Franschhoek Visit - Cellar Tour and Tasting at Rickety Bridge

Tuesday dawned damp and grey, so we were pleased that we had invitations to wine farms to fill our day

First to Rickety Bridge, where you can stay at the Manor House,

visit the winery to taste the wines and eat in their restaurant, Paulina’s,
which is currently open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 09h00 - 17h00
Breakfast is served from 09h00 - 17h00 and lunch from 11h00 - 17h00
Or order a picnic to have on the lawn or in the restaurant, if the weather is not good

The entrance to the tasting room

There to greet us was MD Jan van Huyssteen

We met winemaker Donovan Ackermann who took time out of his wine making to give us a very good tour of the cellar and a great barrel and tanking for which we are very thankful. He showed us these Cinsault grapes that had just come in and we tasted them. They were deliciously sweet and had characteristic flavours of the grape. And a sweet late-harvested Colombard grape, which is headed for a straw wine

Tanks are full from all the white wines picked this year. They were waiting for the approaching storm to pass over before picking more red grapes. Many of the winemakers we spoke to said that they had no option; the reds are not yet ready for picking. We saw the Rickety Bridge stok-by-paaltjie Shiraz grapes at the entrance and they look magnificent. Echalas, also known as ‘staked vines’ or ‘stok-by-paaltjie’, is mostly used in the wine producing regions of Côte-Rôtie in France, Priorat in Spain and Mösel in Germany

We had a tank tasting of fermenting wines from their concrete tanks, Chenin and Pinotage

which are both rich and complex, and the good fruit is showing great possibilities

A special treat to taste a barrel sample of the pink Semillon Gris, It is a mutation of the green Semillon Blanc. It seems that it mutated here in the Cape, and was first seen and identified in the 1800's. It reminded Lynne of Austrian wines she has had

The barrel. We hope we do get to taste it when it has been bottled; it normally produces really good wine

A fermenting cap of Pinotage in small plastic tanks

It is a very busy time in the cellar. These grapes are fermenting in the white tanks

You might be interested to know that Rickety Bridge sells a Wine tasting kit
- it could be great if you have an interest in blending wine or have a wine club

The barrel cellar with large oval Foudres at the end. These hold very large volumes of wine and were much used in the past, but they are reappearing in wine cellars because of the positive effect they have on wine. A foudre gives a greater ratio of volume to surface area so that any impact of oak on the wine is gentler even when barrels are new

Donovan gave us a tasting of a very good 2021 Chenin Blanc with a smooth and silky texture, lovely layered fruit

We cannot wait to see this in bottle

There is also an old vine 2021 Semillon in a foudre

We thanked Donovan very much for a super cellar tour and tasting

It was now time to go to the tasting room with tasting room manager Dylan van Dyk,

who had also been with us in the cellar

A fire was lit and it was a great comfortable place for a tasting on a rainy day

Two Paulina's Reserve wines to begin the tasting. A Sauvignon Blanc 2019 from Elim, which was matured in a foudre, making a Blanc Fume in style, slight smoke on the typical Sauvignon blanc nose. A good texture, good fruit and acidity in balance; a definite food wine which we scored highly. As did others. The 2018 Chenin Blanc had 50% new oak. It has a dive-in nose; the fruit is there, but just peripheral, with rich layered fruit; and completely different on the palate. Expecting rich fruit with some sweetness, it was lean and crisp with lots of sophistication and class, hints of a Semillon, with a slightly oily texture, flavours of English gooseberries, granadilla

and then the 2017 Paulina's Reserve Semillon; the grapes are from the renowned old Landau de Val vines where the oldest vineyard was planted near the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The classic grey nose of Semillon with smoke and cooked apple in the background. On the palate, it is clean, textured, dry white peach, greengage with good wood supporting on the end. A wine to drink now, but also to cellar. Then three from the Printers Devil range. The 2018 white, The Gremlin is made of 50/50 Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Figgy leaves, salted caramel, good texture and sweetness mid-palate, long crisp flavours. A food wine

The Printers Devil Rosé 2018, named Titivillus from Grenache Noir grapes which come from Bot River. Earthy with pomegranate mulberry and a little smoke. Crisp and zingy, with tangy pomegranate and citrus flavours; also a food wine. The Printers Devil Red 2017 Belphegor (all are named for phantoms) is 90% Cinsault and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. A portion is made in a concrete tank and the Cabernet in new French oak. Cassis, cola, red currant and incense wood on the nose; silky, soft lovely tannins and red berry fruit, then a zing of acid wakes it up. It has the legs to last

It was now about 1 pm; we had tasted quite a lot of wine and we were very, very grateful for this platter of cheese and charcuterie, olives, figs and pickles that they conjured up for us. It was quickly hoovered up

Then a very special wine indeed. The Pilgrimage Reserve 2017 Old Vine Semillon, from Block 905 on Landau de Val farm. Limited to 1600 bottles, each numbered. Classic style Semillon grey nose, a little shy, but then, on the palate, it is a blockbuster wine, not shy at all. It has the classic oily mouthfeel one expects, orange, citrus, warm alcohol with citrus zest on the end, and is well supported by wood. It scores very high points in international and local competitions and tastings. We loved it

The Paulina’s Reserve Old Vine Cinsault 2020. This was a Rickety Bridge collaboration with their wine club, made by Donovan and Dylan. It has that classic dusty Cinsault nose, with cherries and red berries, showing almost Pinot Noir like character on the nose with wood ash on the end. On the palate, an explosion of sweet cherry and prune plums, nice chalky tannins and dark licorice wood. Yummy

