Friday, July 26, 2019

Raath Promotions Trade Show

This year's Raath Trade Show was held at The Athletic Club and Social on Buitengracht in Cape Town
They took over the entire place
Didn’t see a single item of gym equipment thankfully; we were worried that we would have to work out
Johan and Sofie Kruger of Kruger Family Wines
Marika Donohoe, PA and Office Manager at Raats Family Wines
Jaap-Henk Koelewijn of Tokara Restaurant in serious conversation with Gavin Bruwer of B Vintners
Enthusiastic Amoré van Zyl with Bouchard Finlayson wines
Amoré van Zyl and Danél Theron with Bouchard Finlayson wines, pouring for Faye of UnWined
Van Zyl du Toit, Allée Bleue winemaker
A canapé of, we think, duck. John went to the kitchen to photograph them coming out
A tray full of them was snaffled very quickly
Crostini
The chef was kept very busy as the venue was filled to the gunnels with trade
Brian Smith of Raath Promotions and a surprised looking woman...
And a wave in the distance 
Sebastian Beaumont pours for Keize of Grub & Vine and Aimee Beaumont (no relation) of The Wine Cellar
Lynne spent the evening ducking and diving through the crowd and managed to taste one wine from a few of the stands
Being small does not help in a scrum so she decided to concentrate on the spirits upstairs. No, not in heaven
Sebastian Beaumont with Chef Alex and Ruth Grahame of SeaBreeze restaurant
Karin Loubser of Silverthorn welcomed us with a lovely glass of The Genie
Upstairs to explore the spirits. Lynne asked some questions of the gin makers about what the base spirit of each gin was and got some strange answers: vodka, cane or a white spirit (no, not the stuff that removes paint). She was told that one had been made from a batch of beer that gone wrong and had then been fermented and turned into gin. It did have notes of beer in the gin, which was quite sharp. Lynne tastes a splash gin neat and then with a block of ice and then with a dash of tonic. But only a tiny sip.  And many people are adding liquid extracts after fermentation to flavour the gin. Not the traditional way
Kobá and Jan Solms of Muti Gin
Storm trying to read the back label on the Knut Hansen gin bottle. It is from Hope on Hopkins
And it tastes of cucumber and mint, so reminds one of a good Pimms. Cant wait to try it in summer as a long drink. 
Bonita Malherbe, of Van Loveren with their range of alcohol free wines
There is a growing market for these wines, especially among Millenials
Although not for us, it did give Lynne something to drink in a Spritzer during her dry January
Calmness on the balcony
Some beer as well, from Franschhoek Beer Company
We tried the Pale Ale and enjoyed the flavour with that hint of orange
Heike Victor and Olaf Morgenroth, Franschhoek Beer Company
James Copeland and winemaker Adi Badenhorst on James’ stand. We really, really enjoyed James' Rum and Pisco. Made with skill, we think these are going to be big sellers in the SA market. And hopefully, eventually, abroad
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MENU's Wine of the week is Bosman 2017 Twyfeling Cinsault

made by winemaker Natasha Williams. We tasted it tonight at Caroline's Red Wine review and it was a revelation. Cinsault is coming of age in South Africa. No longer the disliked harsh and metallic wines mostly used for blending in the past, but wines with such fruity freshness and style that they just beg to be drunk with good food. They are not pretentious wines, just ones you want to enjoy often
This lovely wine is from a single block of bush vines on the Bosmans’ Wellington farm. There is a smoke hint on the nose and then so much fruit delights the palate. It is so modern and enticing, with ripe plums and mulberries, then soft chalky tannins on the end. Only 20% is in new oak, the rest is matured in older barrels. It will certainly cope with Mediterranean food, tomato dishes and dishes with black olives. You'll find it at Caroline's Strand Street and Tokai. About R220 to R250
Posted by MENU at 12:33 am 0 comments

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 3. Spier Hotel, Vadas restaurant, Wine tasting

The next stop on our Stellenbosch Wine Routes "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" last weekend was to the hotel at Spier wine estate where we would spend the night, have dinner at PJ Vadas Smokehouse and Bakery on Spier and, after breakfast, go to the tasting room for a wine and soup pairing. We checked in and then were taken by golf cart to our room

#StellenboschisCool in Winter
Weekends like this can be organised by the Stellenbosch Wine Routes office and Visitor Information Centre - for a two night’s stay from as little as R1500 per person sharing. They are located at 47 Church Street, Stellenbosch. For queries, visitors are encouraged to contact Stellenbosch Wine Routes on +27 21 886 4310 Or via email on explore@wineroute.co.za 
For more information on these winter breaks to Stellenbosch and for inspiration on visits to the region, visit http://www.wineroute.co.za/
A lovely, large airy room with a huge bed, good linen and a bathroom en suite

Somewhere to sit

The bathroom has both a bath ... 

