Survivor is one of the brands of the Overhex
winery near Worcester and we were invited to taste the new vintage of their wines at
Bertus Basson's new wine bar and small plate restaurant, Spek & Bone (it's
pronounced boorna - the
Afrikaans name of his dog; means “beans”) Spek is his pet pig (translates as “bacon”).
It is exciting when good wine is paired with a top chef's food, so we were
delighted to accept, especially when they sent a minibus to take us there and back. It has now become de rigeur for transport to be provided when we attend events where we will need to taste the wines, thank heavens
The restaurant is right next to
the iconic Oom Samie se Winkel (Uncle Sammy’s shop) in the historic town of
Stellenbosch
We sat outside under the leafy
canopy
Welcomed by friendly staff with
a glass of Survivor Sauvignon Blanc
Bertus with Greg Landman of
Country Life
Spek and Bone have their
portraits on the wall
Bertus is a lovely man and is much
loved by the media. Here he gets a kiss from Winnie Bowman CWM and a hug from
Fiona MacDonald
Doing what Bertus does best
Inside, seating is at the
counter
Good craft gins and some good
wines; Cape Wine Masters' Guild and French on the menu
It is a lovely place to have
lunch
The Survivor lunch menu
First, some canapés. Very
unusual Mac and cheese deep fried 'Tots' with a dipping ketchup
Scrumptious crisp squid in
paper cones, with divine aioli and a few chips
Discussing the wine. The 2016
Sauvignon is partly barrel fermented, with good tropical fruit and nice
crispness. The grapes come from DB Rust’s farm Constantia
near Malmesbury
Gerard van der Wath of Overhex
International told the story of the Nguni cow (that jumped, not over the moon
but out of the truck and into the vineyard), which gave the name to the wine
Survivor. It escaped the abbatoir and became a pet. He told us that these wines, which all come from the Swartland, are
now vinified at Darling Cellars to avoid the grapes spoiling on the long hot
trip to Worcester. This improves the quality
Winemaker Ben Snyman
Taking notes as Bertus explains
the lunch menu. He says that the food he serves here is the food he wants to
eat, ditto the wine. It is not tapas, it good local South African food. Check
it out on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SpekEnBone/
The new Survivor MCC (85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir) is made by Melanie van der Merwe who makes very good MCC under
her own brand, Tanzanite. She has been working with Overhex for several years to
produce this wine. Its vintage is 2011. It has spent five years on the lees in the
bottle. It is yeasty, bready with apples and a hint of raspberry on the nose.
Golden Delicious apples and some soft raspberry hints on the palate
Keeping the Chardonnay cool on a warm
Stellenbosch day
Freshly baked and still warm
sourdough bread with an olive oil mousse and an Ash cream
A cool glass of the MCC
We ate family style. A perfect
steak tartare, meat fresh and tender, well chopped, not massacred, with
cornichons and capers, served with freshly fried potato crisps
A leafy beetroot, feta and onion
salad
The Wild Yeast Chardonnay
(shouldn't that be the Wild Beast Chardonnay?) is full of citrus and ripe
apples on the nose and cooked apples on the palate. It has some sweetness and
goes well with food
Well received fish tacos
dressed with a Yuzu dressing, avocado guacamole and crisp cabbage. A good
pairing with the Chardonnay
Then came the lightly sautéed
Gnocchi, lovely and buttery and well flavoured, with mushrooms and parmesan
cream, topped with a crisp crumb which gave good texture
Not universally popular, but
Lynne loved it: Roasted fresh yellowtail fish, topped with octopus. We had this
with the Chenin Blanc; grassy and warm land aromas, with lovely full-on jujube
sweeties on the palate, and a finishing hint of honey, but it is dry. Such a
good food wine
The Survivor Chenin Blanc
Bertus preparing the dishes of monkey
gland basted sirloin, with roasted cauliflower, served puréed and roasted. Nothing
to do with monkeys or their glands, it's our traditional barbecue sauce,
full of tomato, garlic, Worcester sauce, chutney and some heat. Spices up meat
a treat
Ready to serve, and to pair
with the Pinotage, which goes so well with spicy food. It has a very intense
nose of mulberries and plums. On the palate, chalky tannins, salty licorice with raspberries. Lovely wine. The chalky tannins mean that it will last a
while too. The steak was very tender but, for us, could have been much more
tangy and spicy
Tired chef!
We also tasted the Cabernet
Sauvignon with the steak. It has pure cassis on the nose with pepper and spice
notes. Full sweet cassis berries and ripe cherries with good supporting chalky
tannins and a long finish make this classic Cabernet one to buy now and drink
in 3 to 4 years time
Dessert was a Peppermint Crisp
ice cream cone which took us all back to our childhood
And finally a good espresso
with some shortbread biscuits. A tour de force of good wines and excellent food
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
