RisCura White Hot Wine Awards

The awards are given for the best white Bordeaux blend in South Africa. This is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The ceremony was held at Tjing Tjing Torii in town and we were able to taste all of the winners. They are all, without exception, great wines. The top wine, the Mulderbosch Faithful Hound made by Adam Mason, is multi-layered, elegant and a clear winner. The prices vary a lot, but most are still available and all are ready for drinking now. They are scored out of 100, which is a method of scoring used overseas and here, but which we ourselves don't use, preferring the one we were trained to use, which is out of 20

Jacqueline Lahoud, Business Manager at Winemag.co.za

A word from the sponsor, Albrecht Gantz of Riscura

Editor of Winemag.co.za and Head judge Christian Eedes

Time to announce the awards

These are the winners

94 points out of 100         Mulderbosch Faithful Hound 2013                             R145

93 points                           Constantia Glen Two 2014                                        R210

 Nitida Coronata Integration 2014                              R165

92 points                           Oak Valley Mountain Reserve 2011

 Tokara Director’s Reserve 2014                                R240

 Vergelegen G.V.B. 2013

91 points                           Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2011                            R1300

 Highlands Road Sine Cera 2013                                 R130

 Gabriëlskloof Magdalena 2013                                  R120

 Strandveld Adamastor 2012                                      R165

 Trizanne Signature Wines

 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Reserve 2014                     R165

90 points                           Constantia Uitsig Constantia 2013                             R125

 Strandveld Adamastor 2013 Wine Cellar price            R165

As the overall winner, the Mulderbosch 2013 Faithful Hound made by Adam Mason won the new top of the range 225 litre Grand Reserve Chateau Tradition barrel from Tonnellerie Sylvain, presented here by Jean Daneel

We then were able to taste all the wines.  The first four

The next four

and the final four

Relaxing with the wines in the bar

Mulderbosch Marketing manager Sean Griffiths and winemaker Adam Mason

John with Jean Daneel

(Photograph courtesy of Danie Nel)

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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The most beautiful flowers in years at Postberg

We'd heard that the spring flowers up the West Coast were magnificent, possibly the best in many years, and we had the opportunity to take one day free last week, so we packed a picnic and off we went. If you get a chance to go on a sunny day (the flowers do not open if it is cloudy, so don't waste a trip), GO. It is absolutely superb. You do need to go right into the Postberg Nature Reserve to see them and you will be rewarded. Every spare inch of ground without bush is covered in flower carpets. We were told that there is free entrance to the park between the 9th and 14th of September. We also took the road to Darling, but that was rather disappointing. Perhaps those flowers will come out later in the season. Here are some of our photographs

A cheeky chappie welcomed us in

White and yellow daisies with orange in the background

close up

And in the distance, the blue sea

So dense they look like snow. This is on the way to Plankies Baai

A mole snake enjoying the warmth of the sun

Some of the daisies are so bright they fluoresce

A carpet of intense blue

As far as the eye can see

Sprinkles of colour in the snow white field

and either side of the road

Then a patch of purple vygies (mesembrianthemum)

It is like a watercolour

And in the distance some eland grazing on the daisies

an endless carpet of colour

The flowers go right up the hill

There was lots of game on show too

At Plankies Baai, different colours of vygies

The "tok tok" dung beetle (scarab), named for the sound his carapace makes as he hits it on the ground to find a mate. He was at least 3 cm long and shiny. We'd dropped a brown bread crumb and he feasted on it

The gulls wanted part of our picnic

And the mousebirds fluffed themselves out after a bath

That's what we do with our ham fat

A regal black backed gull surveys the scene

The flowers turn slowly during the day, always holding their faces towards the sun and as it starts to go down, they start to close from about 4 to 5 or if the clouds come over

Brilliant shocking pink sour figs

Little golden star flowers

One of our extraordinary plants that hugs the ground

A pick and mix of colours

Looking back down the hill towards where we have been, you just see fields of flowers

Wonderful colours

More and more as you climb higher and higher

until they turn into a distant haze

eland grazing the daisies

An industrious weaver bird with his long piece of grass

It may look untidy but he has lots to do, weaving each piece he brings into a hanging nest to impress a mate, still to be found. Pulling the grass

and weaving

Zebra in the background, Springbok in the front

The long view

As we left you could see the orange gazanias starting to close

The colours on the Langebaan lagoon

Flamingo fishing for shrimp

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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MENU recipe 15 July 2015 Spicy Moroccan cous cous

This week's recipe      We love Moroccan food with its different spice profiles and, this week, Lynne made some Moroccan chicken, covered in a Ras al Hanout spice mix and roasted in the oven. To go with this, she made some spicy cous cous. This recipe is for 2, but you can double it up for four or more people and it goes quite a long way. The recipe takes quite a lot of pre-preparation, but cooking it takes only a few minutes. And, as a meal, it can be served without the chicken to vegetarians, as it is quite substantial.

