Laborie and Harvest Restaurant in Paarl

Would you like to completely pamper someone you love? Then take them for a break to Laborie in beautiful Paarl for a night or two. The room rate for one of their en suite rooms is a very reasonable R485 pp with a huge breakfast served in the Manor House. You can be welcomed by a bottle of their superb Blanc de Blanc bubbly on the terrace outside your suite. You can eat lunch at Harvest Restaurant on their terrace or dinner inside with soft candlelight. You can do a wine and chocolate pairing in the tasting room, or a charcuterie and cheese lunch on the lawn under the trees. And you can come home with boxes of wine at very reasonable prices. How do we know? We were invited there and were thoroughly spoilt for two days last week doing all the above. We SO recommend this.

We were collected from our home by Laborie’s very friendly and experienced driver Geoffrey Samuels. Yes, our street is very steep

The Laborie Manor House is dated 1800

Warmly greeted by Zelda Oelofse-Cornthwaite, Hospitality & Events Manager at Laborie

There was a beautifully chilled bottle of Laborie Blanc de Blanc, always one of our favourites, to get us in the mood

Our suite for the night with our own porch, so we started with a glass of Blanc de Blanc while enjoying the view

Huge bed and nice lounge area. You can see the en suite bathroom leading off this room

There is WiFi and a flat screen TV, but we didn’t manage to find time to watch it

A well supplied drinks cabinet and the fridge was also filled with good wines and other beverages

The view from our terrace on the morning we arrived

Guests may wander into the Manor house to look around

The long table inside the voorkamer in the Manor House

The bedroom in the Manor House

The bright lounge

The library

The magnificent Gilgamesh panel by Cecil Skotnes, whose works are on walls throughout the manor house and Harvest Restaurant

One of the original windows of the manor house 

The view of Paarl valley from the manor house terrace

There are lots of squirrels on the werf, eating the acorns and pecan nuts

A rowdy Egyptian goose was soon chased away

by Cellar, the farm cat

Our next stop was the tasting room

where we met the friendly staff,

inspected the brandy still

and went to sit out on their balcony for the chocolate and wine tasting and the magnificent view of Paarl Rock – The Pearl

Rosé MCC, Chardonnay and Laborie's good Pineau with three paired chocolates

Cabernet, Shiraz and our favourite Cape Brandy, the Laborie Alambic, with another three chocolate pairings. We shared the tasting and enjoyed it very much indeed. Best matches for us were the brandy and the Pineau

Noelle Pheiffer, our tasting room hostess, explains how the tasting works

Franciska Pienaar, Public Relations Officer, runs the tasting room and is extremely helpful

Off to what we intended to have as a light lunch at Harvest restaurant, which is run by Executive Chef Matthew Gordon

An impressive line-up of different sizes of Laborie wine bottles, all full

Inside the dining room, it was not very busy because it was a beautiful day

and everyone wanted to sit outside, ourselves included

Lynne studies the menu

There are always daily specials on the blackboard

Zelda joined us for a drink

Lynne was extremely happy with her Chorizo and Squid salad

John opted for a Cape Malay lamb curry with rice. It was delicious and had lots of coconut, so it tasted similar to a Rendang, but the portion was much more generous than he'd anticipated, and he couldn't finish it

Afternoon light at the back of the manor house

John went for a stroll in the vineyards behind the Werf,

climbed the steep hill behind and took this view of the farm from up the hill

Owls live in these historic oaks

After a nap, we finished the MCC Blanc de Blanc and then it was time to go back to Harvest for dinner

Autumn was nipping the air, so most of us chose to eat indoors

The restaurant did fill up as it is a popular venue in Paarl for dinner

Our lovely waitress, Zethu Qalekiso, is full of life, laughter and personality

Chef Shirene Patrick came out to welcome us

Our starter was chosen by the chef. It was a tuna carpaccio, coated in sesame seeds, served with a salad

We both  chose the irresistible Springbok shanks for our main course. These were from an incredibly large springbok and one shank would have fed both of us. They were delicious

We couldn't face dessert, but could manage an espresso with the chocolate and brandy option. It was just right as an ending to a good meal

More spoiling as Nicole Arries, the Assistant Restaurant manager, presents us with a gift of two Laborie wines.

The manor house by moonlight. It was floodlit, but there was a huge harvest moon rising over the mountains

The morning view of the vineyards and tasting centre

Lynne on the way to breakfast in the manor house

The long table laid for breakfast with other guests partaking

The breakfast menu

Perfect breakfast for John

Perfect breakfast for Lynne

The wet winter has produced lots and lots of perfect acorns

The Paarl Rock behind the farm

The air is filled with swifts catching flying bugs and the lawns with wagtails looking for the crawlers

A Jonkershuis next to the swimming pool

The swimming pool for guests

Grapes turned to raisins

Autumn puts its colour on the vine leaves

Relaxing with the crossword and a glass of chilled Laborie Chenin Blanc

Here comes our lunch

This magnificent cheese and charcuterie platter, ordered from Harvest, can be had in the tasting room or on the lawn in front. We had it with a bottle of the Lazy Days Rosé which was so good that we bought a case to take home - and a bottle of the Alambic brandy. 

