Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Launch of the 2020 (40th Anniversary) edition of the Platter South African Wine Guide

The 2020, 40th Anniversary, edition of the John Platter South African Wine Guide has been published and you can get your copy from good booksellers and wine shops. This year it is a fetching shade of Karoo Midnight Sky, a deep navy blue
We were invited to attend the launch of the Guide and the Five Star wine awards last week,
held at the Table Bay Hotel in the V&A Waterfront. It was very well attended
Donovan Rall waiting for a glass, as we were; they were in very short supply
The MCC on offer was made by Graham Beck; it is a special label for the Table Bay Hotel
The backroom boy and girls, prepared for the action
Time to begin the awards, and move to the large banqueting area
We are all extremely grateful that they supplied seating this year. The awards can take a fairly long time;
standing is not very comfortable for that length of time and it is difficult to take notes
The seating was cleverly arranged in groups
Lynne managed to find a seat in the front and was able to write as the awards proceeded
Publisher JP Rossouw opened the proceedings
Brothers James and Stuart Downes of Shannon Vineyards with fingers crossed
Esh Naidoo, Managing Director of Diners Club SA, who sponsors the Platter Wine Guide, made the opening speech. He congratulated the team for their efforts and their commitment to shining a light on the wine industry. He said that he is a novice wine drinker and the Platter guide helps him to choose good wines! Diners Club also sponsors the Winemaker of the Year and the Young Winemaker of the year (We will report on that next week)
He will raise a glass to wish the industry a good harvest in 2020
Linda Potgieter handles the Social Media; Christine Bishop is in charge of the administration of Platter and the awards
125 Five Star certificates for wines this year. Food24 has published the list of these and the top wines of the year
Click on this link: https://www.food24.com/Drinks/Wine/Features/announced-platters-5-star-wines-for-2020-20191111
There has been an immense rise in quality. If you want to see how the wineries scored, you need to buy a copy of Platter
It is our main wine reference book, so useful and informative and is much used during the year
We bought the first and subsequent editions and have every one of the 40 editions in our collection
Looking at them gives an impressive illustration of the fantastic growth our wine industry has seen in the last 40 years
JP reveals the first copy, the colour described as Karoo Night Sky
JD Pretorius and Christiane von Arnim from Warwick Estate
Philip van Zyl has the arduous task of editing this huge tome and has done so for many years
He said that he is "Still Here!" and spoke about how in the first year of the Platter guide it had 1250 wines and one Chardonnay
If anyone has a copy of that first edition in Afrikaans, they are looking for a copy; it is very rare
After the certificates have been handed out to the wine makers who had achieved 5 stars for their wines,
we went on to the awards for the Wines of the Year and the Producer of the Year
Unusually, there were several joint awards this year