Spicy Moroccan Cous Cous

1 onion, finely chopped - 1 clove of garlic, chopped - 1 T olive or canola oil - 1 aubergine, in small cubes - 1 courgette, in small cubes - 1 red pepper or some jarred roasted red peppers (pepperoni) in small cubes - 1 cup of butternut , in small cubes - 1 T pine nuts or flaked almonds or a mixture of both - 2 t Ras al Hanout - 500 ml stock (vegetable or chicken) - 5 dates, stoned and chopped - half a tin of chick peas, drained - 1 cup of cous cous - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 3 spring onions, chopped - 1 T fresh coriander or mint, roughly chopped. Optional: preserved lemon and/or rose water

Do all the preparation of the vegetables and have them ready and waiting in small bowls. Salt the aubergine and leave it to sweat for about 15 minutes, then wash off the salt and dry it off. Dry roast the nuts in a small pan and set aside.

In a large table-ready casserole, fry the onions and the garlic for a few minutes until transparent, then add the aubergine and continue to fry until it and the onions are beginning to colour. Then add the courgette, red pepper and butternut and fry together for five minutes. Then add the Ras al Hanout spice and temper it in the pan with the vegetables. Pour on the stock and bring the pot to the boil. Add the dates and the chickpeas, and then the cous cous. Bring it back to the boil, let it simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover and leave it until the cous cous has absorbed all the liquid and swelled. Fluff with a fork, taste and adjust the seasoning. As you serve it, sprinkle on the nuts, the coriander or mint and the spring onions. You can serve this with chopped preserved lemon and a small sprinkle of rose water.

Kanonkop and Rijk’s make history with 10th Absa Top 10 Award win apiece

We were not able to attend this function because it was held at the same time as the Top 10 Chenin, and we had already accepted our Chenin invitation when the Pinotage invitation arrived. We do wish that all the PR people would consult each other so that there would be fewer clashes like this. Kanonkop and Rijk’s Cellars from Tulbagh made history by becoming the first producers to notch up ten Absa Top 10 Pinotage Awards each. 

At this year’s awards function, held at the KWV in Paarl on 28 August, the Kanonkop Pinotage 2012 and Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage 2011 won two of the Absa Top 10 trophies handed to the winning wines in the 2015 competition. The 10 winners topped a total of 154 wines that were entered into this year’s competition.

The Absa Top 10 Pinotage Awards is one of South Africa’s premier wine industry contests. This year’s competition marks the 19^th consecutive year of collaboration between Absa Bank Ltd (Absa), member of Barclays Africa Group Ltd (Barclays Africa), and the SA Pinotage Association in recognising wineries from throughout South Africa for their interpretation of the country’s famous indigenous grape variety.

The wine regions of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Durbanville each delivered two of this year’s Absa Top 10 winners. Neethlingshof joined Kanonkop in flying the Stellenbosch flag with its Estate Pinotage 2014. Altydgedacht Pinotage 2013 and Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2014 saw Durbanville staking a spot as a potent Pinotage region, while Paarl producers Windmeul and first-time winner Ayama won Absa Top 10 trophies for the Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2014 and Ayama Pinotage 2013 respectively.

Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine farm, showed it can still produce the goods with a Top 10 for the Groot Constantia Pinotage 2013. Worcester-based Overhex Wines International’s Survivor Pinotage 2014 secured a trophy in its first Absa Top 10 outing, while Flagstone’s Writer’s Block Pinotage 2013 had the last word in this year’s event.

Beyers Truter, chairman of the Pinotage Association, said that two features stood out from this year’s competition: the milestones reached by Kanonkop and Rijk’s and the performance of wines made from the 2014 vintage.