... and a shower

They have room service and this is the very good menu, should you decide not to venture out

We think that the prices are very reasonable

Something for the children and something to drink

We rested, walked in the garden; some went to watch the Rugby International which was showing in the bar and at 7 it was time to walk across to the PJ Vadas Smokehouse and Bakery on Spier for dinner

Happy welcoming staff

Hungry media ready for supper. We certainly were fed very well on this weekend
We ordered a bottle of Spier 21 Gables award winning Chenin Blanc with our dinner and it was a super match for this rich food

The menu is quite simple and easy to use. Our meal was set and had been prearranged 

First some Bacalao cod fish cakes, with lemon slices, and a honey mustard dip,
truffle oil and chives on cream cheese, with sourdough bread and butter

Another happy table. It is a family-friendly restaurant

We were each given one of these trays containing, bottom left: Roasted pumpkin with pumpkin seeds, pistachio
and chocolate granola, two roast potatoes, Brisket covered in a sweet and sour sticky sauce, more Asian than Barbecue,
some pickles and, in the bowl, some tender and moist pulled pork, which tasted like duck and was very good

A wonderful shared salad to accompany the food was made from roasted beetroot, naartjie (tangerine) segments, preserved naartjie, feta cheese, pistachio nut Dukkah, fennel fronds, all drizzled with elderflower syrup. Fresh fruity and very exciting

And dessert was Portuguese Pasteis de Nata with very good crisp pastry
(The secret to this is not to precook the custard filling, but put it raw into the pastry and bake them together,
not forgetting a dash of rum in the custard)
We all wandered back to our rooms after supper for a good night’s sleep. It was intensely cold on the way back;
the temperature did go below freezing in the night

On our way to breakfast on a very icy morning 

Frost on the lawn,

melting as the weak morning sun reached it

The breakfast room is large and there is another next door

Several stations. Here were croissants and other pastries, fish, cheeses and sauces

This one had bains marie with hot breakfast items like scrambled egg, bacon, sausages,
and other traditional items to which you could help yourself

The cereal, fruit and yoghurt bar with juices on the end

And this lass could make you eggs anyway you wanted them
John had an enormous omelette with bacon and cheese
and Lynne had two perfect sunny side up fried eggs

Lovely colourful Lachenalia on each table. Quite a rare colour, we think

After breakfast we checked out and then decided to take a walk around the estate
We discovered that rainwater on the top of these barrels had turned to ice overnight

We enjoyed the River Walk which is a lovely meander alongside the river

Frost sparkling on the leaves of the riverside plants

It is a lovely forest walk for a while with lots of sunbirds, especially the sunbirds sipping nectar on the Montbrecia 

You enter over one bridge and exit further down over another which brings you out near the Tasting room

Lots of king and queen Proteas and other varieties as well

Our national flower in all its glory

PJ Vadas restaurant is in one of the older houses

The slave bell, from a time we care to forget, but must remember so that it will never happen again

Ducklings with mum dabbling in the pond

and a fountain helps to clean and aerate the water, which is recycled 

At 11 it was time for our tasting, paired with soup, although we were all quite full from our large breakfast

We sat at a table raised on its own at the end of the tasting room

Some of the Spier wines

and more; this is a tasting room you do want to visit; the wines are very good

Jan Laubscher and Anel Grobler waiting while our wines are poured

Showing us the wines we were to taste. It was a fast and furious tasting

We began with the Block 2, a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon. Dusty Semillon, hints of green from the Sauvignon on the nose, sweet on entry, a mature wine with long fruit flavours, and lanolin from the Semillon with chalky tannins on the end. A real match for the thick creamy Cauliflower soup topped with ground pepper; it put it in its place and refreshed our palates well. The parmesan crisp that topped the soup was really good
   Then the Seaward Chardonnay with its nice golden notes and a whiff of smoke. Round on the palate, a bit oily with buttered apple and an end of crisp citrus with a hint of salt. Served with very sweet butternut soup topped with feta and nuts. Next the 2017 Seaward Shiraz, spicy with vanilla, raspberry and mulberry on the nose. Plums and wood and a mocha ending. Paired with a spicy roast tomato and basil soup. This pairing did not work for us, we found the soup made the wine bitter and vice versa. Both are good, but not together
   The final pairing was a vegan brownie that had a texture of polenta (it is made of sweet potato).It was very sweet and had nice dark chocolate and nuts on top. This was the best pairing and went with the Spier Cape Vintage, an excellent Port style wine. If you would like to do the Spier Seaward Soup Tasting at the Spier tasting room, it costs just R120 per person, and is vegetarian-friendly

Thank you so much Elmarie Rabie, Manager at Stellenbosch Wine Routes, for organising such a very good and varied weekend. We think this will be a huge success
#StellenboschisCool

All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
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