Wednesday, September 06, 2017

Steenberg spring wine launch with lunch at Bistro 1682

We were invited to Steenberg's Bistro Sixteen82 on the first day of Spring to come and celebrate the release of their three new wines, all named after the ships involved in the Battle of Muizenberg: a 2017 Ruby Rosé, The Sphynx 2017 Chardonnay and the 2015 Stately Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz blend, which would be served with lunch. The grapes for these wines come from other areas like Robertson
Our welcome was much enhanced by a glass of Steenberg 2011 Lady R MCC
Caroline van Schalkwyk, Steenberg Marketing Manager, Journalist and wine judge Fiona MacDonald, Natalie Collard of the Wine of the Month Club, Dr Winnie Bowman CWM, and Steenberg Cellarmaster JD Pretorius
JD gets a warm welcome from Winnie
Such a happy day! Prosper Gundura from Norman Goodfellows with Chris du Toit, Graham Beck CEO and Kobie Lochner (marketing for Graham Beck and Steenberg)
A welcome and introduction from Caroline van Schalkwyk
JD with Siobhan Robinson of Wines of South Africa and Chris Taylor, vice-chairman of the Muizenberg Historical Conservation Society, who gave us a lecture about the Battle of Muizenberg in 1795 when the British raided the Cape to try and take control from the Dutch using the Royal Navy ships Stately, Ruby and Sphynx
We begin lunch with the first wine, the 2017 Ruby Rosé, a blend of Shiraz and Cinsaut. It has notes of raspberry, Seville orange and light blackberry
The menu
The Home cured duck was lovely but there was very little of it. Dressed with a dollop of sumac labneh cheese, a creamy raspberry vinaigrette, radish, pine nuts and some tinned or preserved raspberries on mixed leaves
In between courses, we had a slide show history lesson about the Battle of Muizenberg
A beautiful pink protea on each table
Here comes the Steenberg Sphynx Chardonnay 2017, It has a nice nose, white peach and a whiff of smoke and stony minerality. On the palate very ripe peaches, some oxidation with quite heavy wood - it has had 100% new oak contact for 6 weeks and 1/3 has gone through malolactic fermentation, which is evident
JD talks us through the wine making process. They have done these three different wines because customers were always asking why Steenberg didn't have a Rosé, a Chardonnay and a red blend
All the Steenberg staff were wearing lovely spring flower corsages
The Sphynx Chardonnay 2017
This was paired with a tuna and avocado tartare, with cucumber dressing, a citrus gremolata sauce and a chilli saffron mayonnaise, lemon segments and topped with very good tiny crisp curried calamari rings. Lots of different elements on one plate
The Stately 2015, a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Shiraz. creamy with spiced cherries and black olives on the nose, sweet and sour cherries on the palate with some black berry fruit, spice and dark toasted wood
This was served with the main course of beautifully flavourful confit Springbok neck which just fell apart it was so tender. Served on a cream parsnip puree, brocollini, a cassis sauce and a Stately wine jus, and fresh blueberries, which we thought were just too sweet for this complex dish. The Springbok needed to speak for itself.
Pretty colours. For those who think that we of the fourth estate drink copious amounts with these meas, these are glasses which had not been finished after the first two courses
And with dessert, we were served the Steenberg Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, such a nice expression of this varietal. Perfumed with elderflowers, it is crisp and lively and gives a beer like head in the glass. It is full of limes, passion fruit and blueberries, with cassis berries and leaves. Think this might be drunk often this summer
Served with dessert it sang with the lovely passion fruit and lemon tart (would have liked a bigger slice it was so good). The plate was fully dressed with the tart, a smear of Italian meringue, lemon curd, marinated strawberry salad, a red berry syrup, and ball of hibiscus ice cream, mint and pansies
A present for the presenter Chris Taylor
Chef Kerry Gilpin with Caroline
A ship in a bottle was one of the table decorations. We don't have a photograph but many of the staff were dressed in historic naval uniform and looked sensational.
Two media fashionistas: Seth Shezi and Tshepang Molisana
Posted by MENU at 4:48 pm 0 comments

