on.....

Great Wine Capitals 2015 Best of Wine Tourism Awards at Waterford     Waterford is one of our most beautiful wine estates with classical Italianate buildings. How special then to have lunch accompanied by great wine, in the central courtyard under the shady trees on a perfect early summers day while the local awards were announced and certificates presented. These awards celebrate innovation and excellence throughout the 10 greatest wine regions in the world. The awards went to Waterkloof Wines (Restaurant), KWV (Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences), Babylonstoren (Accommodation and Architecture & Landscapes), Waterford Estate (Service and Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices) and Cavalli Wine and Stud Farm (Art & Culture ) Read on.....

Cape Town Festival of Beer    A quick trip to Hamilton’s Rugby Club on the Green Point Common and a tasting of as many beers as we could manage. The growth in craft brewing locally is astounding, It was not crowded as we had expected, although we hear it got much busier later and over the weekend and there was a real enthusiastic and informed crowd while we were there. There were some really great beers, and just a couple that were not. Read on.....

Jordan Summer Festival     This may not be a large festival, they sell just enough tickets to completely fill the car parking, but it was one of the most enjoyable and relaxed of the year. Jordan asked people to donate dog food, blankets, bowls, etc., which they were collecting for the Border Collie Rescue, PETS and Animal Welfare, all of which are close to Kathy Jordan’s heart. Over the years they have collected blankets and pet food at their event, which have all been donated to the three charities. Food and wine was sold and all the profits they made on the day went to this worthy charity. This year they collected R7000 on the day. The 2014 Winter Charity drive saw them collect almost 5 tonnes of clothing, food & blankets, which was delivered weekly to several churches, night shelters and recognised charities in their community. In addition to that they received generous donations for Stellenbosch Animal Welfare.

We picnicked under the trees or on the lawn, enjoyed the tasting stations which had a R15 canape to match each wine, the lovely view, music and weather, chatted to almost everyone on the farm, ate delicious food prepared by chef George Jardine and sipped lovely Jordan wine with lunch. They had boules and croquet, vineyard and cellar tours, a blending completion, childrens’ jumping castle and a lucky ticket draw, where Lynne won one of the prizes.. Read on.....

While we were at Jordan, George Jardine "borrowed" John's camera and came back with a series of 'behind-the-scenes' photographs of the people who work in his kitchen. We have not changed the composition, but have made adjustments to some of the exposures. It is, we believe, a fascinating insight into the kitchen of one of South Africa's best chefs from, literally, his own point of view. He hasn't given us any names. If he does, we will add and post them.

Jordan will host a Christmas concert on the 21st December, featuring the Kayamandi Gospel Choir. Free entrance for children (who must bring a wrapped present for charity). check out info@thebakery.co.za for details. There are also other concerts, one this Sunday. And one on the 11th January

Le Lude      There is a new wine farm in Franschhoek and we were invited to the opening of the new, very beautiful cellar at La Lude in Franschhoek and taste their new MCC Brut and Rosé, which will be released next year. Owned by Advocate Nick Barrow and his wife Ferda, this is just past the museum on the way up to the Franschhoek pass. It is named after one of the most beautiful chateaux on the Loire.

Wine-maker Paul Gerber is a pioneer in fermentation of Cap Classique on cork. The process – Agarfé – leads to a more complex and unique development of flavours and mouth-feel. "The main reason for this is the difference in the rate of exchange of gases that takes place when the bottle is closed with a cork for the secondary fermentation and aging compared with crown-cap," he says. "It leads to a wine with a unique character, and in Champagne some of the houses such as Bollinger, Krug and Taittinger still use it." Read on.....

The Magic of Bubbles Festival     Held, as usual, at the Huguenot monument in Franschhoek, this was a huge success this year as they were totally full on both days. We love this festival, but don’t love the heat that arrives in some years. We chatted to many of our favourite producers to find out what they were doing with their MCCs and tasted several new releases. Several of our friends were also there, enjoying the day. With your entrance ticket costing R200 you were given a champagne glass and a MasterCard sponsored card, loaded with points. It was ‘tapped’ at the various stalls to pay for tastes, usually one per generous tasting. Food had to be paid for with cash. Sadly, Franschhoek has not embraced Banting, almost all the food was with or on large amounts of bread.

One thing we just don’t understand. WHY can you not taste the French champagnes at the show? This surely is the place and time and more importantly the perfect target market to introduce their wines to? But no, you could only buy an expensive full glass or a bottle with cash, they don’t all take the card which was provided. We think that it looks rather snobbish and puts people off who have not yet experienced these lovely bubbles. Many told us that they wouldn’t mind giving up more points to taste the champagnes. Read on.....

