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MENU’s Wine of the Week. Ataraxia Chardonnay 2017

It has golden fruit on the nose with white peach, golden oak, some citrus and is very, very elegant. It has a lovely texture, clean citrus and more white peach on the palate, with white Bing cherry; long flavours with the perfume of peach remaining. Superb and priced at R265 from the farm

We cannot tell you how difficult it was to choose a wine of the week this week. We were at the Pinot Noir Celebration in Hemel and Aarde this weekend and tasted many, many superb wines. But this one lingers on the taste memory. We had it at Ataraxia with winemaker Kevin Grant and it so impressed us. Kevin also has a 2017 Pinot Noir that is as good. You can read about it and the other wines in our many articles published this week about the Pinot Noir Celebration. Superb

On the MENU this Week. Buratta Mozarella and griddled apricot salad

This salad was inspired by two things: we bought recently: beautiful fresh apricots with a blush on them and fresh Burrata mozzarella. If you don’t know Burrata, it is a soft mozzarella into which they put cream as they fold it up into a nice neat ball. When you tear it apart, the cream becomes part of your dish with the cheese. This mozzarella bears absolutely no relation to that commercial rendition sold in supermarkets which is used on pizzas. It is not easy to find, good delis and cheese shops have it. We buy ours from Puglia in Table View and Lynne did buy one at the Oranjezicht market recently for R45

Lynne watched Jamie Oliver do a salad where he griddled the apricots and that set her off. We had bought two and she wanted to use them in salads. She bought some Serrano ham in Checkers and they cut it nice and thin. It is so easy and so delicious, but you'll need to be quick as the apricot season is nearly at an end. It is simple to make; just two preparations and then it’s just a matter of assembling the ingredients

1 small red onion, thinly sliced - 2 Tblsps good raspberry vinegar - 8 ripe Apricots – a drizzle of cooking oil - 1 cup of washed and drained rocket leaves – a few gem lettuce leaves - 1 fresh Burrata mozzarella – 75 g thinly sliced Serrano or Parma ham –- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, off the stalk – 1 tspn crushed pink peppercorns – 2 Tblsps good extra virgin olive oil – sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the red onion in the raspberry vinegar to pickle slightly. Slice the apricots in half, remove the stone and sear the cut sides and then the skin on a hot oiled griddle pan, just until marked. Set aside to cool. On a pretty serving dish, arrange the rocket and the lettuce leaves. Put on the cooled apricots and then tuck in the ham. Remove the onion from the vinegar and keep the vinegar aside as dressing. Scatter the onion, the crushed pink peppercorns and the fresh thyme leaves over the salad. Then, over the salad, tear the Burrata into smaller pieces, and distribute it evenly. Dress the salad with the vinegar and the good olive oil and season well

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Survivor Wild Yeast Shiraz launch at Carne on Kloof

Last week, we were invited to the launch of the new Wild Yeast Syrah in the Survivor range from Overhex winery in Worcester. It is always appreciated when a wine launch is held in a good restaurant and this time it was at Giorgio Nava's Carne in Upper Kloof Street. We knew we were in for a good event

The restaurant is in a 19th Century house with a small covered stoep. We were warmly welcomed ...

... with a glass of Survivor Sauvignon Blanc

The range also includes Chenin Blanc, a Wild yeast Chardonnay, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon

Giorgio also has his other restaurants, 95 Keerom Street, Carne in Keerom and Carne at Parks in Wynberg, which we wrote about last year. Here he chats to Michael Fridjhon who had come down from Johannesburg for this and a weekend function

We spotted this interesting line-up of wines on the bar and discovered that these were the wines we would taste. Ben Snyman, the winemaker responsible for the Survivor range, said that he wanted to introduce us to the wines that had influenced his style of wine making and the results

Winnie Bowman CWM and journalist Mel Minnaar

We take our seats and the wines are poured. Vicky de Beer is the Food Editor of Rooi Rose magazine

With a screen of Survivor Pinotage, Chef watches the room. We were served really lovely tempura vegetables as canapés

Caroline van Schalkwyk, who manages the marketing for Overhex, welcomed us and talked about the history of Survivor, The cow stops here; it jumped off a truck and landed in the lush vineyards. It lives there still and so began the brand. (No, the cow wasn't branded). Harvest has begun in the Overhex valley

