An invitation for us to visit a new wine estate this week, Brookdale in Paarl
We were picked up by transport at the Zeitz MOCAA Gallery in the Waterfront
The farm, which was originally part of the Ashanti estate, was bought by UK businessman Tim Rudd when it was just an overgrown and underused area in the Paarl winelands. He named the estate after the hamlet in Derbyshire where he lived for many years. His ambition was to create a world class country estate. He says "I have set out to create a playground for the curious and a space for experimentation. Our varietals are unusual, our location is outside of the well-known, and our approach is rather unconventional. Brookdale’s wines will be a product of passion, of thought, of the freedom to be creative and of remarkable attention to detail and quality. I couldn’t be more excited." And seeing the impressive property, tasting the wines and hearing about all the planned developments, we know he is achieving his ambition. Its location is spectacular, nestled beneath the imposing Drakenstein mountains. The Manor House is modern, built in the Cape Dutch style; it is not a heritage house
The entrance gates
The Manor House began as a family house for the Rudds when they visited
and is now an impressive guest house with six en suite bedrooms
The whole house can be booked for one party for special occasions, events and small weddings
There is an imposing staircase leading to the upper rooms
Yvonne Coetzee, who gave us a tour of the Manor House, is the General Manager
She and her husband, Chef Gary, were with Singita African Safari lodges
and also had a decade of working for hotelier Sol Kerzner
Between them, they have had many years of hospitality management
She says “We believe in the art of memory-making
Magic happens when attention to detail, creativity and understanding come together
for an event that is as memorable as it is effortless”
The decor is calming, comfortable and luxurious and every small thing has been provided to put guests at their ease
There is impressive art in all the public areas and in the rooms
This beautiful and finely detailed oil is in the atrium and is of the magical stream area at Kirstenbosch
It was painted by talented artist Debora Poynton
A view of one of the en suite bathrooms
One of the tranquil bedrooms
The beds are very special; apparently, they also have them at Buckingham Palace
The downstairs bedrooms have outdoor terraces
There is a study for use by people who have to do some work while staying at Brookdale
The dining room, where we would taste the wines later with the winemaker Kiara Scott
and eat a very good lunch, prepared by Chef Gary Coetzee, with the dishes paired with the wines
A view of the Manor House kitchen
They are currently building a new restaurant at another venue on the farm, to be opened at the end of this year
It will be in a complex with a new wine cellar and tasting room
Another of the spacious en suite bathrooms
At the top of the stairs
Every room has superb views of the surrounding countryside
The protea motif used in this tranquil room was superb
The curtain fabric had been embroidered with the flower, as had the cushions on the bed
A good view of the vegetable garden and the vines beyond
Each room has this beverage station
A close up of an embroidered curtain in another room
We met the winemaker Kiara Scott, here chatting with PRO Janie van der Spuy
Wines on ice for the tasting to come. Brookdale’s wines are currently made at Avondale
The new cellar, which it is hoped will be ready for the 2023 vintage, will make the Estate wines
It will have a 600 ton capacity, and as well as barrels, and 2 Foudres, there will be some amphora and concrete eggs
A lounge area with a library, a fire and a TV
The back of the Manor House leads to the topiary garden
and the outside pool and cabana
A good place to relax after a swim
Another small dining room
Views of the vines, as you taste the wines
Another comfortable lounge to relax in
Winemaker Kiara Scott told us “I was either going to be a musician, a lawyer or a winemaker. I’m very passion driven”
Luckily for the industry, wine won out. She was accepted into Elsenburg Agricultural College
In her final year, she received a bursary from the Cape Winemakers Guild
to take part in their three-year Protégé Programme. It is a very prestigious programme
During the programme, she worked with David Nieuwoudt of Cederberg Wines,
Charles Hopkins of De Grendel Estate and Carl Van de Merwe at DeMorgenzon,
complete with regular tastings and courses
“Without the programme it would have taken me much, much longer to achieve what I have”
And, during this time, she also worked harvests in the Rhône Valley, Sancerre and the Russian River Valley in California
She has been mentored by Duncan Savage, who consults to Brookdale,
and it was he who recommended her for the job
We had such fun chatting with her over lunch and tasting the wine which impressed us a lot;
she is so young and fresh and driven
The menu
Chef Gary Coetzee came to chat to us before lunch to tell us about the new restaurant,
which will have a chic bistro style menu and vibe. And he will have a new team to run it
He was able to tell us that in his new commercial kitchen he will have a flat top grill plancha, a boiling table
and a salamander, as well as a -2ºC fish fridge. He is looking forward to planning his kitchen
The wines were all served in Riedel glasses. We began with the 2021 Brookdale Mason Road Chenin Blanc, priced at R115
Apricots and peach with golden delicious apple on the nose, crisp apple, some lees character
and a hint of wood and flint on the palate. Long flavours point to a wine good with food
They aim for constancy year after year. Grapes are bought in from 30- and 16-year-old vines, not in Paarl
This was paired with an egg yolk raviolo in a delicious truffle and white wine cream with salted capers
Traditionally a very challenging dish to make as, when you open the raviolo, the thin pasta must be cooked
but the egg yolk inside must run and mix successfully with the cream, enriching the dish. And it did!