Monday, September 04, 2017

Winemag Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Blend & Wooded Sauvignon Blanc Report 2017

Held at Nitida, this annual award deserves attention; and a sponsor. South African wine drinkers, you are missing a trick! Do we need to bang heads together to get you to pay attention? It is just not cool to ignore blends and only drink single varietals. Many of the famous, most lauded wines of the world are blends - Bordeaux's red and whites particularly. You do not know what you are missing. Yes, some of the bulk producers are filling tanks with bulk wine and selling it cheap as weekend wine, but at the top end of the scale, you find examples like these superb wines. Go on, get with the In Crowd and buy a bottle of one of the wines below and see how it changes your life. Only in South Africa do people ignore the best wines being made for them. The rest of the world snaps them up. To quote wine writer Jancis Robinson, "... Semillon alone is rarely responsible for great white Bordeaux. ... it is in conjunction with Sauvignon Blanc that it displays it's dazzling best”
Wooded Sauvignon Blanc is beginning to make a return from several farms. Do try it; the smoky wood lengthens its life and character. It is also known in French as Blanc Fumé (white smoked). We love it, but only if the wood is supporting, not overwhelming
34 producers submitted 38 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends this year and 15 producers sent in 18 wooded Sauvignons Blanc - a growing number. These wines were judged to be so outstanding that 23 blends and 11 of the wooded Sauvignon Blanc were rated 90 or higher on the 100-point quality scale. This shows such quality and finesse
The full list of wines is at the end of this story
We began with a glass of Nitida's The Matriarch MCC 2015
Jacqueline Lahoud of Winemag with the certificates which were about to be presented. Only those wines scoring 93 points or higher were given these
A small gathering, mainly of wine makers
Jean Daneel, Cape Point Vineyards' marketing manager Anetha Connan, Eagle's Nest winemaker Stuart Botha, Tokara GM Carl Lambour, Peter Allan Finlayson of Gabriëlskloof
Jos van Wyk, Marianne winemaker, Gosia Zielinska, sommelier at Pot Luck Club and Thierry  Haberer, French consultant winemaker at Marianne
Christian Eedes, Editor of Winemag.co.za
Certificates to Rikus Neethling, Bizoe Henrietta 2016
Peter Allan Finlayson of Gabriëlskloof
Highlands Road, winemaker Patricia Simkiss with Michael White
Natasha Williams of Nederburg
Cape Point Vineyards' marketing manager Anetha Connan
Jos van Wyk, Marianne
Nitida. As producer of the best wine overall, Nitida won a new 225-litre Sylvain Blanc barrel worth over R12 800, from Tonnellerie Sylvain, which was presented by Jean Daneel
Gabriëlskloof The Landscape Series Magdalena 2016. Old-vine Semillon from Franschhoek and Sauvignon Blanc from Gabriëlskloof. Very rich, with vanilla toasted oak wood. Needs time, but has it all
Highland Road Sine Cera 2015 from Elgin. Refined Semillon nose, nice and weighty Semillon, with some lovely layers of fruit, mutton fat and fruit acids to ensure long life
Nederburg Private Bin D252 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 with a temporary label. We could not find any of the Bin numbered wines on the website, so can give no details. It is shy on the nose to begin with, then opens up; in the lighter style but with good acidity and minerality. The 2011 will be in this year's Nederburg Auction
Nitida Coronata Integration 2016 51% Sauvignon Blanc 49% Semillon. This was the top scoring wine. Rich with some good pyrazines on the nose and a little sea air. Perfumed on the palate, rich, full, layered, harmonious, lighting one up, lovely fruit, full of liveliness and such a good mouth feel from the Semillon. Yes, we really do like this wine
Bizoe Henrietta 2016 is made by negotiant Rikus Neethling in Somerset West, buying in the Semillon from Franschhoek and the Sauvignon Blanc from Journey’s End in the Helderberg
Then the two wooded Sauvignons Blanc
Cape Point wooded Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2015. Green peas on the nose with a little elderflower. Clean on the palate with lean gooseberries and lime, the wood is nicely integrated and does not shout
Marianne 2016 Sauvignon Blanc has wood, cat’s pee and must on the nose, with lots of vanilla wood - they use batonage. Some oxidation, with light flavours which wake up with food
Lots of canapés were served, these were lovely fish cakes topped with a little tomato confit
Mozzarella, tomato jam and balsamic reduction on bread
A vegetarian platter especially for Jacqueline
Braised mushrooms on avocado
Smoked salmon with a garish pink mayonnaise
Michael White and winemaker Vanessa Simkiss with Highlands Road’s certificate
Duck spring rolls
fish on small bread rounds
Chicken Saté
A coot scoots across the pond
Spring is breaking through; after the recent rains, the grass is so lovely and green
And two ducks leave long wakes
A party beginning at the end of the awards ceremony. Some of the bottles needed finishing
Here is the full list of the wines and the points awarded:

The top Semillon Sauvignon Blanc Blends
93

Bizoe Henriëtta 2016
Gabrielskloof The Landscape Series Magdalena 2016
Highlands Road Sine Cera 2015
Nederburg Private Bin D252 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016
Nitida Coronata Integration 2016 (BEST OVERALL)

92

Benguela Cove Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2016
Constantia Uitsig Natura Vista 2015
Fairview Drie Papens Fontein Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Mulderbosch Faithful Hound White 2015
Stellenzicht The Ratio 2015

91
David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner The Bowline 2015
90

Celestina Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016
Constantia Glen TWO 2016
Creation Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016
Delaire Graff White Reserve 2016
Glenwood Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 
Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve White 2015
Iona One Man Band 2016
Kevin King Bassey 2015
Nitida Coronata Integration 2015
Vergelegen GVB White 2014
Zorgvliet Simoné 2016


Wooded Sauvignon Blanc

93
Marianne 2016
Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2015

92
Stark-Conde Round Mountain 2016
91
Klein Constantia Perdeblokke 2016
90

Authentique 2016
Glendirk 2016
Jordan The Outlier 2016
Klein Constantia Block 361 & 372 2015
Mulderbosch 1000 Miles 2015
Neil Ellis Amica 2016
Nitida Wild Child 2016

Posted by MENU at 2:31 pm 0 comments

Friday, September 01, 2017

This Week’s MENU. Vinimark Tasting, Witlof, Chenin Blanc Top 10, Matjiesfontein, Winter Witlof salad, Cederberg 2016 Chenin Blanc

Rain comes to a vineyard in Rawsonville
The pot is full to overflowing. Our biggest story of the week has been a trip to Matjiesfontein, with a half day ride to Sutherland an its observatory thrown in. Schedules went a bit awry, which is why this week’s MENU comes to you a little later than we’d like. With the other activities we have to report, our Matjiesfontein experience was more than we could fit into this week’s MENU, so we start it here and will continue that story next week, along with a fairly hectic few days’ stories ahead of us, so we hope that you will enjoy this first instalment and we’ll do our best to be on time with the rest of the story

Vinimark Trade tasting at the CTICC     
Lynne was catching up with articles for MENU and feeling a little stressed, so John went to the annual Vinimark trade tasting on his own. Vinimark is a huge organisation with a very large portfolio of excellent wine producers. We have been to several wine tastings recently and have tasted many of the wines on offer at this presentation, so John sampled as many wines as he could from producers whose wines we haven’t tasted recently

Have you tried Witlof? You should    
PRO Brian Berkman invited us to lunch this week at Den Anker in the Waterfront as he is promoting Witlof, also known as Belgian Endive and to some of us as white Chicory. It is often confused with the lettuce-like curly endive a.k.a. escarole or chicorée frisée in French which is grown outdoors

Chenin Blanc Shines its Sunshine on South Africa and the world - the 2017 STANDARD BANK CHENIN BLANC TOP 10 CHALLENGE WINNERS    
This happy grape, with so many different faces and guises is just the thing to warm up winter and cool down summer. It is the grape that is getting such good attention overseas for the many wonderful wines being produced and so well marketed overseas, thanks to the Chenin Blanc Association and Wines of South Africa. It has the Chenin Blanc Association says, become our calling card, offering such diversity of expression