Ben Snyman is passionate about his wine. This was to be an inspirational tasting, 4 Survivors and 4 foreign wines that have inspired him on his travels through wine. He says it is all about terroir. Overhex sources the wines from all over the Cape; Bot River, West Coast, Robertson valley and other places. Five winemakers bring their experience of old and new world wine to their wine making. These are the wine areas that have influenced Ben and the Survivor wines are how he expressed those influences

The menu for the day

We began the tasting with Domaine du Tariquet 2016 Sauvignon Blanc from Gascony in France. It was so interesting to see the name of the grape on the bottle, which is not usual in France. The French concentrate on terroir. The wine is made and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Clean on the nose with hints of pyrazines, nice integrated fruit, very French. Crisp and textured with limes, loquat, lemon; nice and warm as is the area it is farmed in, very long flavours. Paired with the Survivor Sauvignon Blanc, which has a similar nose, gentle warm country wine on the nose, on the palate a slight metallic ping, yellow fruit, more Chenin flavours than Sauvignon, very drinkable.

After studying, Ben went to work at Chalk Hill winery in California for 5 months, where he learned to make Chardonnay. Newton 2015 Unfiltered Chardonnay from the Napa Valley was next. It was wild yeast fermented. Herbal miffy nose, complex with lemon, pineapple and stewed apple. A smooth entry with marzipan and wood, lemons, limes, chalk, a bit overworked. The Survivor Wild Yeast 2017 Chardonnay was better, with perfume and cooked apple on a pleasant nose. Silky, and the citrus lemon, lime and grapefruit flavours linger for a long time

The glasses on the tasting sheet. The Pauillac producer was unnamed. It’s a Private Selection 2010, a Bordeaux blend. Ben learnt that barrel selection, as they do in Bordeaux, adds value to your wine, as you can select different characteristics shown in different barrels, like different fruit characteristics, burnt sugar, nuts, vanilla wood, forest floor, to add to the blend. Their red wine maker Willie Malan went to France and brought back the experience they need to make the Survivor Cabernet Sauvignon

The next flight began with a left bank Pauillac Private Selection 2010, a Bordeaux blend. Very much as expected, deep dark savoury fruit, with a dive-in nose, Marmite, cassis: berries and leaves, incense wood. Mouth puckering tannins of youth, chalky with cassis, blackberries, dark roast, mushrooms and forest floor. Needs a lot of time

The 2017 Survivor Cabernet Sauvignon has vanilla oak richness and fullness, more cherry than cassis on the nose. Dry chalky tannins that stick to the teeth, cassis, balsam, long flavours, shy fruit and, at the end, sunshine on the palate tells you it is South African. Ben and Willie also went to Australia to learn about the wines there. Australia makes twice as much Shiraz as we do, and SA e wanted more big jammy Shiraz

So, next we tasted a benchmark Shiraz from Penfolds, 2014 Bin 128 Coonawarra. This is a wine Lynne cut her teeth on in London in the 1980's when it was so popular. On the nose a little bloody, with sesame putty, white pepper, initially shy fruit, then rhubarb and mulberry peeked through. Soft, sweet liquorice and warm fruit, very familiar and friendly, warm mulberries and raspberries, followed by good umami. She scored the nose 13 and the palate 17.5! The Survivor Shiraz is from Botrivier grapes, barrel fermented on wild yeast. A pretty but light nose of red berries. Chalky tannins, Morello cherry on the palate with a long, memorable end

Time for lunch and we could drink any of the Survivor wines we had tasted. We began with restaurant-made perfect ravioli, filled with finely minced slow baked lamb shoulder. This superb dish was dressed with crisp fried sage leaves, shaved parmesan and a really delicious lamb jus and sage butter. It went SO well with the Shiraz; whoever did the pairing is a genius

Then came a family style platter for the table with a selection of perfectly grilled Carne meats. Tri-tip, Spider steak, Flank steak, Pork chops and some grilled vegetables and porcini mushrooms. But who grills the dreaded Brussels sprouts? 50% of the audience love them

A formaggi plate of 4 local cheeses for each of us came with a cherry or grape preserve and an orange marmalade

NOT a survivor

Broadcaster Guy MacDonald of Magic Music Radio enjoying the day

Comparing footwear, or is it manicures?

