Friday, July 31, 2020

Bellevue Reserve Collection Launch

We were invited to take part in this on-line Zoom tasting of Bellevue Wine Reserve Collection Estate wines which took place on Friday 31st July
We have had several invitations to take part in tastings like this, but with no wine. Doing those just makes us feel envious and bereft, so we don't do it. Bellevue got the wines to us in good time and it was extremely enjoyable seeing some of the usual suspects doing the tasting as well. These are the four wines we tasted from Bellevue, which is in the Bottelary area of Stellenbosch, renowned for its Pinotages and Cabernets
Dinah Dick led our Zoom meeting with other members of the wine trade and the media
Dirkie Morkel, who is the viticulturist on the farm, talked us through some of the history, especially of the Pinotage which was the first grown in the Cape and from which the first (Lanzerac branded) Pinotage was made. And which they still grow and make very successfully
Wilhelm Kritzinger, the Cellar Master, told us how he makes the wines and then took us through the tasting. We began with the 2019 Reserve Collection wooded Chardonnay. This is only the second vintage bottled and matured in blond 300 litre French oak barrels. Wilhelm revealed that they use a red wine yeast for this Chardonnay. R209 from the farm. Order now, it will be delivered when lock down is over. It has a classic, attractive Chardonnay character on the nose, buttery pastry, full and rich; wood does not dominate at all. This is repeated on the palate with caramel and buttered toast with lime and lemon. Long flavours, a good balance of acid, wood and fruit with some minerality. We were impressed
Michael Fridjhon was on line too for the tasting. The second wine from the Reserve Collection is the 2016 Bellevue Pinotage, R220. Wilhelm told us this wine ferments in a week on the skins and goes into spontaneous malolactic fermentation. They use French made American oak barrels. So you do get vanilla on the nose, with herbs, incense wood, minerality and sweet cherry jam, raspberry & mulberry fruit, with a hint of wildness. Tight chalky tannins grip the Cherry fruit. Then dark and milk chocolate, so you are reminded of a rich Black Forest cake. A hint of metal, good acidity and balance on second mouthful, then an end of salty minerality. A big wine, one to keep
Journalist and PRO Emile Joubert. The third wine was the Reserve Collection 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon R220. A classic, with cassis in bucketfuls, also blueberries, vanilla and incense wood. Quite ethereal at first, then an invitation to dive in please. Salty licorice, smooth with a chalky grip, then full on fruit fills the palate. We had the rest of this wine with our supper for two nights running and it just got better and better. An excellent food wine for drinking now. Buy some soon
Samarie Smith and Georgio Meletiou commenting on the wines.  The fourth wine was the flagship Reserve Collection 2018 Tumara, a five variety Bordeaux Blend. R235. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, then approx 10% each of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec; the blend of these last four varies each year. Wood on the nose, then violets, then fruit, Richness and complexity, velvety notes of cassis, mulberry, rhubarb, pencil lead, a touch of wildness from the Malbec and ends with an attractive perfume. Rich red and black berry fruit, licorice and Cassis predominated, good acidity, some chalk, wood on the end with dark caramel, then a finish of fruit acidity, showing that it needs time
Wilhelm told us he studied Food Science and then winemaking pulled him down the rabbit hole. He did a harvest with Dirkie in 2002, has now been 19 years at Bellevue and has never looked back. They did run out of money for a while but the new owner, Marinus Neethling, who bought the farm in 2017, has now helped the farm to success. Wilhelm makes site specific wines, and with limited interference and says "if you don’t have the right soils, climate and cultivars you can’t succeed. " An impressive tasting and a lot of fun too. Thank you all at Bellevue for brightening up our Lock Down. May alcohol sales be allowed very soon
Lynne watching on her laptop, glasses at the ready. John sat next to her, so we could taste together and watched on his phone. All the photographs above were photographed off the phone's screen and the images come from a variety of laptop computers and other devices, so we take no responsibility for the quality. We tasted a little of each of the four wines with our supper of Goulash that night to see what they were like with food. All performed well
Posted by MENU at 10:53 am 0 comments

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Sea Point restaurants protest against a death sentence from an uncaring Government