The 2020 Mason Road Serendipity Rosé is a combination of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault grapes,
a red wine vinified as white
Partridge eye in colour, it has a lovely perfumed nose of jasmine and red plums, a real dive-in nose
Light at first on the palate, a hint of zing and then the red grapes’ charm comes through
Pan seared sardine fillets with a very good combination of two sauces: a spicy chermoula and an olive tapenade,
topped with garden herbs and green peppercorns. We told Gary that if he can bottle it, we would buy it!
Next, also paired with the Rosé, was a very good vegan dish, Tandoori roasted cauliflower,
with the spicy and tangy tandoori yogurt sauce baked onto the top of the perfectly cooked cauliflower,
drizzled with a good salsa verde, with hummus,
nutty Dukkah spices and roasted red onion
One to copy at home, definitely. And a great match with the wine
Writer and Sommelier Erica Taylor enjoying lunch too, the wine a good match for her hair
Kiara "nosing the wine"
Many have said she is one to watch, and we will,
but she is definitely in the right place right now and going far in her career
She is a talented wine maker
When Tim Rudd first acquired the land of Brookdale, it was overgrown and underused and,
as they began to clear the land, replant indigenous trees and shrubs, and plant new vines,
they found something remarkable. A single block of Chenin Blanc which held immense potential
had been quietly thriving on one of the slopes at Brookdale Estate
This block joined the Old Vines project in 2021 and would yield the first vintage of Brookdale Chenin Blanc
from the then 35-year-old vines
The 2018 Brookdale Chenin Blanc has won awards and accolades
We were lucky to taste this vintage, as the current one is 2020
Golden fruit, lees and some smoke on the nose, rich apple and quince flavours in layers,
sweet then crisp with some attractive salinity; very enjoyable
New oak use is decreasing year by year and they are finding old 500 litre barrels very hard to source
A classic Chenin served with a classic dish and such a good pairing
A tender, flavourful Chicken Ballotine, a classic chicken Velouté, perfect green asparagus
with a small delightful crunch, peas and Pommes Mousseline
Winner, winner chicken dinner Gary!
So good to be reminded of why certain dishes are classics with all their essential flavours
A very happy couple!
The Mason Road Syrah is from young vines and from the first vintage;
not often do people take the risk, but this came off beautifully
Incense wood on the nose with cherries and plums, lovely sappig (juicy) fruit,
raspberry, plum and cranberry on the palate, cloves, cinnamon and some minerality and smoke
and so well paired with the dessert
A chocolate marquise, chocolate soil, raspberry and pomegranate coulis
and thick vanilla ice cream that was more like clotted cream,
and an almond biscuit to top off this lovely end to a special tasting and meal
Jacus Marais is now Sales and Marketing manager at Brookdale,
after 22½ years in the same position at Nitída in Durbanville. It was good to see him
Thank you to all at Brookdale and to Janie for organising such a great day out. We almost feel we are back to normal
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