A Celebration of Jordan wines in Woolworths at Jardine on Jordan

A rare sunny winter day in the winelands. We gathered outside the restaurant. Members of the media and PR enjoy a welcoming glass of Sur Lie Chardonnay and the sunshine.

Emanuel Mlotsha and Benedict Sithole, two of our friendly and efficient servers

The Exclusive selection unwooded Chardonnay  has  golden delicious apples on the nose and crisp dry green apples on its multi-layered palate with a distinct marmalade end.

Juanita Jolly, Maggie Mostert and Louise Genis enjoying the wine, the sun and the landscape

The menu for the lunch

Our rustic hors d’oeuvre was the kitchen’s freshly baked bread,  parsley butter, cauliflower salad, tiny roasted baby tomatoes with a lot of wonderful garlic slices and chives and some rich aioli.

Tom Orpen, sales and marketing manager for Jordan, Lynne, Alan Mullins CWM, wine consultant to Woolworths, and Cathryn Henderson, Editor of Classic Wine Magazine discuss the wines and the industry

Next we compared the Jordan  2004 Chardonnay and the 2012  ‘Specially for Woolworths’ lightly wooded Chardonnay which were served with the starter.

The starter. What a beautifully presented plate. On a broad bean purée base, a coin of buffalo mozzarella with chewy and intense grilled baby fennel, fresh broad beans, orange cream, and winter herbs: baby nasturtium leaves, sorrel leaves and flowers, chickweed, jasmine blossoms, and a sprinkling of crisp beef ‘kaaiings’ or crackling.  Each one of these flavours appeared in the wine and as a whole the dish was intense, sharp, citrusy, herbal and delicious

Co-owner/winemaker Gary Jordan tells us about the wines and the relationship with Woolworths

Woolworths’ wine buyer Ivan Oertle tells us about the Exclusive for Woolworths history

Chef George Jardine tells us about the food and how they did the wine pairing

The next course was a fillet of East Coast hake wrapped in crisp pancetta, tender red wine braised octopus circles, which some of us first thought were scallops, in a rich smoked marrow jus topped with watercress. This was served with two Jordan Merlots.  The very good value No Added Sulphur 2012 Merlot (R59.95) and the Woolworths Exclusive Selection Merlot 2010 (R99.95) and it had a remarkable effect on both wines. It amplified the smoke on the first wine and softened and enriched its slightly sharp acidity. And it brought out and enhanced the rich flavours of the cherries and mulberry fruit on the second wine. 

The next course of Confit duck leg with porcini boulangère (translation: cooked with sliced onions in a casserole) sauce, poached turnip purée and marinated sultanas, was the best duck confit we have had since France. Crisp skin, soft flesh falling off the bones, counterpointed by the mushroom jus and the sweetness of the sultanas.  The plate was dressed with chickweed, which is a weed we will be foraging for from now on. Served with two versions of  Jordan Cobbler's Hill Bordeaux blend: the Jordan 2004 and the Jordan Exclusively for Woolworths 2010 (R210.95).

These wines are full of expensive wood on the nose with cassis, rhubarb and cherries and with some savoury notes from the addition of the Cabernet Franc. They have rich, deep fruit flavours.  The 2010, while young and needing a little more time, was especially good with the duck and, yet again, everything on the plate added to the experience of the wines. As Lynne said in a tweet, George Jardine is indeed a food alchemist.

Winemaker and co-owner Cathy Jordan tells us a little more about the wines and how they did the pairings

To finish the meal, we were served a selection of great local cheeses from their cheese room with home-made jams. This was partnered with the richly sweet and elegant Jordan Mellifera NLH

Job well done, Chef George Jardine on his way home to his family.  Do go and sample his food, Jordan’s wines and enjoy that amazing view from the restaurant.

© John and Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013

  

Media launch of Gentleman Spirits Eau de Vie and Grappa at Blaauwklippen

A selection of canapés was served to show us how each was improved by a spritz of a particular eau de vie or grappa:

Smoked salmon with an orange flavoured cream cheese and a sprig of dill was sprayed just before eating with an Orange Eau de Vie

A delicious duck parfait with candied beetroot and a miniature plum half was sprayed with Pear William Eau de Vie

Venison Carpaccio was spritzed with a Zinfandel grappa.