The Rickety Bridge Flagship is The Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 from vineyards on the farm. A classic Cabernet cassis nose, with incense, French oak and enticing richness. It is a full-on Cabernet; lots of everything, fruit, wood, grippy tannins and long flavours of dark cassis and black berry fruit; lots of quality and class and lasting ability

The final wine was The Sleeper Shiraz 2017

Good wood, black berries and very full of enticement on the nose

Sweet black fruit, spicy with black pepper, cumin and turmeric notes

gentle supporting wood and it demands food immediately you taste it

We liked all of the wines, even loved a few, and this is not usual

We conclude that Donovan is a very talented winemaker

Go and taste and see for yourself. Thank you so much all at Rickety Bridge

It was good to see people in the tasting room on a very, very chilly and wet Tuesday morning

As we left, we could see the rain falling in the mountains and over the vineyards

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Franschhoek Visit - Chefs Warehouse at Maison

One of the reasons we decided to go to Franschhoek on Monday the 8th of March was that it was our 18th wedding anniversary and this seemed like the ideal way to celebrate to it. We would be there when there were not many people about. Franschhoek is nicely busy at weekends and we are avoiding being with any sort of crowd. The downside is that many restaurants do not open until Thursday or Friday and the weekend, so our choices were limited. We have been to several of the Chef's Warehouse restaurants and were very happy to discover that their Maison restaurant is open on Mondays. (They close on Tuesday and Wednesday)

Walking in, you go through the very impressive chef's garden full of herbs and vegetables for the kitchen

Seating outside for the wine tasting - this is also a wine farm: Maison Estate with its own wines, a deli, a guest house

and owner Chris Weylandt’s family home

Wandering the gardens is a selection of very pretty chickens. These fluff balls are Silkies

We had booked a table on the terrace and, for a Monday, Maison was quite busy

The farm’s black porker wanders around and is quite tame

How tame we were not prepared to test out

All the chickens and the pig are corralled safely at night

Views from the terrace of the farm's vineyards and the garden

The same menu is for lunch or dinner
It is exciting food, with lots of variation, different combinations of flavour, texture and aromas

You do not have to have the main menu, you can just order from the starter menu and the dessert menu
 should you not want a full meal. There is a varied wine list and Maison wines are available by the glass

Another view of the terrace

There are also very pretty speckled hens

A view of the restaurant from the garden

John thinks this wood collection is the same wood

that was here at the beginning of Maison restaurant some years ago

It looks very well seasoned

We decided to push the boat out, do the full 8 dish Tapas menu for R1 000 for two

Having a British pension can be useful for splurges like this

We have known the manager, Rebecca, for many years so it was lovely to catch up on what she has been doing. She worked with Chefs Warehouse owner Liam Tomlin in several of his early ventures. She presented us with a surprise; two glasses of Maison 2014 Blanc de Blanc Cap Classique as a celebration of our Anniversary, lovely and crisp, a bready nose, and golden delicious apple, fresh and cooked on the palate

The first round has three dishes. This is Arepas, a crisp round deep fried bread, filled with Fennel and Pork sausage meat and accompanied by a spiced Buttermilk dressing, heavy with green coriander, some lime, mint and chilli. It was something new for us, and resembles a deep-fried pita bread, very enjoyably crisp but it is made with cornmeal and originates in northern pre-Colombian South America

Then savoury and light as air, crisp choux gougères straight from the oven,

served with a rich crème made of aubergine and smoked yellowtail, topped with olive oil, smoked fish,

deep fried capers, preserved orange rind

The summer salad with roast pear, apple, shaved fennel, celery, herbs, pecan nuts,

flower petals on a bed of buchu curd, rather like a cottage cheese

John had a glass of the Maison wooded Chenin

Then two more plates appeared

A ceviche of kingklip with fresh litchi and Mango in a passion fruit tiger's milk sauce/marinade

with keffir lime leaves and slices of red chilli

And some wood fired Venison (soft and tender Impala) in a honey, flaked almond and sweet olive dressing,

with shaved courgette rolls, petals and herbs

A bit of the venison with the sweet almonds and olives was quite a taste sensation

It seems we are in for an early autumn

We are experiencing very unusual weather for early March, which is usually one of our best summer months

Next course was a dish all on its own and it so deserved showcasing. Delicious! A creamy Parmesan and Truffle risotto, with Genesis heirloom varied tomatoes which had been gently roasted and peeled. It was one of the best risottos Lynne has ever had, superb in its simplicity, the correct 'bite' on the rice and the base stock used shone. She later asked the chef what he added and it is made from a barley stock, which adds the correct amount of umami. It is topped with different basil leaves and pine nuts. One to try at home, definitely

Chanticleer the Cockerel appears in all his glory

and you can see why the French thought him worthy of being their emblem

And then the final two dishes. They do look small and you share them between you but this is plenty of very satisfying food. A sticky tender piece of roast lamb rib from the Karoo with a rich fig Fesenjam Sauce, a gentle goats cheese and lavender mousse, wood fired figs that were then pickled, a crumb of pistachio and lemon and sprinkled with pomegranate aruls. We could have eaten an entire plate of the rich lamb ribs

The final dish was really perfectly cooked piece of freshwater trout, unusually thick, skin seared to a crisp at one side, the flesh of the trout just cooked, oh so tender and falling into flakes with a beautiful flavour; in a rather Malay atchar coconut milk broth, well spiced but not too much to hide the delicacy of the trout.  It was on a base of roast sweet potato slices. A meal that is a flavour and texture extravaganza

We had no room for dessert but John enjoyed a double espresso

Ma and Pa patrolling the lawn

and an olive thrush just found a worm

The bill

And in the parking area, as we left, a magnificent Ferrari 250 California from the early 60s
set us wondering which customer it belonged to

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