Thursday, March 29, 2018

A Day in Franschhoek 1: A morning visit to Stony Brook in Franschhoek

What do you do the following day when you have stayed the night in Franschhoek? Well, of course, you visit some of the farms who have invited you to come and see them. Especially those that you have been meaning to visit for a long time.
So we began at Stony Brook, which is at the top of the Valley, turn right at the Monument and wind your way along Green Valley Road until you see their sign on the left. Owned by the McNaught family, this is truly a family run farm. Nigel McNaught's wife Joy runs the tasting room and son Craig is the winemaker. 14 hectares of this 23 hectare farm are under vines. The focus from the beginning at this boutique winery was on crafting premium-quality wines that reflected the area and the styles of wine that excited them
Joy in the Tasting room was busy dealing with orders when we arrived
She came and sat with us on the terrace and guided us through their tasting
We began with the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc made from Elgin fruit; They believe that Franschhoek does not grow good Sauvignon Blancs. This is perfumed on the nose, leesy, full of greengage plums and tropical notes with good dry tannins. Very different and enjoyable.
Then the J (on the left below), an interesting blend of 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 35 % Viognier and 10% barrel fermented and matured Semillon. The wine was designed to go with spicy food like Thai or Chinese. Perfumed with peaches, this has a rich textures and flavours, with layered peaches and other fruits, and is nicely dry on the finish.
The flagship Ghost Gum White wine, 2014 (on the right) is a blend of 2/3 Chardonnay and 1/3 Semillon; lovely citrus and pear flavours with a mouth-filling creamy finish from the Semillon
Plants surviving the drought
Then we tasted the 2014 SMV a blend of 65% Shiraz, 32% Mourvedre and 3% Viognier. This wine is in the Rhone style and designed to go with rich meaty dishes. Cherries and berries on the nose and palate, with soft juicy tannins, a dark toast and licorice end, made to last too. Then 2014 The Max named after the dog with attitude who roams the tasting area, a friendly ?? 50% Cabernet Sauvignon 40% Merlot, 10% Malbec this wine has spent 224 months on wood, 40% new and 60 second fill. The grapes are hand sorted so no greenness gets into the wine. Cassis perfume, incense wood, minerality on the nose, silky soft on the palate very intense berries, chewy tannins, long fruit flavours with the wood just carefully supporting with some chalky tannins on the end. Another 4.5 Platter wine that impresses
The terrace is nicely sheltered by the trees and umbrellas
Our final wine was the flagship Ghost Gum 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, 100% new French oak for 32 months, this has the classic Cabernet Cassis nose, Pure cassis on the palate with warmth from the sunny fruit, nice chalky tannin. The fruit stays pure on the palate. One to invest in. Impressive and worth more than its 4.5 stars in Platter. Clean elegant and well integrated, with richness and zingy citrus flavours than light toasted French oak on the end which holds it all together
 The Flagship Ghost Gum wines are named for this magnificent eucalyptus tree, which is difficult to photograph
Thank you Joy for a really great tasting, and for the signed copy of your book, we are so grateful for your time 
Posted by MENU at 3:20 pm 0 comments

