De Krans wines trade and media presentation at the Mount Nelson

We were sad to hear that there will be no Port Festival this year (they will be holding special events during the month of June) but were delighted that De Krans brought their wines to Cape Town to show them to the media and the trade. On Tuesday, we met in the Mount Nelson's Planet restaurant for a guided tasting of both wines and port and tasted some very interesting and some really delicious wines. This was followed by a tour de force tasting of exceptional canapés, matched by Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg with some older De Krans wines and port. You don’t realise how much you are eating when the canapés are so deliciously matched to good wine

The welcome bubbly was a Zero Dosage 2013 De Krans blend of Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Tinta Barocca. Full of limes and apples with some pear and a very dry finish, as one would expect from a zero dosage wine. It is very quaffable and available, only on the farm, at R140. Only 2000 bottles have been made.

Getting to know each other, again

The table set for the tasting

Port for tasting later, with the canapé lunch

They took over Planet Restaurant for the tasting

First three wines for tasting were 2015 Free Run Chenin, Wild Fermented unwooded Chardonnay 2014 and a Moscato Perlé 2015. The Chenin has a good acid sugar balance and is quite tropical. It has huge concentrations of fruit. The chardonnay is golden fruit with apples, yellow plums and a really full mouth and lots of lees. We suspect this will age well. The fizzy perlé is full of roses, litchis and peach flavours and is quite sweet for our palate. Several people commented that it was a pity that, while there were good Spiegelau wine glasses on tables for the diners, the tasting was carried out in very ordinary, thick rimmed glasses, which would not bring out the best in the wines

Boets Nel of De Krans

The tasting information was under the glasses

Winemaker Louis van der Riet took us through the wines

Nicely chilled

Louis has been at De Krans since 2013

The first red was a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon with 8% Merlot added, It has vanilla, cassis and cassis leaves on the nose, was as smooth as silk, with tight, chalky tannins and dark berry flavours; hot and juicy with some elegance

The next three reds. The Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) was the wine of the tasting, captivating and delighting many. It has rich, deep berries and vanilla on the nose, with incense and forest floor notes; very pretty. It is soft and silky, then fruit-full, then dark, moody and velvety. Showing its port proclivities well, but without the sweetness. Structured with chalky tannins, this wine will, we think, win awards. We both scored it 18/20

The Touriga Naçional 2013 has a very green and spicy nose, very herbal, full of cherries and ripe mulberries with some incense wood. A kicker of a wine, full of heat and spice, dry tannins, licorice and violets

Tritonia 2011 is the De Krans flagship blend of Touriga Naçional, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barocca. Violets, dark berries and incense on the nose, it is full of sweet fruit, soft chalk and then some sweet and sour complexity, long flavours with elegance. Needs time

Boets tells us about the port to come

A typical trade/media tasting. Everyone is seriously tasting, making notes and tweeting

Some of the older vintage wines and ports to taste with lunch. Such a treat

Journalist Sandile Mkhwanazi, Head Sommelier Luvo Ntezo of the One&Only, Head Sommelier Pearl Oliver of The Mount Nelson and Pippa Pringle, PRO, who put the day together for De Krans

Our third flight, this time of 4 ports. Premier Cape Ruby NV was full of spice, vanilla, fruit, green herbs and salty licorice and the unmistakable smell and taste of just picked warm blackberries. It needs time. The Cape Vintage 2013 - Amaretti biscuits on the nose and super sweet dark plums and cherries with a good kick of alcohol. Long flavours. The Cape Vintage Reserve 2012 is dense black in colour. Herbal fynbos, cinnamon dark plums, raisins and cough candy on the nose. Sweet velvety cinnamon chocolate and jam with more cough candy on the palate. Long chalky and warm aftertaste. Then the best of the flight: Cape Vintage Reserve 2011. Brûlée caramel, herbs, pomegranate and molasses on the nose. Sweet soft mulberries, red stewed plums raisins, glace and black cherries and chalk on the palate, finishing long hot spicy and satisfying. At its peak; it scored an 18 from Lynne

Sommelier Pearl Oliver and Pippa Pringle. Pearl and Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg put together the tasting and food pairing 

The chef who prepared the food tells us about it

Restaurant staff, whose excellent service made the day so special

Wines to taste with lunch

The menu. There were three tables, each with a selection of wines, and the food came in small portions, so you could pair and match and help yourself as you preferred. It worked very well indeed

Table One with the sensational rich layered duck terrine, cured salmon and steak tartare. The seafood Fritto misto came hot from the kitchen in small bowls

Duck terrine. Layers of rich duck meat, sandwiched with duck liver paté on a slice of brioche. This was the perfect match for the older ports

Cured salmon, salmon caviar and salmon mousse

Mini steak tartar quenelle en croute with mustard, horseradish sauces and chopped onion, capers and pickles

Cathy Marston asks John if he would like some vintage De Krans

On Table 2: Gnocchi, confit egg with mushrooms; pork belly with cabbage – this had a marvellous tangy sauce.