 “When the Pinotage Association founded the Absa Top 10 Competition in 1997, we had a vision of not only honouring Pinotage wines but also to create legends,” said Truter. “By winning Top 10 awards ten times, Kanonkop and Rijk’s have now undoubtedly established themselves not only as legendary producers of Pinotage, but icons in the South African wine industry, too.

“As a producer myself I know how high the demands of the judging panel are, and to show the kind of consistency as Kanonkop and Rijk’s have done throughout the years is an affirmation of the winemaker's understanding of his terroir, the unique traits of the Pinotage grape and tremendous winemaking skill.”

Commenting on the four trophy winners produced from the 2014 vintage, Truter said that it was remarkable to see wines scarcely 18 months old standing on the winners’ podium.

“The vintage was late and cool, with a very wet pre-season and produced a relatively light crop,” he said. “But now we have four wines barely out of their nappies showing the quality and refined elegance to take Top 10 trophies, showing us how exceptional last year’s vintage actually was. Consumers can definitely tick off 2014 as a must-have year for red wine.”

Craig Bond, Chief Executive of Retail and Business Banking at Barclays Africa says:  “I would like to congratulate all the participants and winners in this year’s Pinotage Top 10 competition, especially Kanonkop and Rijk’s Cellars for re-writing the history books.  We wish all the finalists great success on their winemaking journey hope they continue to prosper.

 “At Absa and Barclays Africa we are proud of our partnership with the Pinotage Association, now in its 19^th consecutive year, as we continue to promote uniquely South African wines made from Pinotage grapes. Our continued involvement with and support of this competition is driven by our confidence in the new generation of South African winemakers – these winemakers are working hard to increase the prestige and sophistication of wines produced in South Africa.” 

The judging panel for this year’s Absa Top 10 comprised Duimpie Bayly, winemakers Neil Ellis, Fred Viljoen and Corlea Fourie, wine writer Samarie Smit, sommelier Georgio Meletio and viticulturist Stephan Joubert.

Here is the list of the Top 10 winners:

Altydgedacht Landgoed	2013	Altydgedacht Pinotage
Ayama Wines	2013	Ayama Pinotage
Diemersdal Wine Estate	2014	Diemerdal Pinotage Reserve
Flagstone Winery	2013	Flagstone Writer's Block Pinotage
Groot Constantia Wine Estate	2013	Groot Constantia Pinotage
Kanonkop Wynlandgoed	2012	Kanonkop Pinotage
Neethlingshof Estate	2014	Neethlingshof Estate Pinotage
Overhex Wines International	2014	Overhex Wines International Survivor Pinotage
Rijk's Cellars	2011	Rijk's Reserve Pinotage
Windmeul Kelder	2014	Windmeul Pinotage Reserve

 Copy supplied by Emile Joubert, Media Vision

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This week's MENU recipe. Flavoured Croutons

Flavoured Croutons     It is still soup weather, although spring is showing us its lovely face now and then. Lynne has made a huge pot of pea, lentil, vegetable and ham hock soup for tonight and we will have some croutons to accompany this for texture. You can buy croutons quite easily in supermarkets nowadays, but just a few for the price of two whole loaves of bread. It is incredibly easy to make them yourself and they can be stored in a lock-seal container for quite a long time. A perfect way to use up stale bread, but you can, if pushed, use fresh bread too. White, brown or rye, whichever kind of bread you like, all can be turned into croutons. Save the ends of your hard cheeses and use them grated on top. Or just use parmesan or your favourite....

4 slices of bread - canola or olive oil, you can also use a flavoured oil, like chilli, herb, garlic or even truffle - salt - pepper - a seasoning, barbeque or herb salt mix - fresh chopped garlic - - fresh chopped herbs - grated cheese - cayenne pepper for a hit of heat

Heat your oven to 200 ⁰C. Cut the bread into cubes about 2 to 3 cm square. Spread these on a lined baking tray and sprinkle them lightly with oil. Season and sprinkle over any of the above flavours you like, NOT all at once though. You could match them to the dish you are serving. Cover with a fine grating of cheese and pop into the oven until they are nice and golden brown. Turn them once if the bases need colour. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let them cool and crisp there.

You can also turn these into flavoured breadcrumbs for coating fish or meat or for sprinkling onto dishes to add texture. 

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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