Wine Concepts Craft Festival

This new festival was held last Friday night between 5 and 8 pm and was well attended. There are so many new craft beers, gins, vodkas, even Rum, Whisky and Brandies being made in the Cape. Mike Bampfield Duggan decided it was time for us to sample some of them. We were delighted to be invited, but worried about tasting lots of alcohols. Uber was very popular indeed that evening. We decided just to sample beers and Lynne did one very interesting rum, she is not good with high tack after beer. We hope to taste them one at a time in the future. It was a lot of fun; these crafters are very committed to their products
A brewery that has taken the Cape by storm is the CBC Brewery at Spice Route in Paarl, and run by Paulaner-trained German brewmaster Wolfgang Koedel - we especially like its Imperial IPA
A novel name for a Cape Gin: A Mari Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean Gins. We like the label and the bottle very much. Hope to taste soon
From Boplaas in Calitzdorp, a Cape Gin, A Cape Pink Gin, A Craft Whisky and an 8 Year old Potstill Brandy made by Carel and Margaux Nel
A close up of the bottles
From Cederberg Winery, Boggom Beers: a light and well flavoured Lager, a biscuity and citrus zing Blonde Ale which Lynne really enjoyed, and an IPA with granadilla notes, nicely fruity and not too bitter. We know it's good with food, we have ordered it in restaurants
The winemaker having fun on the Cederberg stand
James Copeland was showing his Copeland Rum which is selling well. Lynne found creamy toffee and pineapple on the rum with notes of licorice, salt, chocolate and fennel leaves
He made us a great sour cocktail with rum, sugar syrup, fresh lime juice - what a difference that makes - coconut water and not too much ice. Absolutely superb
The lads from KCB, Karoo Craft Beers, which is actually made in Paarl. We liked these very much, they are real beers, with nothing added, skilfully made
Lynne really enjoyed tasting the Kudu Lager and the Jackal Indian Pale Ale
Our friends Carol and Roddy Mills. Carol makes the Kaapse Liqueurs and we really like her new packaging. Her Limoncello has always been authentic
There were quite a few interesting sounding mixers on show, and several new tonics. Nicole Kuhnert showed the Pura range, which has Soda Cucumber Lime, Soda Seville Orange, a Soda Cranberry, Soda Lemon Elderflower and Soda Pomegranate, all to add flavour and length to your alcohol of choice
Mark McCarthy of Inverroche Gin giving Carol a taste of one of the three gins. They also have a Ltd Edition Blackstrap Rum and a Ltd Edition Botanique Liqueur
Another of our favourites: Devils Peak Brewery - their King's Blockhouse IPA is one of Lynne's best beers
And young Jonathan Gilloway was punting The Italian Job, who showed four of their five Le Grande Cinque Italian sounding beers: Famiglia Pilsner, Forza IPA, Amore Amber Ale, & Amicizia Weiss. The Forza was a bit cloudy but enjoyable. They are made by an Italian family from Cape Town
The Woodstock Brewery has beers with slightly louche names, Happy Pills, Hazy Daze Belgian Witbier, Pot Belge Belgian Amber, Californicator IPA, Rhythm Stick English Pale Ale, Mr Brownstone Hazelnut Brown Ale, Sugarman Belgian Quad and a fruity Bomber Imperial IPA. These beers are flavoured with food extracts, not something we are fond of. The Hazelnut one smells and tastes like a Cadbury's Hazelnut chocolate. If that is your thing....
The Darling Brewery is always worth visiting when you visit Darling and doing a tasting. We did it last year, very fine beers
Steel Cut Spirits showed their Sugarbird Fynbos Gin and with it a new Tonic called Barker and Quin. Lynne loved it, as it is not as sweet as some of the newer tonics available locally and has a good dose of lemon, so you don't have to go searching for a slice in desperation. Perfect if you have a "dry" month but want to pretend you are drinking a G &T
Marine Point, whom we usually see promoting wine, sampling a beer
All the alcohols, mixers and beers are available from Wine Concepts in Newlands or in Kloof Street. This was a great idea and we think it should be repeated. But make sure you book an Uber home or get your mom to come and fetch you if you are going to sample more than a mouthful or two of beer, and some of the hard stuff
Posted by MENU at 1:32 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Lunch, tasting, cellar visit and overnight at GlenWood wine estate, Franschhoek

A GlenWood Experience
When you have driven into Franschhoek, you might have noticed a sign on the right hand side of the main road pointing to Robertsvlei. Should you take the turn, you will find yourself in a quiet, hidden valley behind the Franschhoek hills. The road turns to gravel for just 8 km and in the middle of this you will find a gem of a wine farm called Glenwood. If you continue, the road will take you to the top end of Franschhoek, near the Monument, a circular route we bet few know about; it is worth exploring
GlenWood Winery was established by the owner Alastair G Wood in 1984. They have 30 hectares under vines and DP Burger the Cellarmaster (Dawid Petrus is fondly known only by his initials) has been there for 27 years, surely a record for any winemaker. They have Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot and Shiraz grapes planted and produce a multi award winning Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blend. The farm has Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) certification, which is a voluntary environmental sustainability scheme which complies with international criteria, and Bio-Diversity and Wine Initiative accreditation (BWI) 
DP invited us to stay overnight in one of the owner's guest cottages, taste some wines and sample their new tasting adventure, which pairs the wines with food served in the restaurant, called the Tasting Palette
We began the experience at 1 pm on the shady terrace alongside the restaurant,
where a panoply of glasses awaited us
Our waitress was Michelle Abrahams, she is a very competent trainee
She poured us a glass of GlenWood's wooded Chardonnay, shy on the nose, full of golden fruit, light vanilla wood and some perfume. On the palate citrus flavours and lots of bready lees. Nicely chilled and just right for the warm day.
This is the range of wines paired with the food tasters
The Food Pairing Menu
The Food Palette pairing of wine and food. When you have finished the tasting, you choose the dish you liked the most and you'll  have that dish for lunch as a main course, together with a glass of the wine paired with it. The cost is R395
From left to right: a tiny smoked trout roulade filled with a mousse and topped with dill; Paired with the Sauvignon/Blanc Semillon which is unwooded. Crisp and full of those racy fruit acids that Franschhoek produces, with some nice fullness from the Semillon component. A very good match with the trout
Next the Unoaked 2017 Chardonnay crisp and zesty with citrus, paired with a Ceviche of fresh Yellowtail, with pickled onion, radish and a lemon slice with a soy dressing that added the right amount of umami
Then an unusual pairing of the 2017 Merlot with a mini Chicken Caesar Salad. The savoury anchovies, chicken, bacon and cheese do indeed go well with the Merlot which is fruit driven, with spice and perfume, dry chalky tannins and refreshing red berry fruit acidity
 The Rugby Snack is next, a piece of ostrich biltong and a piece of droëwors which is paired with 2015 Grand Duc Syrah. We were told that this is for those who don't want a main course, just a snack. The wine is peppery, hot and spicy, with warm red berry juice and hints of chutney; a yummy match
Then the 2015 barrel fermented Grand Duc Chardonnay paired with a small Chicken leg set on mash and butternut purée - a match that works because of the similarity of flavours in the food and wine