The Award for Top Cabernet Franc was shared by Antonij Rupert wines (Dawie Botha),
Raats Family Wines (Gavin Bruwer) and De Trafford (David Trafford)
The Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year and Red Blend of the Year (Other varietals) Awards
went to Rust en Vrede (Malie McGregor)
The Cinsaut of the Year Award was shared by Bosman Family Vineyards (Corlea Fourie and Natasha Williams)
and Savage Wines (Duncan Savage)
Sadie Family wines received Awards for White Blend of the Year (Palladius 2017) and Grenache noir of the Year (Soldaat 2018)
The Pinotage of the Year Award went to Flagstone Wines (Mia Boonzaaier and MD James Reid)
The Pinot Noir of the Year was Storm Wines Ignis Pinot noir 2017 (Hannes Storm)
Anton and Julia van Biljon received the award for Cape Bordeaux Red Blend of the Year
(Winemakers Christopher Keet and Anton van Biljon)
Anri Truter with the Award for Pinotage based Red Blend of the Year (Beyerskloof Faith 2015)
Dewald Heyns (Saronsberg), Erika Obermeyer and Malie McGregor (Rust en Vrede)
shared the Award for Shiraz based Red Blend of the Year
The Chardonnay of the Year Award was shared by Restless River (Craig Wessels)
and Leeu Passant (Andrea Mullineux and Wade Sander)
Rall Wines (Donovan Rall) produced the Chenin blanc of the Year, Ava 2018
David Clarke received the Award for Sauvignon blanc of the Year on behalf of Trizanne Signature Wine
(Trizanne Barnard, Sondagskloof Blanc Fumé 2018)
Semillons of the Year were Rickety Bridge (The Pilgrimage 201) and Anthonij Rupert Wyne (Lang Groendruif 2016)
Ridgeback (Toit Wessels) produced the Viognier of the Year
Delaire Graff produced the Cape Bordeaux White Blend of the Year, Delaire Graff White Reserve 2017
Laibach Vineyards (owners Petra Laibach-Kühner and Rolf Kühner; winemaker Francois van Zyl)
and Klein Constantia (Craig Harris and Matthew Day, Vin de Constance) produced the Natural Sweet wines of the Year
Tokara (Stuart Botha and Aidan Morton) and Buitenverwachting (Brad Paton)
shared the Award for Noble Late Harvest of the Year
Port Style Wines of the year were Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2017 (Carel Nel)
and Upland Cape Tawny 2014 (Edmund Oettlé)
Brandy of the Year was KWV Centenary
Anne Ferreira received the framed certificates for MCC of the Year and Newcomer Winery of the Year,
both for Pieter Ferreira Cap Classique
Pieter Ferreira has been Graham Beck winemaker and Cellarmaster since 1990
While he still holds that position, he has launched his own marque with immediate success and recognition
Boekenhoutskloof (Marc Kent) received the Editor's Award
Top Performing Winery of the Year is once again Mullineux (Chris and Andrea Mullineux)
who were also awarded certificates for Shiraz and Vin de Paille of the Year. Huge congratulations 
Siobhan Thompson, Guy McDonald and Maryna Calow enjoying the evening
After the awards ceremony, we moved to another room and were given the opportunity of tasting all of the 5 star Platter wines and brandies. Well, it is not possible to taste all 125, but we had ringed several we wanted to taste. It is a fantastic opportunity as, although we do know and have tasted many of the top wines during the year, there are some we had not had the privilege of tasting, and a few we wish to taste again
It really comes down to a splash, a sip, savour and then a spit. A fantastic evening that finished at 11 pm
A talented musician always attracts Groupies!
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Location: Cape Town, South Africa

MENU's UK Adventure 16. Falmouth and more Rick Stein; Fowey, then off to London

Nearing the end of our week in Cornwall we decided to push the boat out a bit
and visit another Rick Stein restaurant, this time in nearby Falmouth
It seems that the last time we visited we didn’t go far enough into the town. And the sun was sparkling on the sea

It was the weekend, so many people were attracted to this pretty port

England has always been a seagoing nation and, judging by the number of boats, they still like going on the water

We parked in the centre of town and, after rather a long walk through the town
and losing our way a couple of times, because the satnav on our phones misdirected us,
we arrived on the quayside near this large wharfside building. just in time for our booking at Rick Stein Fish

Warmly welcomed by the staff and manager, we were ushered to our seats

The restaurant has lots of light and space; it feels relaxed and not at all pretentious
No blaring music, thank heavens. Lots of wood and natural fabrics
It is not a complicated menu and the prices are very reasonable
John was tempted by the mussels, Lynne by the Crab Linguine,
but then we spotted the tasting board going to someone's table
and we realised we could have a taste of several dishes on the menu in one go
So we ordered one each

and when we saw the wine list, we had to giggle and send a quick WhatsApp
to winemaker Matthew Copeland at Vondeling to ask if he knew his Rosé was on Rick Stein's wine list?
He didn’t and was extremely happy. Sorry Matthew, but we didn’t order it -
we love it and drink a lot of it at home, but wanted to try the Granfort from France
(French Rosés always bring extremely happy memories of our visits to the South of France)
and  Rosé goes with so many different foods - and we couldn't ignore the £8 (R110) price difference!

