Thursday, July 19, 2018

The TOPS at SPAR Cape Town wine show

Tops at Spar Wine Show took place at Grand West Casino last weekend and we were invited by Jon Meinking to visit the show and taste 16 wines blind in his SA Wine Showcase Theatre. What a fun experience; we tasted so many good wines and some were really unusual. Good news for those of you in other cities, this show is travelling round the country and will be in Port Elizabeth 26th to 28th July and in Nelspruit from 29th November to 1st December. It has already been to Durban and Johannesburg

The theme in Cape Town was Winter Wonderland and it was snowing inside as we arrived (OK fake snow machines, but fun)

Two wine princesses to welcome you

Jon did three tastings on Friday. The show opened at 5 pm and we arrived just in time for his 5.15 tasting, Friday night traffic nearly made us late

Jon about to launch proceedings. You taste 16 different wines (they are all represented at the show), and try to guess the varietals and anything else you can manage, like the farm, the area and even the age! Not many of us got beyond the varietal and we were not particularly good at that!

Asking for comments from the audience. The wines were quite challenging to one’s perceptions and there were a couple in there that we mistook for wines that we know and love. Overall it was a great tasting and much enjoyed by the people attending, who contributed a lot at our session. Nice to see Jon's parents in the front row

After the session was over, we had time to explore the show for a while and kept bumping into people whom we know in the industry, like Jax Lahoud of winemag.co.za

Loved this bit of cork art!

There are three theatres of wine; this one was not open while we were there

And at the Tops at Spar shop you could buy any of the wines

We tasted some wine and chatted at the Viljoensdrift stand - they are in Robertson

and stopped for a chat at the NSRI stand, one of the charities we support, an essential one if you live by the sea

Tasted and chatted at the Overhex wines stand from Worcester. They are beginning to wine good awards and recognition for their wines. Their Survivor Sauvignon blanc won a Gold Medal in this year’s Old Mutual Trophy competition

Then to Laborie to taste one of our favourite Blanc de Blanc MCC bubblies from KWV

Saying hello on the Stofberg Family Wines Stand to Mariette and her husband. They are from the Breedekloof area. We particularly like their Mia Chenin blanc

Who or what is Die Mas from Kakamas? Well it’s a wine farm that makes wine, gin and brandy in the Northern Cape Kalahari. The Brandy called Die Kalahari Truffle would not pass the Trade Descriptions Act in the UK, as it does not contain any truffle. We were sad about that, it could have been interesting

And finally, our friends on the Perdeberg stand, led by Johan van Dyk, Perdeberg's marketing manager. Yet again we were blown away by the quality of their Chenin Blancs. Lynne bought a case of the Dry Land Reserve Chenin and John a case of the Perdeberg everyday drinking Chenin Blanc

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Friday, July 13, 2018

CAROLINE’S ANNUAL RED WINE REVIEW 2018

Diarise now, Thursday 26th July

CAROLINE’S ANNUAL RED WINE REVIEW at The Table Bay Hotel, V&A Waterfront.

Meet the top sixty South African red winemakers and taste their best red wine.

Tickets available @ R300 at Computicket only as of now. Time: 17h00 - 21h00

Caroline’s Annual Red Wine Review is one of the most important events on the South African wine calendar.

It is a showcase of a maximum of 60 wineries that have consistently achieved the highest accolades in all the top competitive platforms. Each of the selected wineries is invited to show just one wine for tasting by the guests. This must be their flagship red wine, and it will be shown by the winemaker personally. One can engage with them in an organised yet informal atmosphere in the ballroom of The Table Bay Hotel, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.

Time: 17h00 until 21h00. Arrive anytime (latest 19h30), and get your programme and crystal tasting glass at the entrance.

Tickets @ R300 are available exclusively at Computicket. Numbers strictly limited to 400 guests. Bookings OPEN Monday 25th June.

