Friday, July 26, 2019

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 3. Spier Hotel, Vadas restaurant, Wine tasting

The next stop on our Stellenbosch Wine Routes "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" last weekend was to the hotel at Spier wine estate where we would spend the night, have dinner at PJ Vadas Smokehouse and Bakery on Spier and, after breakfast, go to the tasting room for a wine and soup pairing. We checked in and then were taken by golf cart to our room

#StellenboschisCool in Winter
Weekends like this can be organised by the Stellenbosch Wine Routes office and Visitor Information Centre - for a two night’s stay from as little as R1500 per person sharing. They are located at 47 Church Street, Stellenbosch. For queries, visitors are encouraged to contact Stellenbosch Wine Routes on +27 21 886 4310 Or via email on explore@wineroute.co.za 
For more information on these winter breaks to Stellenbosch and for inspiration on visits to the region, visit http://www.wineroute.co.za/
A lovely, large airy room with a huge bed, good linen and a bathroom en suite

Somewhere to sit

The bathroom has both a bath ... 

... and a shower

They have room service and this is the very good menu, should you decide not to venture out

We think that the prices are very reasonable

Something for the children and something to drink

We rested, walked in the garden; some went to watch the Rugby International which was showing in the bar and at 7 it was time to walk across to the PJ Vadas Smokehouse and Bakery on Spier for dinner

Happy welcoming staff

Hungry media ready for supper. We certainly were fed very well on this weekend
We ordered a bottle of Spier 21 Gables award winning Chenin Blanc with our dinner and it was a super match for this rich food

The menu is quite simple and easy to use. Our meal was set and had been prearranged 

First some Bacalao cod fish cakes, with lemon slices, and a honey mustard dip,
truffle oil and chives on cream cheese, with sourdough bread and butter

Another happy table. It is a family-friendly restaurant

We were each given one of these trays containing, bottom left: Roasted pumpkin with pumpkin seeds, pistachio
and chocolate granola, two roast potatoes, Brisket covered in a sweet and sour sticky sauce, more Asian than Barbecue,
some pickles and, in the bowl, some tender and moist pulled pork, which tasted like duck and was very good

A wonderful shared salad to accompany the food was made from roasted beetroot, naartjie (tangerine) segments, preserved naartjie, feta cheese, pistachio nut Dukkah, fennel fronds, all drizzled with elderflower syrup. Fresh fruity and very exciting

And dessert was Portuguese Pasteis de Nata with very good crisp pastry
(The secret to this is not to precook the custard filling, but put it raw into the pastry and bake them together,
not forgetting a dash of rum in the custard)
We all wandered back to our rooms after supper for a good night’s sleep. It was intensely cold on the way back;
the temperature did go below freezing in the night

On our way to breakfast on a very icy morning 

Frost on the lawn,

melting as the weak morning sun reached it

The breakfast room is large and there is another next door

Several stations. Here were croissants and other pastries, fish, cheeses and sauces

This one had bains marie with hot breakfast items like scrambled egg, bacon, sausages,
and other traditional items to which you could help yourself

The cereal, fruit and yoghurt bar with juices on the end

And this lass could make you eggs anyway you wanted them
John had an enormous omelette with bacon and cheese
and Lynne had two perfect sunny side up fried eggs

Lovely colourful Lachenalia on each table. Quite a rare colour, we think

After breakfast we checked out and then decided to take a walk around the estate
We discovered that rainwater on the top of these barrels had turned to ice overnight

We enjoyed the River Walk which is a lovely meander alongside the river

Frost sparkling on the leaves of the riverside plants

It is a lovely forest walk for a while with lots of sunbirds, especially the sunbirds sipping nectar on the Montbrecia 

You enter over one bridge and exit further down over another which brings you out near the Tasting room

Lots of king and queen Proteas and other varieties as well

Our national flower in all its glory

PJ Vadas restaurant is in one of the older houses

The slave bell, from a time we care to forget, but must remember so that it will never happen again

Ducklings with mum dabbling in the pond

and a fountain helps to clean and aerate the water, which is recycled 

At 11 it was time for our tasting, paired with soup, although we were all quite full from our large breakfast