Many South African restaurants took part in a protest today. In some areas, they managed to block the streets with tables and chairs to emphasise their distress and their plight. We live and work in Sea Point, where Main Road has, for very many years, been a restaurant hub.  The intention had been to do as other areas had done but it seems that, after pressure from the authorities which would have closed the entire operation, it was decided to protest from the side of the road

We started at an old favourite, arguably the most sophisticated restaurant in Sea Point, La Mouette,
where the owners, chef and staff were at the entrance with placards
Owner Gerrit Bruwer with a placard which tells the score
Supported by his staff
A member of staff from the Regent Burger Bar
Mykonos Taverna staff carrying the message
Another favourite, down the road toward the city, is La Boheme Bistro and La Bruixa with a message for Cyril Ramaphosa
Owned by Faisal Khakoo and his Catalonian wife Anna Rascola, who started their operation on the site with her coffee and tapas bar
La Bruixa, “The Witch” in Catalan, while Faisal was still involved with a restaurant in the centre of the city
Rubbish blown onto the verandah of a shut down restaurant
Across the road from La Boheme, the Congregational Church
No Communion here - is Communion wine also embargoed?
Posticino staff occupied empty tables in a silent protest
Then down to Green Point where Portuguese restaurant Caramba! had a telling display
With empty chairs
Carrying messages for the President and his cohorts
And, finally, Henry and Mari Vigar, original owners of La Mouette,
at Upper Bloem with their staff
On one of their empty chairs, a reminder: the suppliers also have dependants.
21 suppliers with an average of. let us say 30 staff each, who have an average family size of 4 = 2520 hungry mouths
And a final word, silently, a message. A long-established Indian restaurant has not survived
South Africa is one of only two countries in the world who have imposed this disastrous embargo. The other is Eswatini, formerly the huge country called Swaziland with a population af about 1 136 000, less than a quarter of the population of Cape Town
In order to mitigate the damage caused by a small number of miscreants who cannot control their consumption of alcohol and other addictive substances, Ms Dlamini Zuma is threatening the livelihoods of about a million people who work in the hospitality and liquor industries
We are seeing people at our door every day, asking for handouts
Not the ordinary beggars, but repectable people who have lost their livelihoods and are desperate
The virus is a cause, but Ms Dlamini Zuma's draconian edicts make her the mother of potential mass starvation
The wine industry is just as threatened and is also facing collapse
She will be recorded in the history books, along with Genghis Khan, Hitler and her hero Joseph Stalin as a progenitor of genocide



Posted by MENU at 11:15 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Father's Day lunch from Overture

So what is better than going to a top restaurant in Stellenbosch at the moment and sitting miles away from everyone else? Well, how about getting the chef to deliver Sunday lunch to you himself! Lynne ordered from Overture for Father’s Day and Bertus Basson came with the delivery himself