WINERIES	WINE	YEAR	WINEMAKER
Anthonij Rupert	Cabernet Franc	2012	Dawie Botha
Beaumont	Mourvedre	2014	Sebastian Beaumont
Beeslaar	Pinotage	2016	Abrie Beeslaar
Bellingham	Bernard Series SMV ( Rhone Blend )	2015	Richard Duckitt
Boekenhoutskloof	Boekenhoutskloof Syrah	2015	Gottfried Mocke
Bouchard Finlayson	Galpin Peak Pinot Noir	2016	Chris Albrecht
Cape Chamonix	Pinot Noir Reserve	2016	Thinus Neethling
Catherine Marshall	Peter’s Vision ( Bordeaux Blend )	2015	Catherine Marshall
Cederberg	Five Generations Cabernet Sauvignon	2016	David Nieuwoudt
Constantia Glen	Five ( Bordeaux Blend )	2013	Justin Van Wyk
Creation	The Art of Creation Pinot Noir	2016	Jean Claude Martin
Dalla Cia	Dalla Cia Giorgio ( Bordeaux Blend )	2015	Giorgio Dalla Cia
David & Nadia	Elpidios ( Rhone Blend )	2016	David Sadie
De Trafford	Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	David Trafford
Delaire Graff	Estate Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	Morne Vrey
Eagles’ Nest	Eagles’ Nest Shiraz	2015	Duran Cornhill
Ernie Els	Signature ( Bordeaux Blend )	2013	Louis Strydom
Ghost Corner	Pinot Noir	2016	Alex Nel
Grangehurst	Cabernet Sauvignon	2008	Jeremy Walker
Groot Constantia	Gouverneurs Reserve ( Bordeaux Blend )	2015	Boela Gerber
Hamilton Russell	Pinot Noir	2017	Emul Ross
Hartenberg Estate	The Stork Shiraz	2014	Patrick Ngamane
Iona	Solace Syrah	2015	Werner Muller
Jordan	Cobblers Hill ( Bordeaux Blend )	2015	Sjaak Nelson
Kaapzicht	Steytler Pinotage	2015	Danie Steytler
Kanonkop	Paul Sauer ( Bordeaux Blend )	2015	Abrie Beeslaar
Keermont	Estate Reserve	2013	Alex Starey
Ken Forrester	Three Halves ( Rhone Blend )	2011	Shawn Mathyse
Kleine Zalze	Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon	2016	RJ Botha
La Motte	Pierneef Syrah-Viognier	2016	Johan Hurter
Laibach	Claypot Merlot	2015	Francois Van Zyl
Lanzerac	Pionier Pinotage	2015	Wynand Lategan
Le Riche	Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	Christo Le Riche
Leeu Passant	Dry Red Wine	2016	Andrea Mullineux
Lourensford	Chrysalis	2015	Hannes Nel
Luddite	Luddite Shiraz	2014	Alice Verburg
Moreson	Môreson MKM Pinotage	2015	Clayton Reabow
Morgenster	Estate Reserve ( Bordeaux Blend )	2011	Henry Kotze
Nederburg	Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon	2013	Samuel Viljoen
Neil Ellis Wines	Web Ellis (Red Blend)	2012	Warren Ellis
Nico van der Merwe Wines	Nicolas van der Merwe Syrah	2015	Nico van der Merw3e
Oak Valley	Groenlandberg Pinot Noir	2017	Quentin Gobregts
Paul Cluver	Seven Flags Pinot Noir	2016	Andries Burger
Raats	Family Cabernet Franc	2015	Bruwer Raats
Radford Dale	Syrah		Edouard Labeye
Remhoogte	Sir Thomas Cullinan ( Bordeaux Blend )	2014	Chris Boustred
Reyneke	Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	Rudiger Gretschel
Richard Kershaw	Elgin Clonal Selection Syrah	2016	Richard Kershaw
Rijk’s Cellar	Pinotage-Syrah	2014	Pierre Wahl
Rupert & Rothschild	Baron Edmond ( Bordeaux Blend )	2014	Yvonne Lester
Rustenberg	Peter Barlow Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	Randolph Christians
Saronsberg	Full Circle ( Rhone Blend )	2016	Dewaldt Heyns
Savage Wines	Red Blend tbc		Duncan Savage
Saxenburg Estate	Private Collection Shiraz	2015	Edwin Grace
Shannon	Mount Bullet Merlot	2015	James Downes
Sijnn	Free Reign 1st Edition	NV	Charla Haasbroek
Simonsig	The Garland Cabernet Sauvignon	2010	Debbie Thompson
Stark-Condé	Three Pines Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	Rudger van Wyk
Thelema Mountain Vineyards	Cabernet Sauvignon	2014	Rudi Schultz
Tokara	Directors Reserve ( Bordeaux Blend )	2014	Stuart Botha
Trizanne Signature Wines	Reserve Syrah	2017	Trizanne Barnard
Uva Mira	The Mira Cabernet Sauvignon	2015	Christiaan Coetzee
Vilafonté	Series M ( Bordeaux Blend )	2015	Chris de Vries
Warwick Estate	Cabernet Franc	2015	Nic van Aarde

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The Grape Escape Wine Festival

Wine Concepts have decided to add to their successful line-up of annual events by exploring a different selection of wines. They are incredibly excited to invite you to escape the norm and join their first exclusive The Grape Escape Wine Festival at The Vineyard Hotel in August.

