Thursday, March 29, 2018

Lunch at The Long Table, Haskell Vineyards, Stellenbosch

We were invited to sample the new menu as Haskell have reopened the Long Table restaurant. They call it a small plate menu, with dishes that you can share; they say four per couple would be ample and we agree
Some beautifully carved furniture was discovered in the cellar, it has been brought up to the restaurant to display
And is currently being oiled to preserve the wood and the fine carving
Haskell wine
We began with a glass of the Dabar MCC, which was made by Haskell winemaker Rianie Strydom. It is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir
Can't you just picture yourself having lunch in this lovely setting, under the trees with a Stellenbosch valley stretching out in front of you and the mountains behind
Lots of outdoor seating and also plenty inside for chillier days
The tasting room
The glass doors close in inclement weather
More indoor space
Vines turning to autumn colours as harvest comes to an end
High vineyards, blue mountains
In the kitchen, Head Chef Charles Joubert and his team work on lunch. He was previously at Terroir restaurant under acclaimed Chef Mike Broughton. He brings with him a passion for finely crafted food and a palate attuned to food and wine matching
The media table
Chef Charles comes to tell us about what we will have for lunch, which will be served family style for us to help ourselves. A good way to eat when trying out a restaurant’s food
Rianie Strydom, GM and Cellar master (should that be mistress?) for Haskell Wines. Haskell’s second label Dombeya wines are also served at the Long Table restaurant. Just back from ProWein in Germany, she took time off from harvest to be with us
The Chicken liver parfait, with a red wine marmalade and a fig tart tatin. The parfait was soft and velvety, not too set, with good iron rich flavours, the pastry on the tart was light flaky and crumbly and this is one to copy now as figs are in season at last
The ceviché of fishy thinly sliced Cape Salmon was in a light, slightly shy ginger shallot dressing, it was topped with crisp fish skin, sesame rice crackers and radishes. Applauded by those who enjoy fish skin
Tiny warm rolls for the parfait
The delicious salt baked beetroot served with local goat’s cheese served two ways, creamy and crumbly. A rich earthy beetroot sorbet and hazelnuts came with a local honey and balsamic vinaigrette. The slices of heritage candy beetroot lit up the plate. This is a great combination and also goes very well with a good Sauvignon Blanc like the Dombeya
Each couple at the table was served these dishes to share
We were served the 2016 Haskell Anvil Chardonnay with lunch, and this versatile wine was a very good pairing for the food. It is lightly wooded, crisp with lemon and limes, and ends with toffee vanilla wood. The red wine served was the 2014 Dombeya Boulder Road Syrah, rich red berries, spice and dark licorice wood
Another of the dishes was the squid and Chorizo, Really crisp battered tentacles, soft rolls of squid and just a few crisp slices of spicy chorizo below. It came with a squid ink vinaigrette, deep fried kale, broccoli, baby potatoes and confit onions. One to return for, again and again...
The pink sous vide belly of pork is one of the main meat dishes and is topped with grilled pineapple and pork crackling. Not too fatty, very tender but proper crackling would be nicer than this airy crisp which has texture but no flavour. Served with a mango chutney and a fermented chilli sauce
For vegetarians and Lynne, the dish of the day, light pillows of fried potato gnocchi with a mushroom ketchup, butternut squash and gorgonzola cream. This is not the only vegetarian dish; besides the beetroot, they also have a Tomato risotto on the current menu
Dessert was a classic Apple strudel, well rolled with thin crisp pastry, good spices, topped with a burnt honey ice cream and a Crème Anglaise foam. We really like Chef Charles' food; he is not throwing lots of unconnected ingredients at the plate (as so many chefs are doing at the moment). Everything that is there should be there and the flavours are clear, right and uncomplicated. And, of course, properly cooked
Posted by MENU at 6:36 pm 0 comments