We sat at a table raised on its own at the end of the tasting room

Some of the Spier wines

and more; this is a tasting room you do want to visit; the wines are very good

Jan Laubscher and Anel Grobler waiting while our wines are poured

Showing us the wines we were to taste. It was a fast and furious tasting

We began with the Block 2, a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon. Dusty Semillon, hints of green from the Sauvignon on the nose, sweet on entry, a mature wine with long fruit flavours, and lanolin from the Semillon with chalky tannins on the end. A real match for the thick creamy Cauliflower soup topped with ground pepper; it put it in its place and refreshed our palates well. The parmesan crisp that topped the soup was really good
   Then the Seaward Chardonnay with its nice golden notes and a whiff of smoke. Round on the palate, a bit oily with buttered apple and an end of crisp citrus with a hint of salt. Served with very sweet butternut soup topped with feta and nuts. Next the 2017 Seaward Shiraz, spicy with vanilla, raspberry and mulberry on the nose. Plums and wood and a mocha ending. Paired with a spicy roast tomato and basil soup. This pairing did not work for us, we found the soup made the wine bitter and vice versa. Both are good, but not together
   The final pairing was a vegan brownie that had a texture of polenta (it is made of sweet potato).It was very sweet and had nice dark chocolate and nuts on top. This was the best pairing and went with the Spier Cape Vintage, an excellent Port style wine. If you would like to do the Spier Seaward Soup Tasting at the Spier tasting room, it costs just R120 per person, and is vegetarian-friendly

Thank you so much Elmarie Rabie, Manager at Stellenbosch Wine Routes, for organising such a very good and varied weekend. We think this will be a huge success
#StellenboschisCool

All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 12:20 am 0 comments

Thursday, July 25, 2019

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 4. Jordan Bakery

The final stop on our Stellenbosch Wine Routes "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" last weekend was Jordan,
for lunch at the Bakery. The sun was shining and we were well wrapped up and so were very happy to sit out on the terrace
The tasting room is open, should you want a wine tasting
#StellenboschisCool in Winter
Inside the bakery, where they make very good bread and cakes as well as breakfast and lunch
A nice long table had been prepared for our group
A view from the deck, toward the Bakery on the left and the tasting room on the right
and one of the best views in the Winelands We heard that there had been snow on these mountains
after the very cold, wet Friday night, but it had all melted by Sunday lunchtime
Looking down the Stellenboschkloof
Each couple could order a bottle of Jordan wine with lunch and we had no hesitation in ordering
the Outlier Sauvignon Blanc 2017, a great favourite of ours which goes so well with food
You, too, can go and do their winter special for two, a curry and accompaniments, a bottle or red or white wine
and a coffee all for R375 per couple. It is a large helping of good chicken curry, topped with shaved coconut,
yellow cous cous with dried apricots and some yogurt and cucumber raita
It also comes with some black bean salad and two buttered Naan breads
This is one generous portion. As we'd had a rather large hotel breakfast and a soup tasting at Spier before we got to Jordan,
we found that this was too much food;
we asked for a doggie bag to take home for lunch the next day. So enjoyable, we do recommend this
Cape Buffalo in the field on a farm below Jordan. The one standing did rise quickly, menacing John
as he approached with his long camera lens - we think he thought it was a gun!
We are happy he didn't charge the fence
John got back into the car quite quickly
It was a really enjoyable winter experience and we encourage you to contact Stellenbosch Wine Routes who can organise something similar for you and your family and friends. The Stellenbosch Wine Routes office and Visitor Information Centre is located at 47 Church Street, Stellenbosch
For queries, visitors are encouraged to contact Stellenbosch Wine Routes on +27 21 886 4310 Or via email on explore@wineroute.co.za 
For more information on Stellenbosch and for inspiration on visits to the region, visit http://www.wineroute.co.za/

Posted by MENU at 10:23 pm 0 comments

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 2. Blaauwklippen

When we arrived at Blaauwklippen, we were welcomed with a glass of MCC… but, first, it had to be opened... 
One of the staff members demonstrated sabrage on a bottle of their Zinfandel bubbly to welcome us
And bang goes the cork with the top of the bottle!
And one of member of our media group also had a go, with explosive result
Snowdrops already in bloom
And we then enjoyed a glass or two of the Blaauwklippen MCC Brut 2017 made from Zinfandel,
less sugar than before in the dosage making this a nice crisp MCC
Then Marketing Manager Johan van Dyk took us on a lovely walk through the gardens
We saw the Jonkmanshuis, which is now good accommodation
The old cellar
and the old manor house, which has now been converted into a superb venue
which can be hired for business, weddings or any other family or group occasion
It is superbly decorated and finished. It has a long dinner or board room table
Four stunning bedrooms with the en suite in each room
Very spacious
Two of these old Armoires are built into the hall walls; they are fully functional
Another of the bedrooms with an open fireplace
A superb and very large modern kitchen has been installed
Another angle
and on the window, a pane that may not be touched or washed
Johan shows us a message written on the glass many years ago, using a diamond
A glass building that can be used for conferences, weddings, festivals, with a lovely view of the mountains behind
We went into the Jonkmanshuis to see the accommodation there
A nicely decorated and rather comfortable room with its own separate bathroom
Up close to the conservatory building
Amusingly, they have converted these old wine storage tanks into toilets, which would serve the conservatory building
We went inside for a tasting and to have some lunch
 This is the current price list which has details of the different tastings on offer and the wine prices
We were to taste three wines which were paired with their Bunny Chows (which is a takeaway food consisting of a hollowed-out half loaf of bread filled with a vegetable or meat curry, believed to have originated in Durban). Lynne, who had reservations and who does not like soggy bread Bunny Chows, was delighted at these and really enjoyed the pairing. You too can do this pairing at Blaauwklippen: Bunny Chow & Wine Tasting - R175 (Per Person)

