Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Elgin Cool Wine Festival – Paul Wallace

The afternoon was wearing on and so were our palates. Our next visit for the day was Wallowvale to say hello and relax a while with friends Nicky and Paul Wallace on their popular farm. It is a lovely place to end the day while tasting some good wines and watching the sun go down
Nicky, at the outside tasting bar, was busy
Paul and his assistants were equally busy inside the tasting room
They also had a chocolate tasting which was very popular
Sunset over the autumnal vines and the dam
Young folk enjoying the late afternoon and the wines
and families sitting on the edge of the deck
We loved the lively fresh Little Flirt Sauvignon Blanc. The Black Dog Malbec always impresses and is their best seller
The other wines are all good, but we did not have time to taste them all. This is the wine and Belgian chocolate pairing
The elegant, full of citrus and charm, Reflection Chardonnay was Lynne's favourite,
just right with sunlight and a bit of reflection on the day..
Vusi Dalicuba was showing the wines and the chocolate
He is a Masters student at Stellenbosch University who became interested in wine when his father,
who worked for Distell, brought wine home for the family to taste
He is making his own wine from Wallovale grapes
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 8:54 pm 0 comments

Elgin Cool Wine Festival – Paul Cluver

Back along the N2 for a few minutes to visit Paul Cluver wines next door
Salt Restaurant is a popular venue for lunch
but we had come here to taste some wine and have our dessert
Their Estate Chardonnay is always one of our favourite South African Chardonnays and this year did not disappoint, the Village Pinot has quite a lot of wood this vintage, but will soften. The Estate Pinot Noir is excellent, again, as expected! Full of beautiful fruit and integrated wood
Lots of people enjoying the sunshine under the trees
and the Apple Fritters were A.MA.ZING. We think the secret is great apples and lots of cinnamon in a good crisp batter
Now Lynne is going to see what she can come up with. Watch this space
We also tasted the Riesling which is one of their classics and the zingy 2018 Sauvignon Blanc and, to go with the fritters, the sweet, honeyed 2017 Noble Late Harvest. We were distraught to hear that there will no longer be any Gewurztraminer from Paul Cluver. We are in mourning, it was the best in the Cape
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 6:39 pm 0 comments

Elgin Cool Wine Festival – Oak Valley

We headed up the oak-lined lane to Oak Valley
Where they had small ponies for small people to ride
Reminiscent of the English cartoonist Thelwell
And people were happily sitting under the autumnal trees enjoying the wine and the music
A cheery Fabio, the Oak Valley tasting room manager, was on the tasting stand
They had moved it to the lawn for the weekend so that the restaurant would not get too crowded with festival goers
And there we encountered an old friend, Maddy Rawbone-Viljoen. She and her husband Anthony own Oak Valley. We tasted the slightly tropical fruit 2018 Fountain of Youth Sauvignon Blanc, enjoyed the Beneath the Clouds 2018 Chardonnay, a steal at R120. The aptly named Stone and Steel 2018 Riesling is dry and crisp with no sign of terpenes and the 2018 Sound of Silence Pinot Noir is full of cherry and raspberry flavours with hints of rose, very soft and very quaffable. R145
Two happy ladies serving the wines
And serving popcorn to the crowd was Stef Ellett
Chef Gordon Manuel on his last weekend at Oak Valley. He is moving to Wildekrans
We ordered his amazing rosemary burgers with really good crisp chips for lunch
and enjoyed them with glasses of Oak Valley Pinot noir on the terrace by the pool, chatting to Maddy
And who should arrive but the girls from Destinate, a destination management and tourism marketing agency;
Annareth Bolton and Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, who have been working on the Festival
As we drove out, we had to stop to admire this orchard of ripe Pink Lady apples. It is the middle of harvest
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 6:26 pm 0 comments

Elgin Cool Wine Festival – The Railway Market

What a wine filled weekend we have had at the Elgin Cool Wines weekend!
SO much good wine, such hospitality and friendliness in this lovely valley
We began at the new Railway Market where we had to collect our weekend passes and glasses
We watched the steam train come in from Cape Town carrying lots of day trippers to the festival. Such a nostalgic sight for our age group, who grew up with these trains. A flashback to the way John used to travel to boarding school in Grahamstown - a 2½ day journey, which became part of his life when he was 10 years old; a different era in 1955
Getting registered. We were very impressive that Elgin Tourism had organised free shuttles to all the wine farms, so no one had to drive if they didn't want to. Much safer
We were quite impressed with the Railway market; it reminded us a bit of the Eat Out market in Lisbon, lots of different stalls selling things to take home and to enjoy there. Having spent several years selling in markets in the Cape after we closed Main Ingredient, we know a success when we see it
Lots of tables down the middle
And upper galleries
What else would you find in an apple growing area but great toffee apples?
Another reminder of the happy days of yore!
Lynne loved the vegetable stand and immediately filled a box for us to take home. The produce is very fresh
And they take cards
John was given a crisp chip to sample and pronounced it very good. The Steak rolls look very good and are pretty reasonable
Lots of temptation if you want lunch. It was a bit early for us, as we had to speed to our first wine farm on the route
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 5:42 pm 0 comments

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - Overnight at Trail's End


Our overnight accommodation was at Trail’s End in Grabouw, an entirely new concept. It is a Bikers’ Hotel. Needless to say, we did not bring our bikes (! us bike?) as the accommodation is also suitable for travellers in the valley. It is also popular with trail runners. It was kindly arranged for us by the Elgin and Grabouw Tourist office. Thank you very much to Trail’s End for hosting us.
The concept is very clever and they have all sorts of other fun and important things available like a wellness centre, a mud washing area - we assume for both you and your bike after a muddy or dusty ride. There is a swimming pool and this climbing wall - just in case biking has not tired you out entirely. And a fire pit for the evening. We hear a gym is planned. Check out the facilities on their web pages
And lots of places to park your bikes in front. We saw whole families with small children enjoying biking that weekend - see the tiny trike in the front. (Lynne says she would be delighted to bike if she could find a big trike, she has zero balance on two wheels and falls off a lot)
Inside there is a coffee bar with lots of snacks - sweet and savoury - to order or take with you
Of course it is called the Handle Bar.... What else?
A nice open space to sit and chat, with more comfortable areas to sit by the fire and by the television
This is where one may breakfast in the morning. They have a conference centre
Our room was on the first floor
This is the view down from the top of the stairs, and you can see the reception desk at the entrance
Coffee and tea making facilities are outside the rooms
Our room had a very spacious king sized bed and a single. The rooms are spotlessly clean and the bed linen is of a very good quality. The thick duvets and pillows are stuffed with feathers, which might be a challenge if you have allergies. We took hay fever pills. The weather was cold, at night but the room was warm without any added heating. You can put your luggage on the shelves above the beds. There is WiFi in the rooms and plugs for charging media are supplied. There are also dormitory rooms
We had our own bathroom with a spacious shower
Breakfast the next morning was heavily carb laden. Lots of cereals, bread, butter, jam, peanut butter, marmite and there was some fruit. This is the standard breakfast included in the room rate. We did see a couple having what looked like a good cooked breakfast but that has to be ordered and paid for separately
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 5:20 pm 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)