Sunday, April 24, 2022

Tasting O'Connell Irish Whiskeys with Hector McBeth and Daithi O'Connell

Hector McBeth of WhiskyShop invited us to a tasting of premium Irish Whiskeys
collated by Irish whiskey negociant Daithi O'Connell

The tasting was held at The Gin Emporium in the V&A Waterfront, which also houses WhiskyShop,
where Hector McBeth sells a very large selection of excellent Scotch whiskies, Irish whiskeys
and others from all over the world

The building has the most amazing views and Lynne would have loved to have moved in! She has an affinity with water. Apparently, it was the show house for the developments in the Waterfront and has now been converted into business premises housing the Whiskey Shop and Gin Emporium. What a location, on the edge of the yacht basin

Four Gins are on offer at the Gin Emporium. We were not offered a tasting of them

They do have an Aroma Wheel and descriptions of the four Gins

A highball to start was offered, made from Ginger ale, a Naartjie shrub and Campari (a shrub is a concentrated syrup that combines fruit, sugar, and vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is the most common base for shrubs, and herbs and spices are often added to create interesting flavour combinations). It was very refreshing, somewhat like a good ginger beer

While we waited for the people to attend to arrive, we watched the activity in the harbour
There were crews practicing Dragon Boat racing - when Lynne worked for Safmarine they had a successful boat
And we watched some very impressive boats and yachts steaming home after a day at sea
- how the other 10% wealthy live

All set to begin

Tables filling up with media and guests

Hector McBeth, co-owner of WhiskyShop

Compère and broadcaster Guy McDonald. He works with Hector as Two Macs and a Dram

Daithi O'Connell is a Bottler and Bonder. His company WD O’Connell is a very different kind of whiskey maker. Their headquarters are in Kilmacthomas, County Waterford, Eire. They do not have a distillery and they are not trying to build one. They bottle & blend the best spirits they can find, to curate a bottle and cask library that matches their adventurous spirit. They seek out the finest new-make and mature spirits from the best of Ireland’s distillers. Working with peated whiskey; single grains; they cherish an all-sherry cask strength release. They are happy to re-mature whiskey in a Madeira cask, and source the best Scotch whisky Islay has to offer. He had just arrived that day from Ireland

He told us all about his company and how he had started in April 2019, when he bought his first cask of whiskey. Now they have a 1000 sq metre warehouse for blending, bottling and maturation racking and another building of 800 sq. metres which they will expand into a History of Whiskey exhibition

Time to taste. We are experienced whisk(e)y tasters as well as wine! And we always have a good bottle or two at home

We were to taste these three Whiskeys. The first a 10 year old single grain Bourbon and Rye cask Irish Whiskey

On the nose caramel and spice with a hint of oak and green herbs
On the palate we tasted toffee, vanilla and cinnamon milk chocolate and, yes, some honey
Some salty caramel on the end

Bill Phil is a single Malt peated Irish whiskey, it is named for Daithi 's great grandfather - see the back label below

Honey and spice and peaty earth notes, long flavours with the peat and wood from the first fill ex Bourbon casks
It becomes a little softer with a drop of water. You need to be a fan of peated whiskey; those who were enjoyed it a lot

Then a limited edition 12 year old Irish single malt; cask strength (59.5% proof) from a single sherry cask

Lots of cardamom spice, caramel and smoke on the nose
Unadulterated, it is hot with alcohol, we are not used to so much
It did need a drop or two of water to calm it, which brought out the spice, hazelnut, cigar smoke and fruit flavours
We really enjoyed this one

All these whiskeys and many more can be ordered from Hector at the WhiskyShop https://whiskyshop.co.za/

As we left, the Waterfront was aglow with all its night illuminations

The tasting was followed by public tastings in Cape Town and Johannesburg
of the international range of whiskies sold by WhiskyShop

The WhiskyShop price list


All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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Posted by MENU at 1:10 pm 0 comments

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Muratie’s Summer Wine Down

The good news is that many Cape wine farms are reporting that 2022 has had a great harvest (it has been a long slow cool year with a little heat excitement at the end) and that it will be a good vintage. We love harvest time and being invited to harvest celebrations, so accepted when we were invited by Rijk Melck to attend Muratie’s second Summer Wine Down on Saturday 9th April to celebrate another fruitful harvest. The last two years have seen a very long period of trials and isolations, so it was so good to see peoples' unmasked faces and have a good laugh at life and its twists and turns. We have survived. So far

Lawrence White, Desmond Binneman, Jean-Mari Reyneke and owner Rijk Melck,
members of the Muratie team, who informed and entertained us on the day 


We walked down to Granny's Garden area where they had arranged for the media to meet
and were welcomed and entertained by Rijk Melck with some farm history
The farm itself dates back to 1685 when it was granted by Governor Simon van der Stel
who was Governor of the Cape of Good Hope at the time
This makes Muratie one of the oldest estates in South Africa
and along with that age come many characters and truly fascinating stories

Rijk is an excellent story teller. He talked about the continuity in how Muratie has worked and had us engrossed
His ancestor, Martin Melck, bought the farm in 1763 and the family owned it until 1897
After 90 years under other owners, Rijk's father, Ronnie Melck, bought it in 1987
Muratie's first owner, Laurens Campher, who owned the farm from 1685 to 1735, was a mercenary
who came from Germany to work for the VOC, which had established a revictualling station at the Cape
Rijk told us that Campher met Ansela van de Caab, child of a slave at the Castle, survivor of a ship wreck
and fell in love with her. He had a two day walk from Muratie to Cape Town to see his bride-to-be
before they could marry and live on the farm. Some of the buildings they built are still in use on the farm