Chicken and prosciutto – we didn’t get to taste this

Luvo (about to be a father) Ntezo, head sommelier at the One&Only

The crisp and delicious Fritto Misto

Beef en croute

Lamb, labneh and green beans

Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg with Sommelier Pearl Oliver

Samarie Smith with Luvo Ntezo

Yet another tray of fantastic food arrives

The table we all wanted to visit, the dessert table. They were all rich and delicious dessert bites. The cheese and figs went very well with the ports, but by far the best match of the day, and this was after a superbly innovative and well matched performance by the chefs, was the creamy English Stilton. It always has been

Christian Eedes of Winemag.co.za persuading Winnie Bowman CWM to try another vintage port. Melvyn Minnaar looks on

John snuck into the kitchen to catch the chefs at work

Winnie Bowman with Boets Nel at the end of a great experience. We need to get the youth of today appreciating good port and wines made from port varietals. They are missing out on so much

NOTE: We use the term "Port" to describe the fortified wines we wrote about here and in other articles. The Portuguese don't like it and it is not used on the labels, but these wines were made with the same grape varietals as Ports in the Douro Valley, in similar conditions and compete on equal terms in international competitions

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Elgin Cool Wine & Country Festival. 3 Lothian

The day had started cool drizzly and misty in Cape Town on Saturday but, by lunch time in Elgin, the sun was out and we had a lovely festive day. We met some lovely people and tasted some very good wines. We began at Hannay Wines with Catherine Marshall doing a tasting of both producers' wines, followed by huge hamburgers. Then it was off down the road to see the Wallaces at Wallovale farm to taste their wines and some chocolate from Rococoa. 

Finally, we finished the day at Lothian in the most amazing house we have seen for some time, tasting their wines and watching the sun disappear over the mountains. It was a fine day

The house sits between a lake and a dam and, on the approach to the house, there is a lotus pond. You can hire the whole house for weddings and other large family functions

Blue waterlilies and lotus pads

Blue mountains, an orchard and Eskom’s hydro electric tower

The front deck where all the festival gatherers sat

Live music all day from the daughter of Lebanese caterer Ghenwa Steingastner and her husband, Geza

Explaining what there is to taste. We wanted to taste the Chardonnay but it had run out

The selection of wines for tasting

Sushi Box were providing the food, R150 for three rolls, but it had sold out by the time we got there

R50 a roll please

Lots of wine was being tasted

The dining room, with quirky coloured chairs, has a super view out to the deck

Relaxing by the pool with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc

Lots of places to sit

Late afternoon by the rim pool

A view of the dam from the back garden

Autumn colours over the vines early evening, time to wend our way home

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Elgin Cool Wine & Country Festival. 2 Wallovale

The day started cool drizzly and misty in Cape Town on Saturday but by lunch time in Elgin the sun was out and we had a lovely festive day. We met some lovely people and tasted some very good wines. We began at Hannay Wines with Catherine Marshall doing a tasting of both their wines followed by huge hamburgers. Then it was off down the road to see the Wallaces’ at Wallovale farm to taste their wines and some chocolate from Rococo. Finally we finished the day at Lothian in the most amazing house we have seen for some time; tasting their wines and watching the sun disappear over the mountains. It was a fine day.

Paul Wallace, viticulturist, winemaker, consultant, man of many talents and a legendary hat, braaiing the steak sandwiches they had on offer

The original Black Dog, after whom the wine is named

Food, Dad, I need food...

Nicky's sister, Kathy Mukheibir, owner of Johannesburg catering company The Silver Palate, with Mark Wallace, assistant winemaker at Hamilton Russell and Southern Right

Bobby and Mark Wallace. Bobby is studying wine and viticulture at Elsenberg, so both boys have followed in their parents’ footsteps

The Paul Wallace wines in their new labels. The 2014 Little Flirt is a lovely Sauvignon Blanc, racy and refreshing, The 2011 Black Dog is a rich and deep, savoury Malbec, with dry tannins, especially good with meaty food; 2009 Crackerjack is exactly that, a huge red Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec with some age and some elegance; and the 2014 Brave Heart is their Pinot Noir, fruit driven, elegant and touched with wood, needs time for the flavours to fully open. A good Elgin Pinot in the making

