Vergenoegd On Wednesday last week, we were invited to a guided tasting of these Helderberg wines at Pigalle restaurant. Held in the conference room, it was right next to their smoking room and, sadly, smoke filtered through and made the tasting a little difficult. We know this farm more for its wonderful flock of Runner ducks and its great restaurant Pomegranate and so it was a delight to get to taste all their wines. They are mainly a red wine farm, with only one 2011 white blend of Sauvignon and Colombard and a 2009 Rose made of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc (both under their Runner Duck label), which we used to sell in the shop and drink quite often too. They now have a Runner Duck Red 2009 which is a very different blend of Touriga Nacional, Malbec and Cabernet Franc, which was not tasted that evening. We tasted their minty Merlot 2005, which we don’t think is quite ready yet. We particularly enjoyed their 2003 Shiraz which is a great food wine and especially their 2004 Cabernet, which has great cassis on the nose and mouth, lovely soft fruit flavours and has almost a port-like character in its depth. Their estate blend Vergenoegd 2003 is a classic Bordeaux blend and tastes of expensive wood, licorice, spice and elderberries. The soft tannins overtake the fruit, so you can definitely put this one down in your cellar for a while. Our final taste was their Old Cape Colony Vintage Port 2004 which has sweet, sweet fruit with lots of vanilla. This would make a great port jelly! It also needs more time. We were interested to see Pigalle for the first time. A large dinner and dance venue with live music and a huge and quite expensive seafood featured menu. We were surprised by two things: how little people there had dressed up – lots of takkies and trainers and work shirts - and how little wine we saw on the tables. But everyone was tucking into huge plates of seafood and there are two whisky safes containing personal bottles of Johnny Walker Black (and a couple of Blue), so perhaps their crowd is more into spirits than wine.
Waterford Trade tasting, last Thursday evening, held at Mint restaurant at the Taj. An incredibly social trade evening; Waterford obviously have the right list! We started with the Pecan Stream range. The Sauvignon blanc is juicy and refreshing and full of tropical fruit with a nice kick at the end. The Chenin has loads of pineapple and is great with food, while the red, made of Shiraz and Mourvedre, perhaps needs a little more time. We loved the new branding and labels. On to the 2010 Chardonnay, which is cool and lean and then opens out with smoke and butter on the palate - just our sort of wine. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and dry, lean and mean and SO not the usual flabby Stellenbosch sauvignon. We were a little disappointed with the Rosemary, their very pretty pale ‘blush’ wine which has been our top favourite pink in the past, because we thought the flavour lacked a bit of depth. Waterford’s Kevin Arnold Shiraz is a stunner, juicy then thick, spicy and tarry in a very enjoyable way, with soft fruit and tannins and a very long finish. The Cabernet Sauvignon showed classic cassis with long deep layers of fruit, accompanied by good acids and soft chalky tannins, one to drink now but also one to keep. The real treat of the evening came with a guided tasting by Kevin Arnold, the cellarmaster, of four vintages of The Jem, Waterford’s flagship red blend. Not often available for tasting and rather out of the price range of most of us, it was a very valuable opportunity. Click here to read all about it. Christmas with Warwick After the Waterford tasting, we went straight off to dinner at 15 on Orange to celebrate Christmas in July with Warwick wines. Mike Ratcliffe and his wife Pip hosted this lovely dinner and the tables were festively decorated with crackers and candles. The chef had done a pairing of some of the Warwick wines with the food. We started with their lovely tropical, crisp Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc and, having had one really awful cold sole paupiette in Franschhoek, we were served a perfect one, on cauliflower puree with