And then, when we were feeling extremely relaxed, Harvest's Assistant manager Martell Smit drove us home to Sea Point. Thank you all involved, it was a wonderful break for busy journos.

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Vrede en Lust white wines and Lust Bistro & Bakery

We attended an interesting  tasting of all the white wines from this lovely farm at the edge of Franschhoek last Thursday. It was accompanied by a really delicious lunch in Lust, their restaurant. Not only did chef JP Smith cook great food, but we discovered that he is a master baker and the bread he produces is quite superb. We were lucky enough to be given a loaf to bring home and are now sad that they are so far away for when we want more. Next time you are passing, go and taste the excellent wines and the food and buy some bread to take home

Our welcome drink was a glass of their Jess 2012 Rosé

The very large tasting room had a huge table laid out for the tasting

The first six for tasting. We particularly liked the 2012 Kogelberg Chenin Blanc full of honey lemons and citrus peel with a wonderful mouthfeel and long end. The Artisan CCV (Chardonnay,Chenin, Viognier) sweet melon and citrus with woody vanillins, is very well integrated and has hints of truffle. Our favourite wine was the 2012 Barrique which has nice wood smoke and stewed pears on the nose, with a silky mouthful of limes lemons and quince. We predict awards and lots of restaurants taking this good food wine
Winemaker Susan Erasmus talks about the wines

Etienne Buys, Partner, Viticulturalist and General Manager of Vrede and Lust (with his brother, farm owner Dana Buys)

There were visitors tasting in the lounge area

Susan Erasmus and Public Relations consultant Nicolette Waterford

who owns Waterford Communications

Journalist Norman McFarlane gets to grips with his notes

The pizza oven in Lust restaurant

Two of the bakers: Tyrone Erasmus and Dave Papina

Executive Chef JP Smith

The menu

A surprise amuse: Eggs Benedict with a lovely thick Hollandaise sauce

The starter of watermelon, mango, pomegranate and goats cheese  was very refreshing

A small but perfectly formed Fior de latte mozzarella margarita pizza for everyone

John's Gnocchi with asparagus, peas and gorgonzola

Everyone else had wild mushrooms added

Dessert was a roasted peach on top of an unusual pink peppercorn brioche with Syrah ice cream

Oliver Herman's Shuttle Connexion was hired to take us there and bring us back safely and in comfort - so important when we visit a farm to taste their wines

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

140319 Main Ingredient's MENU - Jorgensen’s Distillery, Wellington Wine Festival, Lunch at Dunes, A day in Franschhoek, Miles for Style, Cellarbake@Nitida

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Evening in the Hemel en Aarde

In this week’s MENU:

 Jorgensen’s Distillery

 Wellington Wine Festival

 Lunch at Dunes

 A day in Franschhoek

 Miles for Style

 Cellarbake@Nitida

This week’s Product menu - More and more people are tasting and liking truffles, the mysterious underground fungi which is one of the world's rarest luxury food items. We stock a large range of truffle products from bottled whole black truffles, to truffle butter, real truffle oils - both white and black, truffle salt and truffle paste. At certain times of the year in truffle season,  we have access to fresh truffles which are flown in from France and Italy. These are very, very expensive but not all our truffle products are.   If you can find it in the supermarket, we don't usually stock it, just the products you would struggle to find... Check our online shop to see more details and prices.

Wellington Wine Festival Saturday     Are we festival jaded ? Not after the fun we had at Wellington on Saturday. The festival was held on just three farms and they hosted the other wine farms, so if you got to all three, and we did, you had the opportunity to taste all the wines of the area.

We started with an unofficial visit to Roger Jorgensen’s distillery in Main Street as we had a collection to make (click here to read about Jorgensen’s)

Then it was off to Diemersfontein, where they had games for the children on the lawn, half an ox roasting on a spit, lots of braaiing and good music and we arrived in time for a good local chicken curry for lunch. Then it was off to what looked like the most popular location, Bosman’s, as the grounds are huge and there were hundreds of people all enjoying themselves under the oaks, doing wine tastings and eating a selection of good food, while listening to famous popular bands. Then we finished the day off at Welbedacht who were also overflowing with people and fun, a whisky tasting and more good music. Click here to see all the pictures

LUNCH ON THE BEACH     On Sunday we had to drive through to Constantia to deliver an order to a client, so we decided to take our visiting Dutch friends to have lunch at Dunes in Hout Bay. We have often written about this beach side cafe restaurant because of its wonderful location, view and rather tempting and simple food. They do really good fish and calamari and this time we discovered that they also do good hamburgers. They all go with good draft lager and the wine list isn’t shabby either. They are extremely children and dog friendly too.  Click here for the photos