Rijk told us that when it came to interviewing their winemaker Hattingh de Villiers,
he watched to see how Hattingh got on with Rijk's dogs
 When he made a big fuss of the dogs at the first meeting, and the dogs responded,
Rijk knew he had the right man

A table of delights was there to feed us with a selection of cold meats, cheeses, lovely warm herb filled Italian Suppli
rice balls, biltong, samoosas, olives and savoury biscuits while we tasted the wines


Rijk told us that he did a stage in Burgundy on one of the famous wine estates and when it was time to come home,
the owner said to him "Grow Chardonnay", so he planted some
We tasted two vintages of Muratie’s Isabella Chardonnay, the 2020 and the 2021;
deservedly, both have been awarded 93 points by Tim Atkin
There is such richness on the nose and palate on both, the 2020 is full of butterscotch oak notes, vanilla and white peach
and, on the palate, full and zingy with lovely lime, lemon and peach
It was made in 30% new oak and they stop the malolactic fermentation
A wonderful expression of Chardonnay; one of the best we have ever tasted
And the 2021 was even better, delicious. Isabella is the name of Rijk's first daughter

The Lady Alice Cap Classique Rosé is usually made from 100% Pinot Noir and it spends 22/24 months on the lees
It has the classic red fruit Pinot Noir nose of cherries and strawberries with lovely fruit and lees complexity,
a lovely prickly mousse and, on the palate, the wine is crisp and dry,
full of the same cherry & strawberry fruit with long flavours
We found it very satisfying; lovely for a special celebration

Then followed two vintages of the Martin Melck Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2014 has a classic Cabernet nose, cassis, leaves and berries, perfumed with violets and roses
It is smooth as silk on the palate, with richness from black and red berries and cherries
Soft chalky tannins, careful wooding, minerality and good fruit acids will carry this wine further; keep or enjoy now
There is a pleasing hint of salty umami on the end palate
The 2017 is very similar on the nose with the same beautiful fruit and perfume
Silky and full of beautiful dark berry fruit, chalky with grippy tannins with flavours of cassis, mulberry and rhubarb fruit
Salty minerality and dark wood with umami flavours on the end

The Muratie Family Reserve 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is also named for Rijk's ancestor Martin Melck,
who arrived at the Cape in 1746
It is clean and crisp with dark fruit on the nose. Richness of dark berry cassis fruit on the palate,
with layers of flavour, very satisfying, with toasted wood on the end. Such an obvious red meat and game food wine

Ansela van de Caab 2019 is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot,  14% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot
Dark berries and violets from the Petit Verdot and wood is present
On the palate, lovely layers of different flavours open up as you taste
You can distinguish the different varietals as they all come to the fore in an exciting wine,
full of adventure and needing exploration. It is drinking so well now but one to watch for laying down and aging. Superb

Tinotenda Micheal Madzunguruse was the cheerful and helpful sommelier on the day

After the tasting we were taken on a walk through the farm
and noticed the two new members of the Melck family, two Alpacas 

and on our walk, we spotted a small distillery called 9 Orphans in one of the barns


It is for gin distillation, and is made by a brother and sister team. There are two very interesting flavours 
The Eikesap is flavoured with acorns found on the farm - it has a nice nutty flavour on the classic juniper dry gin
Turksvy Gin is flavoured by Prickly Pear fruit which grows near the distillery and is slightly fruity with a hint of granadilla
Lynne tasted both and was most impressed, this is real distilled gin
(not flavoured spirits bought in and soaked in botanicals)

The Turksvy or Prickly Pear cactus in full ripe fruit


There are some bygones for sale in the adjoining barn with a sign from Oom Samie se Winkel, in Dorp Street,
a Stellenbosch landmark. This display refers to it
The shop is, in effect, a museum, giving an idea of the shops frequented by our forefathers
It was founded by Rijk's mother Annatjie Melck

New raised vegetable beds grow produce for the restaurant


The group then went into the wine cellar to see what was happening there
All those lovely end of summer smells of fermenting ripe grapes filled the air

and we could see the red Port grapes fermenting


Desmond Binneman showing us the grapes being fermented

Some sampling took place


Getting a feel for it, very sticky!

Anyone fancy stomping some grapes?

The garden restaurant was filling up with guests who had come for the celebration, with wine and lunch


Some were still enjoying a wine tasting


and the terrace was full of guests

Rijk talking to some guests


We were seated at the media table under the trees and more wine was opened for us to enjoy with lunch
A magnum of Ansela van de Caab 2018 - it was a beautiful expression of the wine -
and the Martin Melck Cabernet Sauvignon

The Lourens Campher is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Verdelho and Viognier
Richness, fullness, crispness, lovely ripe fruit flavours, a hint of wood
and some ripe peach sweetness from the viognier, so quaffable with food or without

The farm tractor, for taking people on trips through the vineyards


There were some great choices for lunch
John had the sliced steak topped with sweetcorn, shaved parmesan cheese and balsamic on a bed of salad leaves
The Muratie restaurant's new chef is Riaan van Schalkwyk and his food was very good. Lots of freshness


One of the very excellent looking burgers with bacon and mozzarella
It had him wondering if he had made the right choice, despite the side dish of mushrooms in a cream sauce
He is allergic to them


Lynne plumped for the fish, which was fresh hake covered in a crisp coating on a bed of Asian noodles


Dessert was a sharing plate with a selection of chocolate brownies, fresh raspberries,
small crisp koeksisters and spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream


The band played jazz all afternoon

Muratie has a great view over the Stellenbosch wine farms with Table Mountain in the distance

We enjoyed having another memorable day there

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email

Posted by MENU at 5:31 pm 0 comments
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