Changes
on wine farms are inevitable and we heard about those changes at
Buitenverwachting when we had lunch with owner Lars Maack recently. The opening of the
coffee shop - Coffee Bloc - has made this an even more popular Constantia venue
and the overflow into the tasting room has made inroads to the sale and tasting
of wine. The restaurant, which was voted one of the Top 100 Restaurants in the American
Express Platinum Fine Dining Awards - 2016, is in one of the old farm buildings
and forms part of the Buitenverwachting Werf. It flows out onto the courtyard
with its fountain and the coffee shop next to the Wine Tasting Centre. So the
tasting room will now move to the old wine cellar on the side of the large
lawn, giving it a great opportunity to grow and focus more on the sale of wine
and themed tastings, offering so much more to visitors to this iconic
Constantia wine farm. The picnics will cease and other food options will be
available there and at the restaurant
The old cellar will be the new tasting room and its renovation is
nearing completion
The courtyard with the restaurant on the right,
the old tasting room in the middle and the Coffee Bloc on the left
Lars shows us the work being done inside the new
tasting room
A coffee shop blackboard
Ah, time for a glass of Buitenverwachting's good crisp
MCC Brut
Some of the wines we tasted with lunch
The menu; each course was paired with two wines
Lipitauer cheese spread and butter for the very
good garlic and rosemary foccacia
The view to the mountains and vineyards from the
restaurant
This was a life changer of an Amuse Bouche! An
antipasti dish but what could this scattering of different things be? In fact
it was chef Edgar Osojnik deconstruction of an excellent Caprese salad of
basil, mozzarella and tomato in many delicious forms. Different heritage
tomatoes served fresh, confit, air dried, roasted, in a terrine with the
cheese, jellied. Dehydrated basil oil in a spoon to blow the dish wide open.
One to return to, again and again. So clever
The next course, our starter, is explained to us
It was Edgar's take on a free-form Caesar salad
with pan fried Norwegian Salmon. Simple flavours that combined so well. Gem
lettuce quarters, white anchovies, a free range soft boiled egg, a crisp bacon
strip, croutons and a very good Hollandaise sauce
The course was paired with 2 Sauvignon Blancs, The
Hussey’s Vlei 2012 (always a favourite) is a classic Constantia Sauvignon,
layered with limes and passion fruit, deep concentrated flavours with dry
tannins, very refreshing.
And the Constantia 2016, newly released, which has
a fuller leesy nose, with golden fruit and lemons, no pyrazines on either, just
good refreshing, layered wines
Brad Paton is now Cellarmaster, Hermann Kirschbaum
has taken on the role of General Manager of Buitenverwachting. Brad told us that they
are ripening the Sauvignons Blanc as long as possible, and sales have increased
fast. More golden fruit, no greenness is what the market wants.
Buitenverwachting is one of the top Sauvignon Blanc producers, leading their
production with Buiten Blanc, their best seller white blend. They have healthy
vines with bigger crops. They spray with sulphur and copper only when
necessary, no hard chemical sprays are used. And they have good staff
relationships. Buitenverwachting was a pioneer in providing their staff with excellent
accommodation and living conditions
Served with the next course was the limited
release Maximus 2013 Sauvignon Blanc which has incense wood, vanilla and
perfume on the nose, creamy and full on the palate with flavours of pears,
apples and quince. Dark toast on the end turns it into a mouth watering food
wine. This wine wins awards
Then we moved to the Chardonnay 2015 with its
golden nose, perfumed with limes. It is crisp, full layered a quite wonderful
expression of elegant chardonnay, full of apples, melon, some warmth and a long
end with a hint of wood.
The next course, officially the second, was three
large triangles of duck liver paté and it was not a little daunting, knowing that the
main and a final course were still to follow. Seared bitter endive and morello
cherry jelly went so well with the rich paté. Orange segments, a fig coulis and a
spicy plum chutney all added different fruit and acid notes to counter the
richness and tiny walnut brioches which acted as the carrier for the paté
This mushroom consommé with a mushroom ravioli was
the substitute course for the vegetarians at the table
Our main course of pan fried lamb cutlet noisettes
in a lamb jus with an aubergine falafel, chorizo, rich leek puree, roasted chickpeas (they were a great hit), dried slices of garlic (wow, what a hit of
garlic) and gremolata yoghurt. This was accompanied by Christine 2012 Buiten's
top Bordeaux blend, an incense, cherry and cassis blast on the nose, followed
by French perfume and violets. Soft chalky tannins, lots of cassis and
mulberries, with warm alcohols, cassis leaves and dry tannins make this a wine
certain to last and continue to impress more as the years go by. And the
limited release Rough Diamond 2012 60% Petite Verdot, 40 % Malbec. A savoury
nose with umami and violets, on the palate cherries, mulberries, soft and
creamy and sappig (juicy). This award winning wine has matured very well. These
limited edition wines allow for creativity and allow the winemaker to do the
best with the estate’s best grapes
The final course was not dessert, but a cheese
platter with more of those walnut brioches and melba toast with grapes and figs
This was served with a glass of the first vintage
(2005) of 1796. Buitenverwachting's excellent marmalade sweet Noble Late
Harvest made from Muscat de Frontignan . Brad also makes a great Sherry 2007. A
non-vintage blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin and Viognier in solera barrels. It’s
experimental. Called by Lars Wipe the
Flor
We look forward to seeing the changes in the near
future. This was a great experience, superb wine and food paired so well! Lynne's
tasting glasses at the end of the meal. We can never finish all the wine
tasting portions we are poured, we would just become too inebriated. Although
one or two of our colleagues do. Uber is necessary
© John & Lynne
Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
