We had an invitation to visit
Groot Phesantekraal wine farm in Durbanville and taste the food of Chef Juan
van Deventer, known as 'The Shy Chef'. So last Friday saw us taking a great trek
around the outskirts of Durbanville to avoid the closure on the N1 motorway. It
was very hot out on the plains; our car registered 39ºC on arrival. It is
harvest time and it was an appropriate opportunity to taste their Chenin blanc
and Pinotage grapes, which had just been picked
We arrived at 11.40. We were offered the choice of tasting the
wines out in the courtyard or in the Tasting room
We chose the latter where it
was lovely and cool
It’s an old (1767) farm building
which has been tastefully restored
Wine tastings can be held in
the old hen house
We love this chandelier made
from old decanters
The wines for sale and
tasting. The wine is made by Etienne Louw
We began with the 2018
Sauvignon blanc, which has figs fynbos and green pepper notes. Lovely full
mouthfeel, with a slight grapefruit bitterness on the end
The 2018 Chenin
Blanc has apricots, peach and guava with racy acidity, and a flavour of wood on
a non wooded wine. It is buttery, almost like a Semillon, different and
complex
The 2016 Anna de Koning wooed us. It is their flagship Chenin, winning
many awards and high points. The grapes are from trellised and bush vines. It is matured in
big old barrels for 6 months. Nougat on the nose (unusual but really nice), it
is nutty, clean and full of green melon; then the wood adds its finishing
notes. Long warm flavours and lots of complexity
The tempting 2017 Cabernet
Sauvignon is rich, sanguine, spicy with balsam wood and dark cherry and cassis.
On the palate, cassis comes to the fore. Rich full flavours, some liquorice and
cherry appear and it has nice fruit acid and soft tannins - all indications
that this is one which is made to last
The 2016 Berliet Pinotage (named for the owner’s
restored 1923 vintage Berliet motorcar) is matured in French and American oak
1st, 2nd and 3rd fill barrels for 12 to 13 months. Pretty, perfumed fruit,
prunes and vanilla on the nose, grippy tart tannins with sour plums on the
palate; it needs time to settle
They do have a Shiraz, but we
didn’t get to taste it
Some of the old farm
buildings are intriguing. Was this a pigeon loft?
The holes seem to have been
sealed by centuries of whitewash and plaster
Time to go and eat in the
cool restaurant
We loved these pots and
wondered how they got the cascading plant to grow without water. They are very
realistic plastic!
The menus: Breakfast
Lunch
and a light lunch menu
The Lawn Menu for Saturdays
Desserts and drinks
We ordered wine by the glass
....
and plumped for the Anna de
Koning
Lynne ordered the Asian
spiced belly of pork, which comes dressed with an orange caramel sauce,
a crisp
fried minced pork wonton, a fresh pea purée and is topped with a raw beetroot, apple,
red cabbage and radish coleslaw. Sadly, no crackling and it was rather fatty,
but had good flavour
John had an excellent medium rare Sirloin
steak; very good flavour and very tender, which is rare these days
Dressed
with a rather fishy herb butter (Café de Paris?), crisp wedge chips and heaps of
crisply fried onions
The dish was topped with fresh rocket and grated parmesan
cheese
This is not the same as the
plates we saw at La Motte last week
It is a modern replica and actually relates the history of
Groot Phesantekraal
Lynne ordered the Chocolate brownie and received
a full on dessert: a rich, solid chocolate brownie
topped with nectarine
slices and strawberries; accompanied by cookie crumbs and nuts, topped with a
raspberry sorbet
John had the Treat of the Day.
A chocolate and coffee cake with chocolate cream icing, topped with flowers,
strawberries and two meringue stars, a raspberry coulis and some honeycomb
pieces
The double espresso was very
good AND properly served with a glass of iced water
You rarely find this in
the Cape, very normal in Italy
All the servings were generous. Durbanville does not do Nouvelle Cuisine
The Shy Chef, Juan van
Deventer. He has worked in London and in Florida
and at the Showroom Restaurant in Cape Town with the late Bruce Robertson, the Marine Hotel with Peter Tempelhoff
and the
Birkenhead House Boutique Hotel – both in Hermanus. His wife Maret is Front of
House and runs the restaurant
A pair of very Dutch wooden clogs to decorate the foyer
The heat haze over the very
distressed vines
Looks like rain was on the
way. It didn't arrive
The restaurant building from
the rear - note the date above the doors
The main farmhouse with its
classic Cape Dutch gable which shows the dates 1720 and 1810
Two experienced gardeners
maintain these amazing bushes in their perfect hemispheres. The soil is so hard and
dry
We had a lovely visit. We recommend that you try this farm
for its wine, food and friendly service
Thank you all at Groot Phesantekraal
