Thursday, February 15, 2018

Lady May - A Celebration of Glenelly’s Flagship Wine

A Celebration of Glenelly’s flagship wine
What an invitation, one we were very keen to accept, as this opportunity does not come often on wine farms. Not many farms, in making their top wines, celebrate the vintage and let the wine express it, rather than trying to fit into an annual 'recipe'. On Glenelly in Ida's Valley in Stellenbosch, winemaker Luke O'Cuinneagain told us they often have vintage variations and he has to let the wines speak for themselves. And they certainly do, in a very good way, while still being recognisable as themselves
Our programme for the day was: 10.30am sharp: Meeting at the winery: Welcome by Nicolas Bureau (Madame’s grandson) and Posy Hazell. 10.40am Grape tasting in the vineyard with viticulturist Heinrich Louw. 11.20am: Lady May tasting with Luke O’Cuinneagain in the barrel cellar 12.20pm: Tasting and unveiling of the Lady May 2012 with May de Lencquesaing in the Glass Museum 1.00pm: Lunch in The Vine Bistro hosted by Nicolas Bureau, Luke O'Cuinneagain, Susan Dehosse and Posy Hazell. 2.30pm: end
 The entrance. Glenelly was founded in 2003 by Mme May-Éliane de Lencquesaing, who was the owner of Second Growth Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Bordeaux until she sold it to the Roederer Champagne house. She started afresh, planting vines where there had been orchards of fruit trees. It is a valley with good soils and microclimates, with vineyards facing many different directions. They have 60 hectares. The aim always has been to plant Bordeaux grapes and produce fine wines
In the wine tasting area where we gathered and met Madame May's grandson Nicolas Bureau
The views from the modern 6000 square meter environmentally friendly winery - completed in 2008 - are superb
We head out to see the vineyards, taste some of the Merlot grapes and watch the staff picking the Cabernet in the distance. It was HOT
Madame May's grandson Nicolas Bureau, who is their export director
Viticulturist Heinrich Louw gave us the lowdown on the vineyards, the terroir, the soil and the climate. He is passionate about his vineyards, mostly on Hutton and Clovelly decomposed granite soils, topped with a layer of surface clay in some areas. He subscribes to "giving them great attention, minimal intervention and using sustainable techniques"
Really healthy grapes in huge trusses. There was bad hail in the valley during the week, with hailstones the size of ice cubes but, because of the protective canopy and the direction of the rows, there was minimal damage to the grapes
The Merlot was being picked on the East facing slope
Down the rows of neat Cabernet Sauvignon vines. These will probably only be picked in about three weeks time. The grapes tasted of the classic cassis but need more time to gain depth of flavour
Very fecund vines
A shady glade in the middle
Heinrich picked a bunch for us to see how small Cabernet grapes are. These are very healthy
Winemaker Luke O'Cuinneagain joined us. He started at Glenelly in 2007 and did the first Glenelly harvest in 2008
Grapes coming in for crushing
The barrel cellar. Oh, the smell of a cellar with good wine fermenting in it is wonderful. They do not use air conditioning, the building is built in such a way that there is a solar thermal mode, so heat has little impact and they get constant stable temperatures, without spikes and troughs, which is what good wine needs to mature
A tasting of the several vintages of their flagship wine, Lady May, had been set up in the cellar for us. It is a classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with just a splash of Merlot and Petit Verdot
We began with the first vintage 2008. Luke told us it was cold and wet winter and spring and they had to harvest in the rain, just as they have to in Bordeaux. This was 90% Cabernet and 10% Petit Verdot. They often put this wine in a Master of Wine tasting and no one picks up that it is from South Africa. It begins quite austere, but then softens and begins to open up and, suddenly, it is not shy anymore, with the fruit saying “hello” loudly. Dark claret in colour with browning rim, this has cassis, cherries and incense wood with pencil shavings on the amazing nose which keeps opening and evolving in the glass. Silky and full of Cabernet fruit, with chalky, grippy fruit tannins and some leafy greenness which adds freshness, tobacco hints and some violets on the end. A powerful wine. Luke uses medium to medium plus toast 300 litre new oak barrels for 24 months minimum. The 2009 has liquorice and black berry fruit and its very attractive nose has some violets from the Petit Verdot. This was picked in a warm summer and has rich ripe berries, with explosive fruit. Dry chalky tannins, more liquorice and marmite, with long, strong flavours, some graphite, and a slight bitterness (from the wood ?) on the end. Tim Atkin has awarded the 2013 an astounding 95 points.