FUN IN FRANSCHHOEK     Our friends visiting from Holland had requested a trip to Franschhoek and we had a lovely summer’s day in the country on Monday. We started at Pasch du Plooy’s Dutch East restaurant for some good coffee, as the Dutch like to start their day this way. After five minutes in the shops, the girls were ready to move on. OK, it was a little bit longer and the men had to be patient. Then it was off to JP Colmant for a good taste of his local MCC bubblies. We did see JP briefly and he looks rather exhausted after a very, very busy harvest. Then it was off to show them the beautiful view from Dieu Donné. The menu looked rather tempting, so we opted for a nice table in the shade on the terrace. We had a very enjoyable lunch and then it was off to La Motte to taste and buy some wine there. Next, it was Antonij Rupert’s L’Ormarins Motor museum for the men. The ladies reclined on the comfortable sofas and then it was time to drive home. See the photos here

Tuesday Miles for Style     On Tuesday we were off to L’Avenir in Stellenbosch again, for the launch of Miles for Style, a loyalty programme tied in with Voyager air miles, where you gain air miles with every R5 spent on your purchase of luxury goods on their on-line shop. This offers an extensive range of top-quality, unique and innovative brands. We were welcomed by a glass of L’Avenir Brut Rosé with blueberries, had a brief tour of the wine cellar with Barend Barnard, L’Avenir Marketing & Sales Manager, and then sat down to brunch and lots of networking chat with many of the people involved and some bloggers who were there to write about the day. We were presented with a great gift bag containing a selection of the products you can purchase on the site. Do check it out  and See our photographs here

Cellarbake@Nitida     On Sunday, 23rd March Nitida wine farm in Durbanville will be hosting a superb event Cellarbake@Nitida a wine and baking tasting extravaganza with many of the Capes top artisanal bakeries taking part. Check out their blog for further details of this new and innovative event for those who want their cake with wine http://nitida.co.za/my-blog/cellarbake-wine-cake And at their restaurant, Cassia, you can book for a completely decadent high tea for only R150 per person... And yes, we plan to be there.

Buying from us On Line We have a lot of fun putting MENU together each week and, of course, doing the things we write about, but making it possible for you to enjoy rare and wonderful gourmet foods is what drives our business. We stock a good range of ingredients and delicious ready-made gourmet foods. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our on line shop. We can send your requirements to you anywhere in South Africa. Please do not pay until we have confirmed availability and invoiced you, then you pay and then we deliver or post. When you make an eft payment, make sure that it says who you are. Use the form on the website to email us your order. Click here to see our OnLine Shop.

Food and wine (and a few other) events for you to enjoy

There is a huge and rapidly growing variety of interesting things to occupy your leisure time here in the Western Cape. There are so many interesting things to do in our world of food and wine that we have made separate list for each month for which we have information. To see what’s happening in our world of food and wine (and a few other cultural events), visit our Events Calendar. All the events are listed in date order and we already have a large number of exciting events to entertain you right through the year. Events outside the Western Cape are listed here.

Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more about wine. Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here and here and the CWA courses here. Karen Glanfield has taken over the UnWined wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here

Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here. Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has cooking classes in Fish Hoek and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see more details here. Emma Freddi runs the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her home in Constantia. Brett Nussey’s Stir Crazy courses are now being run from Dish Food and Social’s premises in Main Road Observatory (opposite Groote Schuur hospital). Lynn Angel runs the Kitchen Angel cooking school and does private dinners at her home. She holds hands-on cooking classes for small groups on Monday and Wednesday evenings. She trained with Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here

19th March 2014

Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we can send it to you! Check our online shop for details and prices.

PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information

Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

Our Adamastor & Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch flavoured Afrikaans.

Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs, recipes and text used in these newsletters and our blogs are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. We own our mailing software and keep our mailing list strictly confidential. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.

Roger Jørgensen's Wellington distillery

We started our visit to the Wellington Wine Festival with an unofficial visit to Roger and Dawn Jørgensen’s distillery

Roger shows us the large range of spirits he makes, which includes absinthe, gin, whisky, vodka and some other more interesting distilled spirits like Aquavit

They are all showcased at his ‘cellar’ at Versailles Farm in Regent Street, Wellington, where he distills them. The tasting room is in their large, wonderful, old and spacious house just off Wellington’s Main Street

Roger took us through to the stoep, where he entertained us with delicious coffee and chocolate torte - and a little taste of

Primitiv Cask Aged Aquavit. Absolutely delicious to drink, but also very necessary if you are making salmon gravadlax.  Roger told Lynne he makes gravadlax using Yellowtail, something she will definitely be trying soon. All our Norwegian and Swedish swallow friends will be delighted to discover this and we hope they visit the Jørgensens on their next visit, to taste and buy

Roger explained his distilling process to our good friend Peter Kampmeinert, who is visiting from Holland

Peter with one of Roger’s rescued ancient copper pot stills. We also covet them, but you need a serious liquor licence to own one and use it

The courtyard entrance to Jørgensens reminds us a little of a Moroccan courtyard

The view from their front porch is totally South African and it is hard to believe that the Main Street is one road away on the other side of the building.  

Do visit and taste for yourself. See them at www.jd7.co.za

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014