A day in Franschhoek 2: An Appointment with the Winemaker at Chamonix

Continuing our day in Franschhoek, we had arranged to meet winemaker Thinus Neethling in the tasting room. The farm is above Franschhoek on the right hand side when you enter the village. It is also on the Franschhoek Tram route. The farm has been owned by German businessman Chris Hellinger, who bought the farm over a quarter of a century ago. We were so pleased to see that they have extended the seating area for the Tasting room outside in the sunshine. Inside can be a little dark.
Catching up! Thinus is Cellarmaster, winemaker and viticulturist. We were joined a bit later by Bernard Dewey, the Sales and Marketing Manager
We began with the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc, a good classic South African SB on the nose, grassy, green leaves and some honey on the nose; this is not in the tropical style, and is crisp and clean and very refreshing with zingy acids and green capsicum on the end. The 2017 Unoaked Chardonnay has golden fruit on the nose, and is a quaffing wine, with crisp citrus and peach notes and some nice chalk on the end
The wooded Bordeaux style 2015 Reserve White blend has some 79% Sauvignon Blanc & 21% Semillon added and is redolent of lemon and wood on the nose , on the palate rich with wood and citrus fruit, and some creamy complexity
The star white wine of Chamonix is the 2006 Reserve White 73% Sauvignon Blanc and 27% Semillon which wine writer Tim Atkin MW scored a high 95. This is more elegant and perfumed and very French in style. Crisp citrus with nice gentle wood, long citrus flavours on the end, a truly impressive wine
Then two vintages of wooded Reserve Chardonnay. The 2015 has vanilla oak, from 14 months in French barrels, 70% new, 10% second fill and 205 in a concrete egg. Crisp and fresh with long flavours, wood follows with nice smoke on the end, will age well. The 2016 is shy on the nose at first with smoke, lemon and citrus. Rich flavours on the palate belie the quiet nose, more
Time to switch to red and we started with the 2016 Feldspar Pinot Noir. Balsam hints and very ripe fruit on the nose with some rose perfume. Heady with good fruit, warmth and more of those roses, lovely to drink, a good food wine
Then the 2015 Reserve Pinot Noir, a green leafy nose with a hint of eucalyptus and balsam beneath some mushrooms. Full-on warm wine, silky and fruity with a minty eucalyptus hint, long fruit, prunes and strawberries, The 2016 Reserve Pinot Noir has smoke with some faint eucalyptus, intriguing, and pretty with roses and quality. A little like the Hemel and Aarde Pinot style. Full palate of ripe raspberries, mulberries, a success. Also a bit French, but not shy in fruit and delivery
Then the 2015 Greywacke Pinotage of which 30% has been 18 months in new French oak barrels. An interesting fruit driven nose, The wine has had some repasso treatment, where it is added to a cask containing the skins and lees left over from recently fermented wine. This triggers a second fermentation and increases colour, depth and alcohol. It has good fruit, prunes, plums and raspberries, chalky tannins with some toasted wood on the end and no metallic flavours. A wine made to last and age well
We paused for some light lunch with two of Chamonix's meat and cheese platters
The Cabernet Franc 2015 is savoury with dark berry nose, and perfume. Hot savouriness, smoke blueberries and cassis, delicious
Then the flagship red, 2015 Troika, 48% Cabernet Franc, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and 15% Petite Verdot. Balsam, cassis and violets, sweet berry fruit warm alcohol, will go well with spicy foods with a good savoury end from the Cabernet Franc
Then a cellar tour. Thinus told us that they farm dry land, they use organic yeast from Germany and they spray just copper sulphate and sulphur when necessary, no other chemicals are used
The cellar has a black mould which was specially imported from Germany, it keeps away other moulds
They were in the middle of harvest, so we were very grateful to Thinus for his time spent with us
We met Mrs Barbara Hellinger in the cellar; she was just off to Germany to see her husband, Chris
Lovely view from the cellar door
Some of the very old and very large German barrels which are still being used in the cellar
Destemmed grapes pouring in to the open-topped barrel 
Purple grapes
delivered by tractor

The Franschhoek Tram comes to drop off and pick up visitors
Posted by MENU at 4:08 pm 0 comments

A Day in Franschhoek 1: A morning visit to Stony Brook in Franschhoek

What do you do the following day when you have stayed the night in Franschhoek? Well, of course, you visit some of the farms who have invited you to come and see them. Especially those that you have been meaning to visit for a long time.
So we began at Stony Brook, which is at the top of the Valley, turn right at the Monument and wind your way along Green Valley Road until you see their sign on the left. Owned by the McNaught family, this is truly a family run farm. Nigel McNaught's wife Joy runs the tasting room and son Craig is the winemaker. 14 hectares of this 23 hectare farm are under vines. The focus from the beginning at this boutique winery was on crafting premium-quality wines that reflected the area and the styles of wine that excited them
Joy in the Tasting room was busy dealing with orders when we arrived
She came and sat with us on the terrace and guided us through their tasting
We began with the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc made from Elgin fruit; They believe that Franschhoek does not grow good Sauvignon Blancs. This is perfumed on the nose, leesy, full of greengage plums and tropical notes with good dry tannins. Very different and enjoyable.
Then the J (on the left below), an interesting blend of 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 35 % Viognier and 10% barrel fermented and matured Semillon. The wine was designed to go with spicy food like Thai or Chinese. Perfumed with peaches, this has a rich textures and flavours, with layered peaches and other fruits, and is nicely dry on the finish.
The flagship Ghost Gum White wine, 2014 (on the right) is a blend of 2/3 Chardonnay and 1/3 Semillon; lovely citrus and pear flavours with a mouth-filling creamy finish from the Semillon
Plants surviving the drought
Then we tasted the 2014 SMV a blend of 65% Shiraz, 32% Mourvedre and 3% Viognier. This wine is in the Rhone style and designed to go with rich meaty dishes. Cherries and berries on the nose and palate, with soft juicy tannins, a dark toast and licorice end, made to last too. Then 2014 The Max named after the dog with attitude who roams the tasting area, a friendly ?? 50% Cabernet Sauvignon 40% Merlot, 10% Malbec this wine has spent 224 months on wood, 40% new and 60 second fill. The grapes are hand sorted so no greenness gets into the wine. Cassis perfume, incense wood, minerality on the nose, silky soft on the palate very intense berries, chewy tannins, long fruit flavours with the wood just carefully supporting with some chalky tannins on the end. Another 4.5 Platter wine that impresses
The terrace is nicely sheltered by the trees and umbrellas
Our final wine was the flagship Ghost Gum 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, 100% new French oak for 32 months, this has the classic Cabernet Cassis nose, Pure cassis on the palate with warmth from the sunny fruit, nice chalky tannin. The fruit stays pure on the palate. One to invest in. Impressive and worth more than its 4.5 stars in Platter. Clean elegant and well integrated, with richness and zingy citrus flavours than light toasted French oak on the end which holds it all together
 The Flagship Ghost Gum wines are named for this magnificent eucalyptus tree, which is difficult to photograph
Thank you Joy for a really great tasting, and for the signed copy of your book, we are so grateful for your time 
Posted by MENU at 3:20 pm 0 comments
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