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Friday, September 25, 2020

This Week's MENU. A Walk in the Park, tasting Woolworths Spier wines, Heritage Day wines

A Common Dotted Border butterfly (Mylothris agathina agathina) on a pink daisy

A quiet week which started with lovely warm sunshine and has ended with very cold, wet weather. The upside of the rain we have had this year is that all the dams which supply Cape Town are full. The biggest, Theewaterskloof, is near 100% full for the first time in years. So we started with a walk in our lovely Green Point park and ended with a small braai for just ourselves to celebrate Heritage Day, with the help of two wonderful wines, all described below.

A walk in our local park, the Green Point Urban Park

It was such a lovely day last Saturday and we decided to go to our local park for a walk. The park on Green Point common was created after the new Green Point stadium (now called the Cape Town Stadium) was built, in time for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. As vested land, the Green Point Common was granted to the Cape Town City Council in 1923 by the Union Government as Commonage for general public recreation and sports fields. It looked as though the Metropolitan Golf Club was going to get all the land, but our then Councillor JP Smith insisted that some of the land be given to the people for recreation and the 18 hole golf course was reduced to 9 holes. Read on…

Zoom tasting with Woolworths of Spier wines

We observed an online webinar this week with Woolworths WCellar, entitled "WCellar: The Braai Episode with Spier". Frans Smit, Cellarmaster of Spier Wine Estate took part with the staff of Woolworths Wine. The Zoom meeting was ably chaired by Rebecca Constable. Frans talked about his wines, his philosophy and his methods while he braaied in the background on his indoor fireplace. It was great fun and good to see the crew on line, many are old friends. And Chef Anda Dlepu, Protein Product Developer at Woolworths, who showed us what he was cooking on the braai, made us very hungry. He gave us advice and recipes for Heritage Day on Thursday, a day when many South Africans do braai. Some of the webcams' quality left a lot a to be desired and the photographs do not flatter the subjects. Read on…

Heritage Day wines

Many people hold that Chenin blanc and Pinotage are South Africa’s signature red and white varietals. We chose two sensational Heritage wines from our cellar. The Beaumont Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc is a wine we love and buy when we can - it sells out quickly. We drink some new and fresh and keep some in the cellar as we know it ages well. This was a 2010 and quite magnificent. The 10 years in cellar had made it creamy with crisp apple and honeyed caramel flavours, rich pastry wood; so a good example of a wine to pair with Tart Tatin.

The 2011 L'Avenir Pinotage is quite Burgundian in style. As Pinotage ages we find that the character of its Pinot Noir parent does tend to come to the fore. Fresh red plums, prunes, strawberries on both nose and palate, with long flavours, and a background structure from well handled wood. One of the few Pinotages Lynne enjoys

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Heritage Day wines

Many people hold that Chenin blanc and Pinotage are South Africa’s signature varietals. We chose two sensational Heritage wines from our cellar. The Beaumont Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc is a wine we love and buy when we can - it sells out quickly. We drink some new and fresh and keep some in the cellar as we know it ages well. This was a 2010 and quite magnificent. The 10 years in cellar had made it creamy with crisp apple and honeyed caramel flavours, rich pastry wood; so a good example of a wine to pair with Tart Tatin.

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Zoom tasting with Woolworths of Spier wines

The Woolworths Wine team. Rebecca Constable, Allan Mullins, Chef Anda Dlepu (Woolworths Protein Product Developer), Rob Gower and Christy Wren and, of course, Frans Smit, Cellarmaster at Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch

We heard from Chef Anda Dlepu , while he cooked delicious mouth watering things on his braai, like marinated ribs. He is the Protein Product Developer at Woolworths

After graduating from the South African Chefs Academy, Anda joined Woolworths’ culinary centre before moving into product development. He worked in several teams before joining the meat department. “I’ve always seen myself as the guy looking after the meat on the grill,” he says, “so I’m exactly where I always thought I’d be!”

So good to see Allan Mullins looking so fit. He is part of the Woolworths wine buying team. He talked about how he consulted with Frans and Spier to create the wines they sell in Woolworths, most especially the Signature Collection Merlot

There were other media and members of the Woolworths Wine Club watching on line

and we could post questions to Rebecca, which the team then answered

Rebecca showing us one of the Spier wines sold at Woolworths. there are several: Spier Creative Block 5, Private Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, Spier Merlot, Spier Cabernet Sauvignon, Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc, Spier Peachy Chenin Blanc, Spier Chardonnay, Spier Chardonnay Pinot Noir, Spier Vintage Selection Sauvignon Blanc , a range of Light wines, white and red varietals for those of you wanting not much alcohol and two Natural Sweet wines, as in the photo, a red and a white

Rob Gower was also contributing to the discussion

He seems to have been in the Knysna area and sitting in full sun on what looked like a really great terrace

“Respect what the vineyard hands you,” is Frans’s mantra. This passion for creating wines that authentically express their terroir has seen him amass an impressive list of awards. Under his guidance, the Spier team earned six double gold and nine gold awards at the 2017 Veritas Awards. They score very highly each year in Platter's wine guide and in many competitions, like the old Mutual Trophy. He spoke about his wines and cooked some skilpadjies on the fire behind him. And several are favourites in our house, such as the Cabernet and the complex 21 Gables Chenin Blanc. Skilpadjies are a traditional South African delicacy. They are sheep liver wrapped in a sheer layer of caul fat – the fatty layer that surrounds the kidneys. The liver minced and mixed with chopped onions, coriander, seasonings and Worcestershire Sauce (every chef has his or her own recipe) before being wrapped in the fat and grilled over the coals

We had two bottles of Spier wine open to taste during the webinar, the Spier Peachy Chenin Blanc which we buy from Woolworths and is one of our favourite summer refreshers. It is a good fruity chenin blanc, with lovely rich peach flavours, good acidity and goes very well with fish and seafood dishes and with spicy food. And from our cellar a 2009 Spier Inspire Cabernet Sauvignon which was magnificent. This wine has aged really well. It is a fruit forward wine, cassis, raspberry, cherry and strawberry on the nose and palate, silky on the palate, the fruit delights and stays. There is some warmth from the 14% alcohol and it ends with salty licorice wood. Not a fault in sight and showing no age at all. And 2 days later, even better. We have a couple of bottles left and will probably drink one on Christmas day with our dinner. Yes, it is that good. It is impossible to watch others drink good wine and not join in

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

A Walk in the Park

A walk in our local park, the Green Point Urban Park.