The tasting room

Nicky Wallace's mother, Jean Weight with Anthony Haggie and Brittany Hawkins, who is visiting from Napa, California

The terrace outside the tasting room, a relaxing place to taste wine

Gabi Soule of Rococoa Chocolates with a pair of young fans. Lynne tasted and bought three bars: a salted dark chocolate, a cherry flavoured dark chocolate which is very berry intense and a white chocolate flavoured with truffle that has been come a necessity. Luckily John doesn’t like white chocolate. They are all a little sweeter than we would like, but the flavour additions to good chocolate mean these are a real find. She sells them at the Palms Centre, so go and sample for yourself

No, you are not seeing double, it’s the new addition with the original black dog

Lynne at the tasting counter, waiting to pay

The lovely Nicky and Paul Wallace behind the counter at their Domaine

Part Three: Lothian
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Elgin Cool Wine & Country Festival. 1 Hannay and Catherine Marshall

Saturday started cool, drizzly and misty in Cape Town, but by lunch time in Elgin, the sun was out and we had a lovely festive day. We met some lovely people and tasted some very good wines. We began at Hannay Wines with Catherine Marshall doing a tasting of both their wines followed by huge hamburgers. Then it was off down the road to see the Wallaces at Wallacedale farm to taste their wines and some chocolate from Rococo Finally we finished the day at Lothian in the most amazing house we have seen for some time, tasting their wines and watching the sun disappear over the mountains. It was a fine day

The large cellar doors at Hannay

hold a message

Our first wine of the day, the Hannay Sauvignon Blanc 2014. More tropical flavours than before, nice acid fruit balance, good depth but still restrained. A food wine

Some of the Catherine Marshall wines we tasted later

Lunch preparations

A joyful Cathy welcomes us

Autumn vines, apple orchards and liquid amber trees on Hannay

The autumn colours are beautiful. Visit in spring and see the fruit blossoms

Time for the guided tasting of Hannay and Catherine Marshall wines in the wine cellar

We began with the Hannay 2012 Sauvignon Blanc. Pale lime in colour, cats pee, capsicum and elderflower on the intense nose. Crisp, lean, very fresh, with guava and elderflower on the palate. Finishes dry with a slight touch of chalk. Wish there was some left, this is a lovely wine Then we tasted the Hannay 2013 Sauvignon Blanc which has 10% Semillon added. Rain on flint is how Cathy describes it. Dusty with guava and Elderflower. Full of lime and zest of lemon, complex, layered with some fig on the end. A dry, extremely elegant food wine

The line up of the white wines. The last wine was the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc which we tasted on arrival

The full line up of wines we tasted

See, you can smell the cats pee... Early aroma training will one day a wine maker make

There were two superb chocolates paired with the (l) Sauvignon Blanc and (r)the Pinot Noir for everyone to taste

All the participants in the tasting, seated at the tables in the cellar

The four reds we tasted. Catherine Marshall 2013 Pinot Noir. Liquorice and roses, savoury, perfumed and spicy with a forest floor mushroom note on the nose. On the palate red cherries, raspberry, so layered and complex with a note dark toasted wood on the end. Very satisfying, well made with long flavours. The grapes for this wine were grown on lighter sandy soil. Then came the 2014 Pinot Noir, also grown on sandy soil. Incense, violet, raspberry notes, alcohol, Brûléed fruits. Pure fruit on the palate but not over ripe. Restrained cherries – the ones with the flavour but not the sweetness. A classic food wine, especially for rich patés

Next was the 2012 Catherine Marshall Pinot noir, grown on clay soil. So different. Nose has meaty savoury umami notes, almost soy. On the palate cranberry, rhubarb, but no sour acidity, quite chalky tannins, tight, needs time. The finish is long, soft and chalky. This will be a big wine. Then to compare, the 2013, also on clay soil. Spirity cherries, still one dimensional and closed but hiding. It started to open up and show its fruit a little and there are definitely forest floor notes with the classic pinot fruit. Keep and keep, but buy now and enjoy at its peak

Tasting and making notes

Time for lunch. Here is the expert cooking the hamburgers perfectly. You then dressed them yourself from the burger table: a bun, onion, tomato, sauces, mustard, lettuce, mayo, lots of options. And they were very good indeed. R80 each but, if you bought a case of wine, they were free

We shared our table with a charming couple who are immersing themselves in wine knowledge and experiences, Jean van Iddekinge and Yolandi la Grange

John with one of our favourite people, Cathy Marshall. It was a great tasting, thank you Cathy

Part Two, Wallovale
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015