Guests will be treated to a fine selection of diverse and enticing wines from Chenin Blanc along with captivating Rhone varieties such as Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Gamay Noir, Mouvedre, Rousanne, Clairette Blanche, Carignan, Syrah and others! This innaugural festival will give wine lovers the opportunity to taste the best offering of these varieties and blends from 40 of the country’s top producers.Delicioussnacks will be served with the wine through the course of the evening.

All the showcased wines will be available for purchase at discounted prices from Wine Concepts on the evening.

Venue: The Vineyard Hotel, Colinton Road, Newlands,

Date: Friday 17^th August 2018

Time: 17.00 – 20.00

Cost: R200.00 per person – includes entrance, wine glass and light snacks

The Vineyard Hotel is offering a special of a 2 course dinner in Square Restaurant, bed & Full English breakfast for Single – R1 665; Double – R2 210

Only 200 tickets are available and these can conveniently be purchased via www.webtickets.co.za, or at any of the Wine Concepts branches.

Telephone Newlands at(021) 671 9030 or Kloof Street at (021) 426-4401

Email: admin@wineconcepts.co.za or at the door on the evening subject to availability

http://www.wineconcepts.co.za

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Thursday, July 12, 2018

This Week's MENU. Den Anker, ExtraBlatt, Bao Down, Gibson's, Blue Cheese, Bacon and Broccoli Pasta, Saronsberg Viognier

This cock sparrow and his hen have been trying to get at a fruit bowl on our window sill and have been a deep fascination
for the predator instinct of our cat, Rory. We are not unsure that they are having fun baiting him

You could say that this is the perfect winter weather. Beautiful, mild sunny days, about 20ºC at midday, interspersed with enough rainy days to encourage us to enjoy lovely comfort food in front of the fire, celebrating the filling reservoirs and the new life in the garden. The dams are still not full enough for us to relax our cautious use of water, but the improvement is encouraging. Life treats us well, but there are many who share our corner of Africa but cannot share in the same delights. Winter often brings hardship, flooded homes, severe discomfort. So, while we enjoy the many benefits we have earned, we should always be aware of the other side of life and help where we can to make things better. Politicians have made promises for many years while they have made very comfortable lives for themselves. Fulfilling the promises and improving the lives of their constituents would make many more people happy to live here. We all need to strive to make this country better for everyone who lives here

We’ve come to the end of this year’s Iberian escapade stories. If you’d like to catch up on them, you can see them here

"The Perfect Share" offering at Den Anker

Den Anker in the V&A Waterfront has a winter special which runs until the end of September, which you might like to try. They invited us to sample it this week. A nice touch is that R10 from each meal is donated to the Elundini School in Dunoon

Breakfast at Café ExtraBlatt, Green Point

Waking up early on Winter mornings is difficult; you want to sleep longer, but you have to address the day. We like a lie-in at least once a week and we realised that we could then go out and have someone else cook us breakfast. Café ExtraBlatt in Main Road, Green Point was our choice this week

Sunday lunch. Taking a Bao

A new restaurant in Cape Town, called Bao Down, sounded as though it is just what we love, so we booked a table for four on Sunday; they have a special menu each Sunday. You don't choose the food, they do and they change it every week. Bao Down chef Graham Oldfield has worked for Liam Tomlin at the Chefs Warehouse as Head Chef and absolutely loves the clear flavours of Chinese, Japanese and Korean food. He has opened the restaurant with Philippa, his wife, who was a caterer, at 3 Vredehoek Road, just behind the Gardens Centre, above town. It is around the corner from Marika's

Burger special at Gibson's, V&A Waterfront

Another media invitation this week to taste a winter special in the V&A Waterfront, this time at Gibson’s. Since we were last there, they have moved downstairs to a waterfront position, with lots of space and roll-out roof covering in case of inclement weather