Guy with Winnie Bowman. It was a great launch

And on our way home, we saw the MSC Cruise Liner Musica anchored just off the coast. She was unable to get into port as the South Easter wind was howling and her high sides make entry to the harbour dangerous

Clifton beach is sheltered by Lions Head, so it looked calm

and we went down to the Sea Point beachfront for a closer view of her

Lunch at Russell’s on the Port

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

This Week's MENU. Russell's on the Port, Blaauwberg, Indian Chapter, Durbanville, Oranjezicht Market, Pavlova, Nitida Grande Matriarch

The classic view of Table Mountain across Table Bay from Blaauwberg on a perfect Summer day

Thank you to the lovely readers who have said complimentary things to us about our new layout on the web and blog pages. Feedback is essential and we take your comments seriously.

The year is already warming up and we are receiving some exciting invitations to events which we look forward to describing to you when we’ve been to them

This weekend will see us at one of the great events of the year, the Hemel en Aarde Pinot Noir Celebration. This week’s stories follow, click on the headline, the photograph or the green words at the end of the paragraph to see the whole story

On the way home from our Summer Holiday, we made a reservation for lunch at Russell’s on the Port hotel and restaurant at Velddrif. We had lunch there last January and vowed to be back. It has both great food and a very relaxed atmosphere. It’s next to the Port Owen Yacht club…

A Beautiful Summer’s Day in Blaauwberg

The view from the beach at Blaauwberg! Cape Town is doing turquoise so well this year. The fine white sand is almost blinding. A little breezy, but this side of the coast does get a bit of wind. It is a great place for kite sailing and surf boarding, you just have to be careful not to be taken out past Robben Island…

Lunch at The Indian Chapter

We are fans of good Indian food and Lynne, who is a member of a Facebook restaurant page called Cape Town Restaurants, the Good, the Bad and the Nasty, found that The Indian Chapter in Blaauwberg was recommended by members as one of the best in Cape Town. We were going to be in the area, so we made a booking for lunch during the week. The restaurant is owned by Prim Reddy, a TV and Radio personality…

Two Durbanville Estates; lunch at Durbanville hills

This is always the time of year when we have several good friends visiting from overseas. And doing a wine tour with them is always fun. Diana Loots studied for the Cape Wine Academy Diploma with us way back in the 90s. We took her and her husband Philip on a tour of some Durbanville wine farms. We began at Nitída…

The Oranjezicht City farm market

On Saturday, we visited the Oranjezicht City Farm Market at the Waterfront and met some old friends from the brief time when we, too, worked in markets like the Biscuit Mill. It is a dynamic place selling good comestibles from local suppliers to keen foodies and featuring the fresh organic fruit and veg produced at the Oranjezicht City Farm. It is now open on Saturday and Sunday so you can go and buy your fresh produce for the following week…

On the MENU this Week. Pavlova

Friends joined us for lunch on New Year’s day and, as this time of year has the best selection of tropical fruit and berries, our dessert was a classic. It’s not difficult to make at all, remember to take your eggs out of the fridge a few hours before. Lynne made the meringue the day before and had a challenge. Our gas oven is playing up and would not light. The temperature in the oven is impossible to control and so she risked cooking this in our combination oven where you can set the temperature to the desired 110°C degrees and cook in the Convection mode – she just had to use a lined Pyrex or porcelain dish instead of anything metal. It worked well…

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Nitída The Grand Matriarch 2015

The 2015 Grande Matriarch MCC from Nitída in Durbanville is, unusually for a bubbly, 100% Pinot Noir and it so impressed and surprised us that we have made it our wine of the week. It has cherry and raspberry on the elegant nose and on the palate the best expression of cherry ever, so quaffable. It has good length and depth, elegance and lovely maturity from 39 months on the lees. So exciting and so delicious. R225 on the farm and as you see, also available in magnums for great celebrations…

Things to do

Sunday, 27th January Groote Post’s First 2019 Country Market. For further information on the Groote Post Country Market. Contact I Love Yzer: 022 451 2202 or info@iloveyzer.co.za /

www.grootepostcountrymarket.co.za • Facebook.com/GrootePostCountryMarket • @GPCountryMarket

Saturday, 2nd March Harvest Festival at Muratie Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. For further information and bookings contact Nina Martin at Muratie on 021 865 2330/2336 or info@muratie.co.za

Friday & Saturday, 1st & 2nd March RMB Starlight Concert at Vergelegen. Details and tickets at http://www.capetownopera.co.za/production/rmb-starlight-classics/

24th January 2019