We then tasted the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a slightly lactic nose, is dark garnet and opaque.. Cassis and morello cherries, pencil shavings, incense wood and some herbal notes. Spent 12 months in new French oak. Lovely fruit on the palate, intense, attractive and sweet with some soft chalky tannins and no bitterness
We also had a taste of the Petit Verdot. So full of Parma violets on the nose with red and black cherries. So attractive. On the palate, still mouth puckering tannins, chalk and cassis and rhubarb on the end. Some black pepper spice and pencil shaving wood
 Luke guiding us through the tasting. And then the Cab Franc. Incense wood, green leaves, berries are shyly in the background and hints of Chanel perfume. As you swirl the wine opens, showing mushrooms and forest floor with some oaty notes from the wood. Tight berries, jujube flavours, like Rowntree’s blackcurrant gums, clean on the palate. Some green notes appear with pencil shavings as the wine opens up. We liked all three and wanted to try to make a blend of them to see what the result might be. But it was time to head to the restaurant for lunch
Lots of questions to answer about the wines and the making of them
The tanks for the two Chardonnays. one goes into oak
The cellar has lovely views over Ida’s Valley
Our table in the restaurant
You can also eat out on the shaded terrace
The menu for the day. The chef is Christophe Dehosse, a Frenchman from Provence who also has a Bistro restaurant at Joostenberg. His food is always exciting and a good blend of French with South African ingredients
The Glenelly Estate 2016 Chardonnay was just what we needed with the first course. A golden nose of perfumed peaches, a hint of the sea, crisp and full in a classic French style, ending with refreshing lime and lemon notes
Oh what an astoundingly good dish this was. Billed simply as Tomato consommé with yellowtail and langoustine, it was delicate but complex and was made with sieved tomato water, small cubes of tomato concasse and cucumber; a cool broth of summer, dressed with green olive oil and fennel, coriander and chive herbs, topped with crisped basil leaves. And in the bottom ceviché of yellowtail and langoustine tails that gave the broth a hint of the sea. There was good sourdough bread on the table as an accompaniment
The Lady May 2012, which is just being launched, was served with the next course. Its incense wood notes with layers of deep cassis, cherry and berry fruit, fresh and slightly warmly alcoholic. It was a poem with the roast lamb ...
... which was the main course. Perfectly cooked fillet of lamb, tender and pink, roast root vegetables, and puffs of light-as-air Parisienne gnocchi, well roasted onions, beetroot, heritage carrots with a thyme jus extraordinaire. And what Lynne thought was a magnificent faggot (chef likes using offal) but Christoph explained was a lamb mince kofta. So nice to see properly roasted onion: onion just seared on one face is what most chefs are serving at the moment and they are mostly inedible
For one guest who does not eat meat, a Seafood Bouillabaisse, which is on the normal menu. Might have to go back and try that, soon
Then the 2010 Lady May, which has soft sweet fruit, is powerful with lovely chalky tannins; this wine is soft and delicious. Drinking at its peak
This was perfect for the final course of local cheeses with fresh figs, nuts and grapes from the vineyards
Chef Patron Christophe Dehosse just making a quick appearance out of his hot kitchen so we could thank him
The beautiful Simonsberg mountains as we left for home after some good double espressos and their trademark Canelle from Bordeaux, which we can never get enough of... Thank you all at Glenelly for a truly marvellous day with great wine and food