August is the time of year when we get to taste the adjudged best Chenins in the land. The weather is usually showing signs of Spring but this year we are still in winter and it was a cold and wintry day at Delaire Graff at the top of Helshoogte pass for the Awards ceremony over a superb lunch....
A Journey into the past in Darkest Africa. To Matjiesfontein we go    
We were invited by Michael Pownall of PMR Group to stay at the famous Lord Milner Hotel in Matjiesfontein. It is in the deep Karoo, straight up the N1 motorway - direction Johannesburg - and while it seems further because the countryside keeps changing, it is a really reachable two and a half hour drive from Cape Town, through some of the most beautiful scenery of the Western Cape. OK, the Karoo, which you reach after about one and a half hours, is very dry scrubland which can only sustain some sheep farming but it is high, the air is clean and pure and the nights sparkle with stars. Even on a wintry day, there was much to see and enjoy. In summer it will be hot. As one of John's relatives used to say, "Once you leave the Cape, its miles and miles of bloody darkest Africa". He obviously had never been to the real undiscovered Africa, like the Congo! But driving long distances in the past was very tedious in the slow transport they had then....

What's on the Menu this week?    
This is a quick winter salad with lots of different textures. Use the best mozzarella you can find, and we don't mean that plastic stuff that comes in blocks used on pizza. Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. All you need to do is some tearing, chopping, crumbling and arranging for a great result. Witlof, white leaf in Dutch, is also known as Belgian Endive

Delicious Winter Witlof salad
Leaves from one or two witloof - a round Mozzarella or Burrata cheese - 1 avocado - a roll of mild creamy goats cheese - 20 mini tomatoes - 25 g of roughly chopped walnuts, pecans or pistachio nuts - Extra virgin olive oil - balsamic reduction - salt and freshly ground black pepper
Check that the Witlof is not sandy; wash and dry if it is. Then remove and fan out the leaves of the Witlof on a flat salad plate. Cut up the Mozzarella and avocado into bite sized pieces and strew them over the plate, then crumble the coats cheese over the salad. Add the tomatoes and the nuts. Dress with olive oil and a balsamic dressing or your favourite French or Italian salad dressing and season to taste. Serves 4
Menu's Wine of the Week   
We opened a bottle of Cederberg 2016 Chenin Blanc from our cellar. Not the prize winning Five Generations mentioned this week in our story about the Top Ten Chenins, but a lovely expression of this mutable grape. Cederberg winery is up in the high mountains of the Western Cape - they call them Wines with Altitude. Winemaker owner of Cederberg, David Nieuwoudt makes elegant wines in his mountain farm near Citrusdal. This has benefited from a year in the bottle; its dusty nose has whiffs of minerality and ripe pears. On the palate, it is lean and clean with limes, grapefruit and greengages. So good with all sorts of food. Sells for around R104

1st September 2017
RETURN TO MENU
Follow us on Facebook
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
If you like the photographs you see in our publications, please look at our Adamastor Photo website for our rate card and samples from our portfolio
Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs, recipes and text used in these newsletters and our blogs are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.
Posted by MENU at 2:04 am 0 comments

MENU's Wine of the Week. Cederberg 2016 Chenin Blanc

We opened a bottle of Cederberg 2016 Chenin Blanc from our cellar. Not the prize winning Five Generations mentioned this week in our story about the Top Ten Chenins, but a lovely expression of this mutable grape
Cederberg winery is up in the high mountains of the Western Cape  - they call them Wines with Altitude. Winemaker owner of Cederberg, David Nieuwoudt makes elegant wines  in his mountain farm near Citrusdal.  This has benefited from a year in the bottle; its dusty nose has whiffs of minerality and ripe pears. On the palate, it is lean and clean with limes, grapefruit and greengages.  So good with all sorts of food.  Sells for around R104
Posted by MENU at 12:00 am 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)