So nice to see him, we had a quick chat and then he was off doing other deliveries on the Atlantic Seaboard and in town. 
Ciabatta rolls, butter, Twice baked cheese souffles, Dry aged Sirloin steak, crispy potatoes, caramelised onion, confit garlic, fantastic looking vegetables, rubs, herbs, sauces followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding and treacle sugar Ice cream and custard for dessert. And very little cooking required. All for only R545 for two, including delivery..
We prepared the three course meal, followed Chef Bertus Basson's concise and easy instructions and photographed each course as it was ready. And we drank a stupendous bottle of Jordan Cobblers Hill 2008, a classic blend of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc with Merlot, with it. Thank you Gary Jordan and Kathy
The only thing that was out of kilter was our damned gas oven. It needs a service. The starter was twice baked, light as air cheese soufflés in a rich Huguenot cheese sauce, with tiny Jerusalem artichokes, almost mistaken for asparagus spears. These were a revelation and so different from the large gnarly blobs you normally get. They are the corm of a sunflower, and have a lovely nutty flavour. The small dish is more artichoke, sliced, in a light gastrique, which completely offset the richness of the soufflés. At the back are the ciabatta rolls and whipped butter. They meant we could soak up all that delicious cheese sauce. An excellent start
The steak was a large slab of sirloin, sadly without any fat left on it. It looked so lustrously pink, it could have been mistaken for a prime piece of tuna. It had to be coated in a supplied spice rub and seared on all sides in very hot pan, then the caramelised onions, confit garlic, herbs and butter were added for 10 minutes in the oven. And then rested for 10 minutes. 
Lynne aimed for medium rare and nearly got it. The pan juices were wicked, the meat flavour was excellent. On the left is the green peppercorn sauce, then the whole cauliflower with capers, sultanas and almonds which was roasted for 30 minutes, and on the right, the crispy potatoes - had we more room we could have consumed a bucket of them. And, in the front, the sour cream and chives (She did sprinkle a few more from our garden on the top). She thinks that the dish did need a green vegetable, but it was so filling that we don't think we could have managed more. Lynne had the remains of her steak on a sandwich at lunchtime. The wine from our cellar was really spectacular and such a good pairing. The much awarded @Jordan 2008 Cobblers Hill, blended especially for Woolworths. It was so ready to be enjoyed. Green herbs and cassis leaves on the nose with berries and cigar smoke. A mouth full of rich fruit with a touch of umami. Cherry, mulberry, cassis, and nice chalky tannins. some warmth and on the end salty licorice.
We did wait an hour before we could manage dessert, which was a rich sticky toffee pudding accompanied by treacle sugar ice cream and a good custard. Lynne topped them with the almonds. And we were groaning for a while afterwards, so unused to three courses are we now. 

Thank you so much Bertus Basson you did us proud. What a wonderful way to celebrate Father’s Day, the only downside being that Clare had to be locked down in her home, so that we had to make do with a phone conversation.

Posted by MENU at 12:35 pm 0 comments

Monday, June 08, 2020

Food Fanatics “the French affair” Saturday Pop up lunch from The Homestead

Elaine Rousseau of Food Fanatics caterers works out of her restaurant and functions centre, The Homestead, in Constantia Main Road in Wynberg. It is a very beautiful 200 year old venue with marvellous gardens. Like most restaurants and caterers, they have been hit during the Covid 19 lock down and have been selling food on line for collection or delivery. https://foodfanatics.co.za/ Have a look at their website to see what is on offer. They will be bringing The Homestead Pop-Up experience to your home. 
Sadly, it turns out that she and her wife should have been flying off this week to France to visit Paris, the Loire and other lovely French areas; A trip which was cancelled because of the virus. So they decided to do A Taste of the Homestead pop-up with a French theme this past weekend and invited us to come and collect a double pack to try. They do these things on a regular basis, and the next one you can order will be for Father’s Day. We can say without reservation that it was a gastronomic experience well worth doing
SO, for the first time since lock up, we set off on a long journey from Sea Point to collect our pack. We drove the beautiful way, along the Atlantic coast past Camps Bay, Llandudno, Hout Bay and Constantia. Fully masked on arrival, we stood in the garden at a good distance and chatted to Elaine. The last time we were here was on the 4th of March with our wine club for a wine tasting and supper afterwards; just before things got serious.
Elaine Rousseau in her domain. She is a very talented chef
This is the back of the restaurant and they put up bigger marquees on this lawn for weddings and parties
The numbers of party guests will have to be smaller at first but they will be back to doing functions as soon as they can 
We drank a glass of Dainty Bess Rosé MCC from Jane Eedes to celebrate seeing each other again
Such a lovely rosé, fresh strawberry raspberry fruit and great mousse
The magnificent and very enviable vegetable garden, she uses the produce in the restaurant
Lemons from her trees
A vegetable you don't often see, Cavolo Nero from Italy, black cabbage
Our box for two. You take this home and another carrier bag filled with lovely treats
We were also gifted a bottle of Rousseau Sacharia Sauvignon Blanc made by her brother Andre
It went extremely well with the food. You can purchase it through Elaine
A delivery note. As you can see from this there is also always a vegetarian option
Wall art!
As soon as we got home, we took everything out of the box and put it on our outside table
to show you what a superb selection you get for R290 per person
This is for two, so would cost R580
Very authentic Paté de Campagne, with good flavour and some pistachio nuts in it, with a mustard dressing,
tiny cornichon gherkins, pickled onions and a lovely apricot chutney
The main course of slow braised Chicken à la Normande just had to be popped into the oven for 20 minutes. Two very large cuisses of chicken (leg and thigh) in a superb onion, apple cider, brandy, cream and mustard sauce. This was so large that Lynne had to have hers over two days. It was accompanied by fried apple slices which so offset the richness of the sauce. This took us right back to the wonderful food of Normandy, And the Sacharia Sauvignon Blanc sang with this dish
Pain d'Epi (Wheat stalk bread) with tarragon butter to go with the Paté
Sage and Black pepper savoury Madeleines, light as air and just as good savoury as sweet
To accompany the main course was the star of the show, a French onion, Gruyère cheese and thyme Galette
A galette is a sort of pancake from Brittany, this had flaky crisp pastry, with an oozy cheese and onion filling, so rich, so divine
We had quarter each, and more the next night. 15 minutes in the oven 
The vegetable dish was Puy Lentil salad with roast new potatoes, fine beans, green onions and crisp radishes
We did remove the potatoes and popped them in the oven to warm for a few minutes
There was also a mixed leaf and herb Country salad with baby beets, and a thick Dijon dressing
And dessert was amazing. Two huge (and we do mean huge) Paris Brest choux pastry rounds,
topped with almonds and a white chocolate crumble. Inside was a light coffee flavoured crème patissière, and Chantilly cream
Lynne had to cut hers into quarters, it was so rich and wicked, as a whole one is too much after such a large meal
Great the next day as well
There were the cocktails to make first. With instructions supplied. All you had to do was add your favourite gin
And just the sort of cocktail Lynne loves, nice and sour, with lots of flavour and not huge
Basil, lemon and gin make a superb partnership
We have basil in the garden, always, so this might become habit forming. We even have a lemon syrup....
We didn’t use ice, why water down gin? Our gin is kept in our wine fridge, but you might like to ice it
Thank you Elaine for this wonderful meal
and for giving us a story to tell after nearly three months of silence!
Posted by MENU at 6:22 pm 0 comments