Meeting the new winemaker and chef at An Expression of Chenin Blanc at Grande Provence

It has been a while since we last visited this farm, and in the interim period wine maker Hagen Viljoen has joined. We were invited for the release of the new 2017 Chenin Blanc, Grand Provence's new single varietal wine. He says “For many, Chenin Blanc is one of South Africa’s top wine varieties and has a strong claim for pole position when it comes to being the driver for brand South Africa. The ready access to a rich heritage of old vineyards, as well as the variety’s versatility of styles certainly re-enforces this claim”. And Chenin would be the main focus of the wine with lunch
The farm has a very good art gallery and the gardens are filled with sculptures
The fine dining restaurant
We like the new feeling of lightness that pervades Grande Provence and we were interested to see how popular it is. The outside tables were full all through the lunch time and afterwards, with people enjoying tastings and having light lunches
Media were directed to the Oyster Bar and given a glass of the Grande Provence MCC Brut, a blend of 50% each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
It was a very hot day and this was extremely welcome as was the ice cold water served
There were plumptious three bite oysters for those who could partake
We gathered under the trees at the Oyster Bar
Wine merchant Mike Bampfield Duggan
Tables laid for tastings under the trees
Luckily we were ushered into The Jonkershuis, where it was cool and a long table had been set up for lunch. We were to taste the wines with the dishes
Winemaker Hagen Viljoen
General Manager of Grande Province Ivan Oertle CWM. Ivan is also the Sales and Marketing Manager - Local and International Sales. He was previously the wine buyer at Woolworths
The new 2017 Chenin Blanc. It is Hagen's first wine for Grande Provence. A dusty nose with hints of English gooseberries, at first it is dry on the palate then the fruit powerfully bursts through, golden apricots, passion fruit, guava and a nice citrus shot of acidity. We were served some good sourdough bread and an unusual nut dip, the wine was very special in this combination
The menu
It also was the perfect match for the much enjoyed starter of firm Gin cured Yellowtail, with a Yuzu foam, and avocado purée, carrot fronts and some crisp sago crackers, rather like those prawn crackers you get in Chinese restaurants - we liked them. It also had some kohlrabi slices, but they were rather superfluous. We like kohlrabi but felt it didn't add anything to the dish
Next came two vintages of the Grande Provence White, a blend of 56% Chenin Blanc and 44% Viognier. Normally when this much viognier is added it takes over, but it didn't dominate in either of these vintages. The 2015 has the label, the 2016 is about to be released and has not yet been labelled. On the 2015 there are lees and wood notes, with apples and pears. A nice full, rounded palate followed by a crisp prickle and a long flavours of caramel apple tart tatin ending with a hint of wood smoke. The 2016 is similar, just a bit fresher, with lemons and peaches on the nose, and no wood visible. Citrus crisp on the palate, then the wood appears. Dry chalky tannins a little mouth puckering and lots of cooked apples and pears - they described them as pomme fruits. The room was split 50/50 on which was the favourite, so do try both of these wines if you can and see which you prefer
Executive Chef Guy Bennett came to tell us about his menu. He is a Capetonian who has worked his way up the ranks alongside some of Cape Town’s most celebrated culinary masters. After completing apprenticeships at Savoy Cabbage and Buitenverwachting in his early twenties, Guy joined Reuben Riffel at the One and Only and later moved to The Robertson Small Hotel. He was soon snatched up by Delaire Graff Restaurant where he worked as Michael Deg’s right hand man. His last stint before joining Grande Provence was head chef for Bertus Basson. Guy has taken over from Darren Badenhorst, who has opened his own restaurant, in Franschhoek
The long table during lunch
The course that was paired with the two vintages of the Grande Provence White was a tribute to cauliflower. A risotto of cauliflower and mushrooms with a perfect' bite', a rich brie cream and perfectly cooked wood smoked sautéed porcini which went so well with the wood notes on the wine. There were small florets of curried and pickled cauliflower which contrasted well. There were lots of other bits and textures of cauliflower as well - puréed, raw, grilled but perhaps a bit too much. The stars were the risotto and the cooked mushrooms. There was also a smear of well burnt sage butter on the side of the bowl
John had his without mushrooms
Love the chandelier! Now you don't have to recycle ALL of your wine bottles.
Hagen then told us about the next wine which was the pairing with the main course. It is an Amphora wine which was made by his predecessor Matthew van Heerden.
Called appropriately Amphora 2016 and made from Chenin Blanc and Muscat de Alexandrie, it is most unusual but not unenjoyable. The herbal green nose is like being in a pesto factory, it has so many herbal notes, so different. On the palate apples and limes with dry tannins and a back of the throat almost spirity volatility. Not a sherry substitute. This wine will certainly engage and fascinate the wine world
The course it was paired with was a small slice of belly of pork, topped with a peach  purée and crisp popcorn crackling and fresh figs. It came with both a potato  purée and a square of gratin sliced layers of potato that had been crisp pan roasted in butter. There was a ripe peach fluid gel and a slice of seared peach which made the dish nicely fruity and cut the fat of the pork. Oh and a good rich puddle of concentrated pork pan juices. A very good match for the Amphora as well as the new 2017 Chenin which many of us called for to retaste with this dish
Grande Provence have made Angels Tears for many, many years and it is deservedly popular. Made from Muscat and Chenin grapes it has now evolved into a dryer wine than it was previously and is all the better for it, as the dryness adds character and loses the slight sickly sweetness it once had. A charming nose of pure rose petals, and a palate of only slightly sweet, refreshing dusty Chenin. This was served with dessert and is certainly one to consider as a dessert wine and a wine for spicy food. The Natural Sweet 2017 has Alc/Vol 11.5% | pH 3.48 | R.S. 26g/l | TA 5.5g/l
The menu description of the dessert said passion fruit sorbet, but it tasted like good mango, which is in season. This was on a hazelnut crumb base and accompanied by a rich creamy honey parfait, sprinkled with toasted coconut, that was fighting the heat. It was topped with a plain tuile and set on slices of poached pear and a gel of what we think was pear but it could have been litchi? Another good pairing, with the wine washing away the rich cream. A very nice way to showcase both the wines and the food and refreshing to see the winemaker and the chef working so well together. Thank you Grande Provence for a great experience