confit of preserved lemon, olives and a beurre blanc which matched the wine perfectly. The next wine was the beautiful buttery chardonnay which was paired with an outrageously rich and unctuous duck foie gras brulée with roast quail breast and a walnut crostini. It was superb BUT we didn’t think it went well with the Chardonnay and cried out for a good red wine. Then we had a very interesting palate cleansing litchi and ginger sorbet with a cinnamon tuille – one to copy for dinner parties we think. The main course was a traditional Butter roast Turkey Ballotine, with a sage and prosciutto stuffing, a fondant potato, citrus jus and caramelised tinned mini pear. It was served with the Warwick Three Cape Ladies (Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) red blend. Sadly the turkey was (isn’t it always?) rather dry and disappointing. The wine, which has big, bold fruit flavours, made up for it, but it was not a perfect match for the food. The Warwick website recommends spicy tomatoes and black mushrooms as companion foods and the Chardonnay might have been a better match. Then came a dessert of Christmas pudding parfait, Italian meringue and eggnog crème anglaise. It was a bit soupy and oversweet for our palates and absolutely fought with the flagship wine from Warwick, the superb Trilogy which, we thought, was the wine that should have been served with the Duck brulée. Perhaps the Chardonnay would have been a match here, but the extreme sweetness of the dessert cried out for a sweet dessert wine. Lovely service from the staff at 15 on Orange as usual, they are very friendly and professional. They are doing a series of these Food and Wine pairing dinners. See their link for the next one you can attend. Lunch with friends Everyone we know seems to be following Masterchef Australia, whether they will admit it or not. We had a lovely Sunday lunch with friends this week and Marcelle did two stunning dishes from the show, the Ham terrine and the Osso Bucco. Recipes on their web site, apparently. And we have had two or three dishes out at restaurants recently which we think at least draw their inspiration from the programme if not the recipe! We have had the potato chip with the parsley inside at two. If anything gives people new inspiration for good food, we fully support it. Lynne tried their way of making risotto on Monday, no stirring, just agitating the pan using our Italian Carnaroli rice and prawns. It worked, much to her surprise, and freed her to make a good salad at the same time. With all the activity we have been having lately, there hasn’t been time to develop a new recipe. Hopefully, we’ll have one for you next week.
On Wednesday, we joined a good crowd of wine lovers at the Westin Grand Hotel, next to the Convention centre, for Caroline’s Red Wine Review. There were 60 superb wines available for tasting, most of which would be beyond the pockets of most of us – only 5 were priced under R150, and a further 8 between R150 and R200; the most expensive was R994 per bottle. Several people we spoke to commented that they would not be likely to purchase the more expensive wines which, a winemaker told us, are aimed at the export market. This may be so, but the rest of the world is also experiencing financial unpleasantness, so we wish them success. Our favourites, jointly and severally, were Pinots Noir from Newton Johnson, Paul Cluver and Cathy Marshall, Bordeaux blends from Kaapzicht (Steytler Pentagon), Springfield (The Work of Time) and Hartenberg (The Mackenzie), Cabernets from Le Riche, Louis Nel and Cederberg and Shirazes from Boekenhoutskloof, De Trafford, Eagles’ Nest, Luddite and Jordan (The Prospector). After a most enjoyable evening of tasting (and spitting!) all these mostly young and tannic reds, we went home to a take-away shwarma and falafel, washed down with a cleansing Windhoek draught. We think food should be available at a tasting like this, not only to help soak up the wine, but to balance the palate. We would happily pay a bit extra for it. The cream crackers kept running out and tasting that many wines with nothing in one’s stomach is tough. These are after all wines made to go with food.