And finally the hot, juicy and spicy 2016 Vigneron's Selection Shiraz served with Rump Steak. The steak is in an unusual Maple sauce and Teriyaki marinade which makes a really flavourful sauce for steak
DP joined us for the main course and told us how their harvest was going, they were due to finish the following day. It has been a slow but beautiful harvest, with firm acids, The hail storm that hit the Cape on the 15th of March did hit them with ice cube hailstones and damaged some of the grapes. But they have recovered. As has he from his heart attack last year, leaving him a wiser calmer man. He has always been fit, loving riding his horse and mountain biking, in fact he had the attack while cycling
Our choice for lunch was the same, the tender Steak in the Maple Teriyaki sauce, which came with potato wedges, sour cream with chives, a leafy salad and that glass of the 2016 Vigneron's Selection spicy Shiraz. We asked for the steak to be medium rare, it perhaps could have been a bit pinker as it continued to cook on the hot plates
DP ordered a special, a plate of tagliatelle with cheese, cream and mushrooms
The farm has lovely views
Time to do a tasting in the cellar with winemaker Zinaschke Steyn. The cellar staff was very busy filling tanks and pressing grapes
The barrel cellar ...
... where Zinaschke drew wine from the barrels for us to taste. The 2018 Barrel Fermented Grand Duc Chardonnay still has to go through malolactic fermentation but tastes fresh with nice balanced . acidity, the 2017 has wood and lees on the nose and is a clean pure expression of a barrel fermented chardonnay, one to watch, this will be bottled in April/May 2019. It has beautiful fruit and glints with purity
The 2016 Barrel Fermented Grand Duc is shy on the nose with fennel notes, soft and delicate with warm alcohol and, from another barrel, different flavours; sesame added to the fennel, more gentle, long fruit flavours and not warm at all. This is why clever blending is so skilled and important. It will be very interesting to see the result. They also use some ceramic lined barrels that don't impart any wood flavours, so they have choices when blending of how much wood to show
A worker doing a punch down on fermenting Malbec which had a superb aroma and a dark purple colour
Then a tasting from the barrel of the 2018 Grand Duc Semillon, the storm wine, has apricots and lanolin on the nose at present, clean, clear beautiful acidity with lots of minerality, and fresh grape acidity, a ten year wine from disaster to amazing. And finally the Noblesse 2017 which is golden honey in the glass with honey, apricots and sultanas on the nose and a palate, a Botrytus Noble Late Harvest wine from Semillon grapes. 125 gm/l, we mark this to win future awards
Paintings on the walls of the cellar
The paint used was red wine
Time to go back to the table to join DP for a vintage tasting
The 2015 Grand Duc Semillon Sauvignon Blanc which has won all those awards and is a 5 star Platter wine, is 80% Semillon 20% Sauvignon Blanc. The grapey Semillon has mutton fat notes and fullness on the palate with warmth which suffuses, It is supported by the Sauvignon Blanc freshness underneath the full rich layered Semillon and is still holding beautifully. None of us in the wine industry can understand why our local wine drinkers do not understand or drink these delicious, elegant white blends and turn up their noses at them. Luckily people overseas do, so they sell well there and are deservedly lauded. Leaves more for us to enjoy...
Next the 2013 Grand Duc Chardonnay, from the oldest vines in the vineyard, now over 30 years. It has had 24 months in barrel, has gentle wood notes, a beautiful chardonnay with zingy fruit, lovely crisp minerality, with wood notes at the end and so at its peak right now. A pinnacle wine
DP had asked the chef to whip us up some dessert and this was the result. A very tempting semi fredo ice cream with choc chips, a berry coulis, caramel sauce, nuts and sliced strawberries and raspberries. Very sweet and decadent
Went perfectly with the Grand Duc Noblesse NLH
Time for us to retire to our cottage next to the vines which owner Alastair Wood uses for his friends and guests. It is very well appointed and very comfortable
There are two bedrooms, this is the main one with a huge king size plus bed
A nice bathroom
The upstairs twin bedroom with its own en suite
The front where one can sit and admire the vineyards
Two lively dogs, which belong to the owner, play in their enclosed garden
In the early evening, we spotted this very distressed Forest Buzzard in the vineyards with a badly broken wing. We reported it to DP and are pleased to tell you that he rescued him and took it to the Eagle Encounters at Spier where Rico will take care of him
"I want to come in and socialise with you!" Sadly the door was locked.
Early morning light on the vines and the mountains. "This is a lovely quiet retreat. This property immediately attracted me because, not only was it suitable for farming grapes to make quality wine, but it also gave me a wonderful sense of being at the very heart of nature while still being close to the village”, said owner Alastair Wood
Getting in the last of the harvest
The wine cellar, tasting room and restaurant from the car park
A pathway alongside the vines
Those blue Franschhoek mountains. Thank you all at GlenWood for a very good experience
Posted by MENU at 6:13 pm 0 comments
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