This Week’s MENU. Thali Franschhoek Summer Wines, Lunch at French Connection, Bellevue with the Wine Club, Razvan Macici, Poached Salmon, Mooiplaas Bush Vine Chenin


One of the joys of summer. Sitting under a Stellenbosch oak, tasting wonderful wines
There’s a magic word in the air: “RAIN!” The forecast says that we should have good rain on Friday and Saturday. Even if it only lets us have the thrill of feeling it on our skins, it will be a huge delight. Doomsday, or Day Zero as it is referred to, the day when Cape Town will run out of water, has been pushed back from April to May, largely because the farmers of Elgin and Grabouw have donated the contents of their private dams and because they and other farmers need to use much less water than they did before harvest. We still have no idea what the coming winter’s rain will be like, so we still need to be very careful, It can be done; we have used only 4000 litres in 3 months in our home.

Once in a while you must treat yourself to a top restaurant to see what the food trends are and what the top chefs are doing. This week we joined friends for lunch to try out our Eat Out Top Chef of the Year, Liam Tomlin's take on an Indian restaurant, Thali in Park Street just off Kloof Street in Town. http://www.thalitapas.co.za/ It was quite an experience, expensive, yes, but a great exploration and certainly lots of food. A thali is a collection of small dishes served on a tray for one to combine with rice and flat breads, a complete meal in one. Now being referred to as Indian Tapas (but unlike tapas, you don't choose your individual dishes, unless you order off the a la carte menu), it's seasonal and what the chef makes that day or week or month. Often it is mainly vegetarian with some meat added and usually a textural and flavour experience. Here you get a tray for two to share, which come as courses. It costs R700 for two