What’s on the MENU this week. Blue Cheese, Bacon and Broccoli Pasta An easy pasta dish with lots of flavour. You can use the pasta of your choice: penne, or shells, macaroni or fusilli. It even works on spaghetti. But make sure you use good Italian pasta. Try not to overcook the broccoli or it will go a nasty grey. It, too, should be a bit al dente. If you leave off the bacon, it will be suitable for vegetarians. The pasta we used was fusillata, the pasta which is supposed to hold the most sauce

200g pasta - 250g small broccoli florets - 2 Tbsp olive oil – 6 pieces of streaky bacon cut into 3 cm slices - a good handful of lightly chopped walnuts – 1 clove of garlic, sliced thin - 100g creamy blue cheese, gorgonzola, dolcelatte, nothing too strong, cut into small cubes - zest of one lemon – juice of half a lemon – freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta in well salted water until al dente; Heat 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil in a deep frying pan and fry the bacon till crisp; remove and keep aside. Add the walnuts to the pan and fry gently for one minute; add them to the bacon. When the pasta is nearly ready, steam the broccoli for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the garlic for a few seconds till soft. Do not discard the pasta water. Take the pasta out with a slotted spoon and stir it into the oil with the broccoli, the bacon, the walnuts and the lemon zest. Then add the blue cheese. Moisten the dish with a tablespoon or two of the pasta water to create a sauce, and stir until the cheese begins to melt and coats the pasta. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon and serve immediately. Serves 4

This is a fairly robust dish because of the blue cheese, which can have a slightly metallic note. We think that a Viognier, unwooded or very lightly wooded, makes the perfect companion wine. Its notes of peaches, citrus and slight sweetness are the perfect foil. We had it with Saronsberg’s excellent Viognier. It’s a dry white wine with a slight fruity sweetness, which is exactly what this dish called out for, and its fresh acidity cleans the palate. It is our Wine of the Week

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Saronsberg Viognier from Tulbagh, made by skilled winemaker Dewaldt Heyns, has hints of fynbos flora, peaches, apricots, honey and summer grass on the nose, rich on the palate with white peaches, limes and lemons with some caramel hints from the toasted wood and great fresh acidity to cut through complex dishes.

It’s a dry wine with a slight fruity sweetness. 40% wild yeast fermentation and the new wine is evenly divided for maturation between 1st, 2nd and 3rd fill barrels, adding structure. No malolactic fermentation is allowed, to keep it fresh

12th July 2018

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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

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

MENU's Wine of the Week. Saronsberg Viognier 2015

made by skilled winemaker Dewaldt Heyns, has hints of fynbos, peaches, apricots, honey and summer grass on the nose, rich on the palate with white peaches, limes and lemons with some caramel hints from the toasted wood and great fresh acidity to cut through complex dishes

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What’s on the MENU this week. Blue Cheese, Bacon and Broccoli Pasta

An easy pasta dish with lots of flavour. You can use the pasta of your choice: penne, or shells, macaroni or fusilli. It even works on spaghetti. But make sure you use good Italian pasta. Try not to overcook the broccoli or it will go a nasty grey. It, too, should be a bit al dente. If you leave off the bacon, it will be suitable for vegetarians. The pasta we used was fusillata, the pasta which is supposed to hold the most sauce

200g pasta - 250g small broccoli florets - 2 Tbsp olive oil – 6 pieces of streaky bacon cut into 3 cm slices - a good handful of lightly chopped walnuts – 1 clove of garlic, sliced thin - 100g creamy blue cheese, gorgonzola, dolce latte, nothing too strong, cut into small cubes - zest of one lemon – juice of half a lemon – freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta in well salted water until al dente; Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan and fry the bacon till crisp; remove and keep aside. Add the walnuts to the pan and fry gently for one minute; add them to the bacon. When the pasta is nearly ready, steam the broccoli for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the garlic for a few seconds till soft. Do not discard the pasta water. Take the pasta out with a slotted spoon and stir it into the oil with the broccoli, the bacon, the walnuts and the lemon zest. Then add the blue cheese. Moisten the dish with a tablespoon or two of the pasta water, and stir until the cheese begins to melt. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon and serve immediately. Serves 4

This is a fairly robust dish because of the blue cheese, which can have a slightly metallic note. We think that a Viognier, unwooded or very lightly wooded, makes the perfect companion wine. Its notes of peaches, citrus and slight sweetness are the perfect foil. We had it with Saronsberg’s excellent Viognier. It’s a dry wine with a slight fruity sweetness, which is exactly what this dish called out for, and its fresh acidity cleans the palate. It is our Wine of the Week

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