Nonotsikelelo Fundakubi (known as Nono) took us through the wines and the pairing
The first wine was the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc which has pine and guava notes on the intense herbal nose. Round on the palate then crisp zingy acids. This paired well with the flavoursome Butter chicken Bunny chow, served, not in a hollowed out piece of bread loaf, but in a hollowed out herb roll. The next pairing was the 2017 Shiraz, which has spent 20 months in French oak. Initially lactic notes then lots of spice and sour cherry and rhubarb on the nose. Dry tannins, soft cherry and plum fruit on the palate, with long flavours and dark wood. This was paired with quite gamy Springbok curry in an olive and herb bread. Then for the dessert bunny chow which had berry fruit and dark chocolate topped with whipped cream in a roll with chocolate chips. And was such a good pairing with the Before and After aperitif, sweet zingy cherries and lots of warm alcohol. Perfect on a chilly day
We could also taste the award winning Blaauwklippen 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon (89% & Merlot 11%), which has spent 20 months in oak. This scored 93 points in the Winemag Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report 2019. Cherry cassis berries on the nose, with smoky bacon wood. Cassis and cherry fruit then chalk on the long well flavoured palate with a little green leaf wildness on the end
The current line up of Blaauwklippen wines with their Brandy and White Zinfandel
Judging will be taking place this week for the annual Blaauwklippen Blending Competition where wine clubs enter their blend of supplied Blaauwklippen wines. If you have a wine club you might like to enter next year. Look at the Blaauwklippen website for details of this

It is great fun to do. This year’s winners will be announced on the 18th of October

All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 5:17 pm 0 comments

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 1. Haskell Vineyards

A great invitation from Stellenbosch Wine Routes to "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" with them last weekend
 #StellenboschisCool
We joined several other members of the media for the first event, a wine tasting at Haskell Wines
with Armand Swart, the Tasting Room Manager
The one white and four red wines we were to taste
Preston Haskell, an American born real estate magnate, owns the farm. Rudolph Steenkamp has taken over as winemaker
(and Viticulturist) since Rianie Strydom left to concentrate on making her own Strydom Vintners wines
Each couple received a generous gift of two Stellenbosch wines from Stellenbosch Wine Routes
We began with the 2018 Anvil, a single vineyard Chardonnay which is full of golden fruit and perfume on the nose It spends 12 months in new oak barrels and has crisp lemon lime flavours, chalky tannins and just a hint of wood on the long end. The 2013 Pillars Syrah is also a single vineyard wine. Good fruit and a touch of Brett on the nose, sweet berry fruit, nice tight tannins and lots of mulberries on the end. Haskell are currently replanting many of their vines due to virus. The 2014 Aeon Syrah has a pretty fruity nose with violets and wood. Soft mouthfeel on entry, then good dark berry fruit and grippy tannins. Needs more time. They have reduced the price from R350 to R205 and it is selling out. One for your cellar? The 2014 Haskell II a blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon has lovely savoury fruit on the nose with whiffs of smoke. Mulberry and cherry fruit soft and sweet initially, chalky and grippy tannins, long flavours with licorice wood on the end. The 2013 Haskell IV has dark almost bruléed fruit on the nose with smoke on the end. Dry chalky tannins initially hide the fruit, then grape jam appears in this Bordeaux blend which was matured in in 70% new French oak
The views are so good from the terrace. It was a very cold morning
We surmise that, overnight, this fountain would have had some ice on it
The Haskell Aeon Syrah 2014
The Long Table restaurant with its outside tables. There is a roaring fire in the passageway
View over a green and wintry Stellenbosch
The green is the cover crops growing beneath the vines, which will all be ploughed in to enrich the soil come Spring
A table set for a tasting outside. We, thankfully, were inside
Time to move on to the next wine farm on our journey through cool Stellenbosch
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus


The views are so good from the terrace.  It was a very cold morning. We surmise that overnight this fountain would have had some ice on it.

The Long Table restaurant  with its outside tables.  There is a roaring fire in the passageway
View over a green and wintery Stellenbosch  The green are the cover crops growing beneath the vines which will all abe ploughed in to enrich the soil come Spring.
A table set for a tasting outside. We thankfully were inside. Time to move on to the next wine farm on our journey through cool Stellenbosch

Posted by MENU at 4:29 pm 0 comments
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