Keermont     Another venture this week was up into the top of the beautiful Paradyskloof valley to visit this winery. Agriculture in the Upper Blaauwklippen Valley can be traced back to 1694. In 2003, the Wraith family moved to the Western Cape from Gauteng and bought two adjacent farms. These two farms are now farmed as one Estate known as Keermont Vineyards. We were warmly welcomed by Mark Wraith and his wife, Monica and their winemaker Alex Starey, who is in charge of the vineyards and of making the estate’s wines. Alex studied Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University and graduated in 2002. He has travelled and worked in wine regions including Maipo Valley in Chile, Penedès and Priorat in Spain, St-Emilion and Côte Rotie in France. You can read more about this interesting winery on http://www.keermont.co.za/

They are blessed with some very special and unique vineyard sites and the farm is bisected by the Blaauwklippen river, which is also the boundary between the Helderberg and the Stellenbosch Mountain Range. This means that some of the vineyards are on the warmer north-facing Helderberg slopes and others on the cooler west-facing Stellenbosch range. They took us up onto the mountains in 4 x4’s to see their vineyards and this was then followed by a tasting of their three Reserve wines and a good buffet lunch prepared by Chef Andrew Jordaan from Wild Peacock. Read on.....

Miravel     We dropped in to see an old friend Maarten van Beuningen on his farm Miravel the Helderberg. We used to sell his wines in our shop. We had a good catch up and tasted some of his wines. Martin currently has a special on offer which we bought. Read more.....

StreetSmart Update     We recently told you that StreetSmart had collected R480,000 from Cape Town Restaurants. We thought you would like to know that this year they have collected R1,040,000.00 throughout SA from 92 Restaurants. Its’ a superb result and will really contribute to change lives

Recipe of the week      You are no doubt thinking of what to serve for Christmas or even something nice to start with during New Year and the holiday. At this time of year we all look to having a few luxuries, so this week’s recipe is something to excite the taste buds. You can get the Hoisin and Plum Sauce at any Chinese supermarket. They are wonderful with Duck and Pancakes.

Asian Inspired Duck Salad

2 Duck breasts – 1 t five spice powder – sea salt - 1 T Hoisin sauce – T Chinese plum sauce - 1 t finely grated fresh ginger – 1 t light soy sauce - 1 ripe mango, peeled & sliced – 1 ripe avocado – lime juice– well washed mixed watercress and rocket - salt and freshly ground black pepper – 5 spring onions – 10cm piece of fresh cucumber, peeled – 16 to 20 mini Roma tomatoes - sesame oil

Turn your oven to 180°C. Make five or six incisions across the skin of the duck breasts. Dust them all over with the five spice powder and salt and in a dry pan, place them skin side down and cook gently until all the fat has been rendered from underneath the skin and it is crisp and golden but NOT burnt. Sear the other side of the breasts, pour off (and keep for roast potatoes) most of the duck fat, then put the pan with the duck skin side up, (or a baking dish) into a 180°C oven for 7 or 8 minutes. Remove and allow the duck to rest while you combine the other ingredient to make the salad.

Cut the spring onions into 5 cm lengths and then shred them roughly, lengthwise. Put into salted iced water, where they will curl up. Matchstick the cucumber and put it into salted iced water. Mix the Hoisin and Plum sauce together with the soy and ginger and set aside. If it is too thick add a little water to make a pouring consistency. Cut the avocado into small pieces 2 to 3 cm, and drizzle with lime juice, then season with salt and pepper. Put some mixed leaves on an attractive serving plate, season; scatter over the mango and avocado. Then scatter over the drained spring onions, cucumber and tomatoes. Slice the, now cold, duck across the grain and scatter over the salad. It should be a bit pink inside. Drizzle with the sauce, and then a few drops of sesame oil. You can serve this in individual bowls. Serves 4.

Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more about wine. Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here and here and the CWA courses here. Karen Glanfield has taken over the UnWined wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here

The Hurst Campus, an accredited school for people who want to become professional chefs, has a variety of courses. See the details here

Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here.

In addition to the new Sense of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details here

Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has French cooking classes in Noordhoek and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see more details here.

Emma Freddi runs the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her home in Constantia.

5th December 2014

Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we can send it to you! Check our online shop for details and prices.

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Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

Our Adamastor & Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch-flavoured Afrikaans.

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 these newsletters and our blogs are ©John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually 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. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

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