Durbanville Season of Sauvignon

Colyn Truter talking to Lynne while she tweets about the new Bloemendal label, Waterlily. A crisp entry level 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, a juicy 2013 shiraz rosé and two quaffable 2011 reds made from Merlot and Shiraz. Everyone was wearing pink on Sunday, must have been the sun shining that inspired us.

Nice, thin and crisp French fries were on offer

Herb encrusted Patagonian squid strips, moist on the inside, crisp on the outside and perfectly cooked. Very enjoyable for a light lunch.

John had a huge hamburger, topped with ham and avocado

There were good sized Boerewors rolls

Chicken topped with pineapple and grilled brie cheese

The very helpful chefs and serving staff

The food was served under the permanent marquee behind the restaurant. A lovely venue for weddings and larger functions in the good weather. There are koi ponds down both sides of the marquee

On this wonderful sunny spring day, people sat outside on the lawn to eat while the children played on the jumping castle, climbing frame and other attractions

Maryna Strachan, editor of Wine Extra, was also out enjoying the festival with her children and friends

Every farm had the Sauvignons Blanc from the other 10 Durbanville farms available for tasting. You can't possibly get to all of them in one day, so it is a very good opportunity to taste the wines from the farms you will not be visiting. As usual, the quality of all these wines is exceptional.

The view as you arrive at Altydgedacht - beautiful cattle with calves in verdant spring flower meadows

Everyone enjoying the party with the Sauvignon and other wines, food for sale and good music.

Welcome sign

Executive chef Nick van Wyk of Diemersdal, talking to his chefs at the end of a busy service.

Marquees for tasting Sauvignon, slush puppies and food

Inside the main marquee there was entertainment, competitions and people still eating and having fun. This is a very family oriented festival

One of the play areas for children

How nice to be sunbathing at last

We had time for a small tasting of the Sauvignon

This was one of the recycling skips; you can see it was a successful festival.

An indigenous iris with a bee on its runway

Very reasonably priced food on offer

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013

Veritas Awards dinner at the CTICC

The entrance to the Cape Town International Convention Centre

A welcoming glass of Simonsig bubbly with Johan Malan, Rianie Strydom of Dombeya Wines, Mrs Malan and Lynne

The line-up of winners being served with dinner

The vast ballroom held over 600 people for dinner and the awards ceremony

Announcing the awards to rapt attention by all concerned

The menu in two languages

10 on each table meant a lot of silver and glassware

Charles Hopkins, Cellarmaster of De Grendel was presenting the awards

You know how they always say unidentified fish always tastes like chicken - and vice versa? These were rather cold fish goujons which did indeed taste of chicken and had a very similar stringy texture. The addition of cumin flavoured hummus was good but made it even more like chicken.

Finally we get to taste some red wine - Delaire Graff’s Merlot which won a silver. Good but needs much more time

A warm main course of perfectly pink lamb cutlets, an unctuous confited potato, fresh asparagus, a good flavourful lamb sausage and some butternut, mushrooms. It was enjoyable. But what slivers of fresh cucumber, baby onions and small tomatoes were also doing on the plate is the question – too busy and not necessary.  Best food we have eaten at the convention centre – so far.

Table companions Emma Moffat, winemaker at Hidden Valley, with her Double Gold medal for their 2013 Sauvignon Blanc with Anita Streicher, who handles their sales and marketing

Good cheese platter with a slice of the SA Cheese of the year Dalewood’s Hugenot. And behind it a glass of jelly and custard. OK the description read “Pomegranate verrine (Wikipedia: A verrine is originally a small thick-glass container with no base (?), which purpose is to contain a solid or liquid dish (starter, course or dessert), rather than a drink.) Panna Cotta with pomegranate jelly and a salad of orange, grapefruit, sweet pea tendrils (!) and Madeira croutons with shards of black pepper meringue.  Hard red jelly on thick custard with far too much else on top.  The shard of ‘meringue’ was the most interesting thing on the dish being a possible molecular gastronomy event. It melted in the mouth and was hot and peppery.  We pinched a couple from uneaten desserts, of which there were a few.

Lots of different styles of dancing when the disco started after the awards presentation.

Carel Nel of Boplaas and his winemaker daughter Margaux, absolutely delighted with their many awards: 5 double golds, six golds and 3 silvers.

Dr Winnie Bowman celebrating the Boplaas medals with Carel Nel

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013
Nikon DSLR ruined the cut of the dinner jacket, so these were taken with a Nokia Lumia 920 phone

Fine Bites tasting menu at Buitenverwachting

Buitenverwachting has recently updated the decor in the restaurant, making it seem much more open on the glassed in verandah

Our lunch menu

Warm and interesting bread, just out of the oven with some different butters, was delicious

An amuse of sushi

Sandy Bailey, Buitenverwachting’s PRO is a vegetarian and this was her starter of layered  pepper, Aubergine, Zucchini, tomato and creamy feta.

The sommelier, Elaine Sias, tells Melvin Minnaar what we are about to taste. In the background is Sonia Forssman, the new Front of house manager

Our starter was absolute bliss. Who in their right mind would put foie mousse between two sheets of the best Valrhona chocolate? Edgar is brilliant. It was amazing. Rich and melting, buttery, bitter and sweet. Lynne wished she could have had two helpings.  The Torched quail ballontine was moist, nutty and paté-like, while the fruits added the third dimension.

The vegetarian Fine Bites Menu

Our starter, deconstructed, so you can see the foie mousse

The Wild African garlic soup

The clear oxtail consommé was gentle, clear and refreshing with two tiny, rather doughy, dim sum dumplings and some floating Asian vegetables

Green asparagus risotto was a real taste of spring. The preserved truffle added richness but did not overpower the creamy rice or tender slivers of fresh green asparagus. We might like to return for a large helping of this

Sandy’s main course was Homemade Linguine with Pesto, avocado, courgettes and tomato. Looks delicious

The lamb was very good quality, was perfectly cooked and was a dish full of flavour. The Osso Bucco falafel was another brilliant idea, adding a Middle Eastern slant to the dish.

We are poured the excellent Buitenverwachting Cabernet franc, the second time in a week. It is so complex and layered with berries and wood and is a great food wine

The verandah with our party and paying guests

Winemaker Brad Paton and managing director Lars Maack

Journalist and wine aficionado Angela Lloyd with her husband Mark

Dessert was a Valrhona warm fondant served with a rich and creamy orange parfait, with citrus pearls and fruits, a good match for the dessert wine or the Buitenverwachting eau de vie

The spring vineyards in bud-break stage, still with their cover crop of wheat, with the mountains behind - the feature view from the restaurant

Many, many glasses - the wines we tasted during lunch

Brad tells us about the promise of the coming year and last year’s vintage

PRO Sandy Bailey

They serve a very good and rather necessary double espresso – the coffee shop has become an attraction on its own

Some of the wines we tasted with lunch

The large party table in the restaurant, great for large groups and group wine tastings

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013