We ordered the 500 ml carafe and the menu description was right about the raspberry and strawberry fruit,
so enjoyable with the food. Very good glasses

The tasting board. L to R, the Padron peppers, covered in flaked salt and like a food version of Sauvignon Blanc
- they are not at all hot, just delicious
The calamari were crisply battered with semolina and tender soft within
Then two huge prawns covered in what resembled the amazing Prego sauce we used to sell in Main Ingredient,
which was made for us by Chef Pete Ayub; we got nice and messy getting involved with them
removing the shells with firm and sweet flesh inside (Yes, finger bowls were provided)
A classic Greek salad, well dressed and with good creamy feta
and two warm battered balls of salt cod and parsley on an aioli dressing
We were going to order main courses, but this was delicious, filling and very satisfying

The restaurant soon filled up with people who looked like relaxed holiday makers

The bar was busy and the staff attentive. We had a chat with the manager about the food and the restaurant
If you visit Falmouth, we thoroughly recommend it. With a tip, the bill came to £55 = approximately R1073
Not bad for lunch with wine for two

On the seashore, more young kelp gulls

learning to catch thermals

The town's streets are narrow and filled with interesting shops

This gull could not believe its luck

The anchor chains were covered in live mussels and the gulls were eating their fill, and more

We walked past a restaurant in the high street called Amanzi

We thought you might be amused to see the menu
for those homesick Africans, some very familiar food including monkey gland steak,
a spicy, fruity sauce served with steak, (no monkeys involved!) an SA speciality
Bobotie is very common in the UK, especially in pubs but they amusingly call it "bobbity"
No, we didn’t eat there
We think that the prices show that the Rick Stein Restaurant is not expensive compared to other local restaurants

\

The next day we set off for Fowey. This is the view of the coastline looking North East from the turnoff to Mevagissey

Some friendly cows in the field came to greet John

Fowey is another seaside town on an estuary. If you have watched The Coroner (UK version) on TV,
we have been told that some of it was filmed here

Parking was an absolute nightmare but we managed to find a place on the front eventually, near this slipway
Embarrassingly our car alarm kept going off. "Someone" had not closed the back door properly
That’s when you thank alarms,
as we did have things in the car that could have been stolen had we not found the open door

Some lovely Georgian houses; this one impressed
The Scallop Shell House in Fowey. It marks the site of a medieval resting place and the embarcation point
for hundreds of pilgrims leaving for the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James) in Spain
The canopy above the door is a large scallop shell which has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago
It’s said that, after St James' death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula
to be buried in what is now Santiago
Off the coast of Spain, on the way there, a heavy storm hit the ship
and St James's body was lost overboard into the sea
After some time however, it washed ashore undamaged and covered in scallops
The shell also served practical purposes for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago
It was the right size for gathering water to drink or for eating out of as a makeshift bowl

Buildings of different ages and upper floors overhanging the street
The sign says that it's the oldest house in Fowey; it is now a micro-brewery

The tidal river flows peacefully out to sea

We had sandwiches sitting out on the front with a beer from a local pub

Then back to our AirBnB for our last afternoon in Mevagissey. We wanted scones, cream and jam one last time,
so we bought some scones and some clotted cream and enjoyed them in our sunny garden

Dinner that night was this half a crispy Gressingham Duck from Sainsburys
It cost £6 (approx R117) and all Lynne had to do was spread some of the supplied hoisin sauce on the skin,
roast for half an hour and shred
They also provided the perfect pancakes. All we had to add was some shredded spring onions
It was absolutely superb
Half a Peking duck in Cape Town costs upward of R300, if you can find it in a Chinese restaurant
The selection of ready-made or "cook briefly at home" food in UK supermarkets is quite fantastic
and prices are not as high as we are currently paying. One can indeed see why many in Europe are not cooking much at home with this selection of good food on hand

And then it was time to head for London. It was quite a long trip up the A303/M3, a very familiar road to both of us
And thank heavens for SatNav;

we arrived on time at our friend Angela Redman's house in Wimbledon

Like many in Britain she has renovated her Victorian house and made it open plan at the back
which gives a lovely large living area and spacious kitchen with light flooding in from the garden though the bifold doors and skylight

We are of course discussing what wine to have with supper
She is such an amazing hostess and cooked superb meals for us each night while we stayed with her
We are very thankful to have had such a warm welcome and such a stylish and comfortable place to stay

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