One of the spotless stainless steel column stills. The ‘mash’ of fruit is cooked in the bottom copper’ and the spirits are distilled up the column and into the cooling chambers.

After several hours in the column still, being refined and refined, we see the final product of undiluted spirit.

Rolf Zeitvogel, Blaauwklippen’s MD and winemaker, is also one of the 3 Gentlemen partners in the Gentleman Spirits distillery

Urs Gmür, Duimpie Bayly, Sales Manager Billy Martin and Master Distiller Hubertus Vallendar listening to Rolf’s description of the distillation process

Multi-award winning and acknowledged master distiller Hubertus Vallendar explains his philosophy and how it and his process differ from others to produce really fine Eau de Vie and Grappa

The media makes notes while we listen to the presentation and sip on Graham Beck Brut laced with the Orange Eau de Vie

Now-retired industrialist Urs Gmür tells us what he brings to the business

Rolf translates some of the finer points of Hubertus' talk on distillation from the German

The tasting table set up in the new distillery on Blaauwklippen

A metal mural which shows the distilling process graces a wall in the distillery

A display of the range we are about to taste

Natalie Campbell, Events organiser and Rolf's PA, with the range of spirits

Six small glasses that pack an enormous punch

Tweeting, writing and tasting take place at the same time while we listen to the presentation

The  small correct tulip-shaped tasting glass of powerfully aromatic and warm liquor made from  Pear William (Actually local Bon Cretien pears from Elgin are used)

The glass is capped to keep in the volatile aromas and alcohols

We tasted six Spirits; Pear William Spirit, Lemon Eau de Vie and an Orange Liqueur and 3 Grappa’s made from  Zinfandel, Malbec and Shiraz. The intensity of the flavours from the fruit were remarkable and the different grape varieties are also very notable in each Grappa. They intend to produce many more flavours, but will use only ripe, pure local organic fruit for distilling.  At the moment most of the fruit comes from Elgin.

Rolf tells us about the aromas and shows us how to taste the spirits

This still was cooking up a mash of Malbec grapes to make grappa and we then discovered that it was at the perfect temperature of 65°C – to cook the main dish ‘sous vide’ for our lunch after the presentation. A very clever way to do two things at once.

And when they released the mash, out came four wrapped parcels of slowly braised pork neck

We then proceeded to the Blaauwklippen restaurant

to enjoy a three course menu paired with some of the Gentleman Spirits

First course was a rather leafy green garden salad with a few baby squid spritzed with the Lemon Eau de Vie, one of our favourite spirits. We drank Blaauwklippen’s new vintages with the lunch and with this course we really enjoyed the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, full of green figs and tropical notes, crisp and dry; it went well with the dish. And we tasted the Cultivar Selection 2013 Chenin Blanc

These are the Spritzer bottles for the spirits to add aroma and a little extra taste to the dishes. 

The main course was the extremely tender Malbec braised Pork Neck. This was in quite a sweet sauce of peach and Malbec Grappa, sauerkraut, and potatoes three ways:  Potato salad, potato wedges and a rather undercooked butternut and potato dauphinoise. A very Teutonic styled dish. This was served with the Cultivar Selection 2010 Malbec and its savoury flavours completely matched the rich sauce and the spirit in flavour profile.

Dessert was a perfectly made crème brûlée. (Photo courtesy of Nicolette Waterford). We have had some horrible curdled versions recently; this was silky and creamy with a good crack of caramel on the top and a dollop of vanilla ice cream and finely chopped Pistachio nuts.  Spritzed with the (soon to be released) Hazelnut Eau de Vie, it went into another dimension. Wicked

This is a very clever pourer they use to make sure everyone gets the same quantity. We all finished the meal with some of the best coffee we have tasted in a long time from the Roastery on Blaauwklippen. This is what to have with your grappa digestif at the end of a meal.

The restaurant floor is a parquet of oak barrel staves

They were most generous and we were given several sample bottles of the spirits and the wines to take home with us, plus sample packets of ground coffee.  Lynne cannot wait to use the Pear William and Lemon in and on future desserts.

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013