Wow, we were so impressed. The planting is so superb and, if you haven't been able to see any spring flowers, go now, it is in full bloom. The park was filled with so many happy people from all over the city having fun in the sun. We spotted several childrens' birthday parties and lots of people having lunch with family, some had brought tables and chairs, other just spread blankets on the ground. There are so many different play park areas for the children and a special dog area. Dogs are welcome as long as they are on a lead. We took lots of photographs and so the photos follow our path around the park. There was a feeling of such happiness and euphoria - people are so happy to get out and play. And we don't mean just the children. We think that the adults were almost enjoying it more.

It looks as though they are creating some flower meadows and these daisies abound

Lynne grew up in the area and the Common was her playground, she remembers these very well, growing wild

And in amongst them are some other spring daisies

Happy bees were feeding on them

A small patch of sparaxis had been planted and have irrigation; these are bulbs and will undoubtedly spread

and a yellow variety

A target for bees

Daisies growing in a fairy ring

A rather interesting bush, covered in these furry balls. We have not been able to identify them

People were having a family lunches under the pergolas

Many had brought tables, chairs, tablecloths and lots of food

A perfect day for paragliders who jump off Signal Hill

In the near distance is the restaurant which, sadly, is still closed

and in front is the interesting Anelemmatic sundial. You can stand in the middle and your shadow tells the time

Roller skaters are allowed too, and bikes

The bees love the Sour Fig flowers - Carpobrotus edulis

One of the African daisies, Dimorphotheca Sinuata

There is a whole exercise area with lots of equipment to use. This guy was very fit!

Getting ready for a childrens' party

Black eyed Susan, Thunbergia alata , another indigenous plant

A juvenile Red-winged starling (Onychognathus morio), still with downy feathers

A close up of his head, he was very tame and not at all phased by the camera

One of the many childrens' play areas

Time for a game of footie with Pa

This young man loved the slide and was immediately climbing back up it, with great difficulty, rather than using the stairs

So no big teenagers please. The whole park is Smoke Free; we are very appreciative

There is also a small amphitheatre for concerts - and parties or picnics when there isn't a show

Our ubiquitous Hartlaub's gulls; the park is right next to the beach front

Some young folk having a picnic under the trees

And a special play area for the very young, supervised by an adult

Dad helping with the seesaw

There is a lovely lake and a stream, much enjoyed by these young boys, who were dabbling in the water

Tiny fish fry and a dropped jewel

An interesting stepping stone bridge over the stream

and a fully functioning water wheel in the pond

This coot was building a nest and we could hear chicks from another family in the reeds

A tiny down feather on the surface of the pond

A Hartlaub's gull coming in to land on the water

A child had thrown some bread for the fish and the fry were nibbling, but watching for the diving birds

Lynne sat down to take some photos of the waterlilies and got chatting to this lady, who lives in the local old age home. She told Lynne haw difficult Covid lock down had been for them. They were all confined to their rooms for the first four months and their meals were brought to them. No company, no other human contact. It must have been so lonely. And frightening. Several did get ill and some did die. Even now, they can only eat with one other person at the table. Now that they have more freedom, she comes daily to the park

Those waterlily leaves, catching the light so well. Flowers will come later in the season.

The Mouille Point Lighthouse is just across the road from the park entrance on the beach front

Parking is difficult. On weekdays it is better

Another vibrant Cape daisy

Such a lovely variety of colours and they spread well

Another field of flowers....

... but these are growing on the top of this pavilion, a green roof

We wandered through the superb diversity garden, which has plantings of many indigenous plants, some very rare

And some clever metal sculptures of local wildlife like this Cape Cobra

A pincushion protea

And a Common Dotted Border butterfly (Mylothris agathina agathina) on a daisy

It's Watsonia time in the Cape

Another birthday celebration

A beautiful show of Babiana stricta

A view of our mountain, Lions Head, which looks down on our house

And in the large lake between the park and the Golf course, there are many fish

A cormorant was having a lovely meal of one

And this large fish was at least 80 cm long

The white-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is the only form of great cormorant found in Sub-Saharan Africa,

the only form that has strictly freshwater populations and the only form with a white breast and throat;

it does however interbreed freely with dark-breasted forms in central Africa

Saturday on the Golf Course

No idea what sort they are, this one looks a bit like our Koi carp, but with muted colours

The Cape Town stadium was getting some repairs done after the winter -

in time for its new purpose as the home of Western Province Rugby

Another group of young people picnicking , sadly no masks and not much social distancing

A row of Egyptian Geese. They breed too well in the Cape

Time to head home after a lovely long walk

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

About us

MENU, our weekly email newsletter, started as an advertising medium for Main Ingredient, our specialist retail grocery business. We opened our Sea Point shop in December 2002 because realised that there was a place in South Africa for a grocer catering to people with sophisticated tastes and needs. We moved the shop on line in 2010, but discontinued it in 2015, having decided that it is time to “retire” and concentrate on our writing, photography and tour guiding. MENU has a wide circulation and is read nationally and internationally.

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