We do love attending this annual festival in Franschhoek. It is well organised, well attended, friendly and the wines are always impressive. This year many were more than that. Yes it is hot, it’s summer, but they do put up marquees and lots of umbrellas. It is held on the lawn at Leopards Leap Vineyards where there is plenty of parking. Tickets were a very reasonable R150 pp this year. We were invited to come along and write about it

It only takes a minute to plan and get a good table on the terrace! While we were at the Franschhoek Summer Wines festival we knew in advance that it was going to be very hot, especially at midday. So we decided we would escape the heat and go and have lunch in the village and return to the festival later when it was cooler.  Who has a menu that will allow you to have a small salad or a grand gourmet meal?  Chef Matthew Gordon has at his restaurant The French Connection on Main Road. And he has a great chef there, Shirene Patrick who was head chef at his restaurant Harvest at Laborie (now sadly closed) and who has 'come home' to her roots in Franschhoek

We enjoyed our brief lunch and recent visits to Bellevue so much that we took our Wine Club there for our first meeting of the year on Sunday. Dirkie Morkel did a really thorough tasting and the club members so enjoyed their day and the lunch. They certainly bought a lot of wine to take home
     

Razvan Macici at Ormonde
Ormonde Wine Estate in Darling has announced that former Nederburg Cellarmaster Razvan Macici has joined them and is responsible for all winemaking activities on the estate. Razvan was Nederburg Cellarmaster from 2001 to 2015, when he was appointed as Distell’s Head of Winemaking, holding that position until 2017. He guided Nederburg to the award of Platter Winery of the Year for 2011 and was 2012 Diner’s Club Winemaker of the year. Nederburg, a Distell label, was Platter Winery of the Year in 2017. In addition to his responsibilities at Ormonde, Razvan will continue to develop his own boutique cellar in Romania. His first vintage there was made in 2017. If you would like more information about Razvan Macici or Ormonde Wines, please contact Berinda Basson at 022 492 3540 or email at info@ormonde.co.za. We wish him much success and joy in his new ventures.

Most people nowadays sear their salmon and the art of gently poaching fish is being lost. If done correctly, it is quick and keeps the fish soft and moist. We had this with some depodded baby broad beans, a tomato and basil salad and some duck fat confit potatoes. You can use any garden herbs from your garden in the sauce, but if you use very strong herbs like rosemary and basil, they will dominate and overshadow the delicate salmon.
1 small finely sliced onion - 1 medium carrot, finely chopped - 1 stalk celery, finely chopped - 2 bay leaves - 6 whole peppercorns - ½ cup dry white wine - water
4 salmon fillets (170 grams each) or one whole piece of salmon weighing 700g, deboned
In a 25 cm frying pan, combine the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and dry white wine. Add enough water to come to a depth of approx 4 cm. Bring this to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper; place them carefully in the pan skin side down, cover with a lid and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand until fillets are opaque, 8 to 12 minutes. Serve warm with the Lemon & Herb Cream sauce.
Lemon & Herb Cream sauce
200 ml double cream - 2 tspns reduced chicken or fish stock - 1 Tbspn chopped chives - 1 tspn chopped parsley - 1 tspn freshly chopped thyme - 1 tspn chopped lemon verbena - 1 to 2 tspns fresh lemon juice - salt and pepper.
Stir the stock into the double cream in a small sauce pan, then add the finely chopped herbs and then the lemon juice to taste. Warm through, do not boil or the sauce will split. Season to taste and serve.

This is quite unusual for a Chenin, with aromas of a rich apple Tart Tatin on flaky pastry, perhaps more like a Chardonnay. It draws you in with mature cooked apples and citrus flavours; it is rounded and delicious with just a hint of lime and salt on the end. It also makes one’s mouth water so it is a perfect food wine. We had it with our Salmon dish and it was a great match.

8th February 2018

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
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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 me