Knife and Glenwood Last night, we had another great food and wine pairing dinner, (and a great deal of fun) this time at Knife restaurant, which is in Canal Walk and is situated behind the Crystal Towers Hotel, where there is lots of parking. Knife has a cool cocktail bar and is unashamedly a steak house, but one with a difference. We sat with the winemaker, DP Burger, and his wife and we had lots and lots to chat about with this charming couple, whose farm is in Franschhoek. We started the meal with DP’s 2011 Sauvignon blanc, paired with a huge beetroot and smoked goats’ cheese salad. Knife have their own smokery and both the cheese and the ribs which followed were smoked in house. The lovely Glenwood merlot accompanied a plate of their signature smoked sticky BBQ baby back ribs. On chatting to Ed Saunders, the owner, Lynne said they reminded her very much of those she used to love at the Rib Shack in Knightsbridge in London and, indeed, that is where Brit Ed used to work - for the brilliant Bob Payton who had a string of successful London theme restaurants. You get down and dirty, eating these ribs with your fingers, but huge tea towels and hot towels are provided to clean you up. Even John, who prefers to keep his fingers clean to avoid transferring sticky stuff to his camera, enjoyed them. Next, we had a round of good tender beef sirloin on a crisp mushroom crouton with a great black pepper sauce, crisp onion rings and proper French fries. There are so few restaurants who make proper chips/fries and it is a huge treat when we find one. This paired well with the soft fruity and spicy 2010 Shiraz/Merlot blend which, we were delighted to learn, costs only about R35 a bottle, so some will definitely be coming home with us soon. The dessert, a wicked sticky toffee pudding with lots of caramel sauce and cream, finished a lovely meal. DP served his Semillon 2006 noble late harvest wine, which he explained is not for sale to the public. He said it was a complete accident in the making, because a few rows of his Semillon, accidentally left on the vine, were discovered when they returned from holiday and successfully vinified. Knife are running these dinners regularly, check out their web site for details and do not hesitate to visit this fun restaurant with your friends for an enjoyable night out. We think it’s a great place for singles to meet. This evening we have been at the opening of the Stellenbosch wine festival, meeting lots of friends and tasting some delicious wines. It runs till Sunday, so go and enjoy it. You can also enjoy special Wine Week cellar door attractions on participating farms until Sunday. The farms will, of course, continue their usual visiting and tasting activities after the show. There were some very good canapés on offer this evening, especially deep fried toast fingers with a prawn paste and covered with sesame seeds. These will probably not be on offer after tonight, which was the opening. One delight was a prawn risotto and a small sirloin dish from chef Michael Broughton of Terroir, delicious bargains at R30 per plate. We followed their recommendation and matched them with Kleine Zalze’s Chenin Blanc and SMV red blend. Tomorrow night, we will be at the Taj for their craft beer and Indian food pairing, details of which you can find in our Events blog. Space is limited, but you may be able to get a place. Our products. We have a lot of fun putting MENU together each week and, of course, doing the things we write about, but making it possible for you to enjoy rare and wonderful gourmet foods is what drives our business. We stock a good range of rare spices and other ingredients and delicious ready-made gourmet foods. So, please have a look at our Product List and see what you need. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our website. We can send your requirements to you anywhere in South Africa. If you are following Masterchef Australia we have Carnaroli risotto rice and truffles, amongst lots of other strange and difficult things to find that they use. Our market activities This week, you will find us at The Place at Cavendish (Woolworths underground entrance to Cavendish Square) on Friday 29th July, from 10h00 to 17h00, where we will have our great selection of delicious treats and ingredients for you. We will be at the Old Biscuit Mill’s Neighbourgoods Market, as always, on Saturday between 9am and 2pm. Next Wednesday, we will be back at the Dean St Arcade in Newlands from 09h30 to 14h30. We expect to be back at Long Beach on Friday 19th August. We’ll confirm this nearer the time.
Good food and wine continues to grow as a focal point for many people in the Western Cape and, to an extent, in other parts of the country. As a result, our list of Interesting Food and Wine Events has grown so much that it was making MENU too long for some of our readers. So we’ve taken it online. Click here to access it. You will need to be connected to the internet. Our list of Winter restaurant special offers continues to grow. Click here to access it. These 2011 Winter Specials have been sent to us by the restaurants or their PR agencies. We have not personally tried all of them and their listing here should not always be taken as a recommendation from ourselves. When we have tried it, we’ve put in our observations. We have cut out the flowery adjectives etc. we’ve been sent, to give you the essentials. Click on the name to access the relevant website. All communication should be with the individual restaurants.
28th July 2011
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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 or Dutch flavoured Afrikaans. Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure.
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