Sunday, April 19, 2020

The ANC’s attempted destruction of the South African wine industry


We are governed by idiots who fight among themselves in a battle over power, with no concern for the well-being of the country. The most recent example is Dlamini-Zuma’s about turn on Fikile “FearFokol” Mbalula’s statement that it was OK to transport packaged wine to the docks and ship it to willing export customers. In one stupid sentence she has deprived the wine industry and SA of a huge amount of sorely needed revenue and threatened the existence of a large number of wine producers

 About 25 years ago, I was in a Louis Allen Management program with a number of colleagues. We were given an exercise: You’re on a desert island, alone, with no resources. An empty Coke tin washes up on the beach. Name 50 things you can do with it. One of my colleagues gave 50 ideas and added a 51st: “you can give it to the ANC and they’ll break it”. Prophetic words

We’ve seen them do it to Eskom, South African Airways, the Post Office, South African Railways (under a few new names), Iscor (sold off to people who closed it down), and most of the essential services like health services, water and sanitation in all the provinces they “govern”/mismanage

They aren’t in charge in the Western Cape, which is why the Province works; that is a problem for them. The wine industry is one of the most important employers and revenue earners in the Province so, I believe, the Ms Zuma faction sees its destruction as a priority. After all, they don’t drink our wine. The fat cats prefer expensive marques of Champagne (I’ll have a Moway) and top end brands of imported single malt. “Drink domestic? Never Darling!” and they make the taxpayers pay for it

 The President appears to have the right ideas, but he is too busy watching the back-stabbers, Dlamini-Zuma, Magashule, Mabuza, Cele etc. Some of us (not me) voted ANC in the last election; they believed they were “supporting Cyril”. All they did was recharge the batteries of his enemies. As long as we have an ANC government, this country will continue to slide downhill. I’m not accustomed to negative thoughts, and I’ve always avoided political comment in this space, but I can’t stop this one. We all need to do whatever we can to have this stupid decision reversed. It happened when Vinpro and WOSA turned round the decision to stop the harvest and ruin the 2020 vintage. The politicians failed there, so this is the next weapon they are using against us
Fight!

Posted by MENU at 12:13 am 0 comments
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