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Monday, October 05, 2015

Billecart-Salmon brunch at the Cape Grace, hosted by Ken Forrester

French Champagne has always been a luxury. We absolutely love to drink it but it is only on very special occasions that bottles are bought, or are prised out of our cellar. So it is always appreciated to be invited to taste it and write about it. This week, we were guests at a very special tasting of Billecart-Salmon at the Cape Grace hotel where we were promised brunch

We tasted three champagnes, the Brut Reserve which was our welcome drink, very French with brioche on the nose and tight, clear ripe pear & apple fruit with a good mousse. Janis Robinson says its "an extremely glamorous fizz"

The tasting was held in one of the smaller private dining rooms

Ken Forrester is the importer of Billecart-Salmon into South Africa and he told us about the three different non-vintage champagnes

Robert Parker says "Billecart-Salmon is one of my favourite Champagne houses, and their non-vintage Rosé is a consistent winner." and scores it 94 We found it delightful, with a bready nose, pink fruit aromas and on the palate crisp 'toasted' apples and pears with a lovely mousse

Our favourite is the Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru from the Côte des Blancs, made entirely from Chardonnay. There are toasted nuts on the nose, hints of almonds. Clean, lean and mean on the palate so very refreshing and food friendly. Tastes of crisp tart apples with a hint of caramel and this would make this the perfect partner for a Tart Tatin

Served in large Burgundy glasses instead of flutes. We find this is becoming more normal at bubbly tasting. The glasses capture the aromas more, let the flavours develop in the glass and let you enjoy them. The mousse is also held firm and does not dissipate as fast as it does in a coupe glass

New Executive Manager – Food and Beverage at One&Only Cape Town, Robert Hatton Jones was at our table enjoying the tasting

Caroline Bagley and Frank Winter of Savoy Cabbage being served some Rosé by Marlvin Gwese, one of our favourite sommeliers. He was very diligent in keeping glasses topped up as we ate

A top up, Madam?

To the Brunch. When we arrived we were offered glasses of coconut porridge topped with fruit and muesli. Far too healthy to go with Bubbly, Lynne thinks. We were expecting perhaps a buffet of brunch food. That was not what we got and from then on it was an incredibly well constructed lunch. And what a lunch, there was luxury rich, balanced cleverly with clean flavours, so no overindulgence. This is the menu with everything paired to the Champagnes

The starter platter. These were the best canapés we have had for weeks. A sweet strawberry macaron filled with foie gras was a wow with the Rosé. The salmon tartar, pickled beetroot and rye melba also went well with the Brut and the Rosé, but the mustard panna cotta did fight back a bit. The perfect melting choux gougère filled with gentle gorgonzola was a smash with the Blanc de Blanc. The mini brioche topped with mushrooms, a perfectly cooked quail egg and a truffle hollandaise was the best. We all wanted more. It was made for the Blanc de Blanc

A top up for Caroline

Sommelier Martin Drotsky pours the Miso broth onto the pork and Asian herbs for Caroline Rillema (owner of Caroline’s Fine Wines)

The main was pork done three different ways, one each for a Champagne pairing. But they all matched well. The Asian soup was fresh and herby with only a tiny bite of chilli. The Pork Belly with the seared scallop was tender and in a rich jus topped with great crackling. The sweet potato puree with lots of vanilla did separate the table. The third dish was just plain clever and will be repeated in our kitchen. Tender pieces of barbecued pork belly with butter fried caramelised apples in a thin crêpe. So simple and so delicious and so perfect with champagne

Dessert was a deconstructed vanilla cheesecake, again echoing the flavours found in the champagnes. A rich hazelnut crumble, a rich mango cremeaux, pineapple marmalade with nice squares of pineapple and quite a sharp exotic fruit sorbet to soften the richness of the rest of the dessert. Lots of different textures, lots of different flavours

Well done Executive chef Malika van Reenen and all the chefs in the kitchen and Martin Drotsky and his tasting team. And thank you Ken Forrester for sharing the Billecart-Salmon with us. There was loud applause

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The annual Muratie DuToitskloof cook-off

The Karoo lamb cook off, now in its third year, between Muratie wine estate in Stellenbosch and Du Toitskloof winery in Rawsonville has become an annual tradition. In previous years we have seen lamb curries, chops and potjies. This year, the challenge took the form of that old South African favourite, the braai, with sosaties and ribs. Of course, there was also a bit of boerewors

Wheat as a ground cover between the Muratie vines

The outdoor dining patio at Muratie, deserted on a cloudy day, especially as all the activity was at the back of the winery

A pretty face to welcome us

with a glass of Muratie’s Lady Alice MCC, made from Pinot noir with a dash of Chardonnay

The long table set for lunch

Bernard Kotze, Du Toitskloof’s Regional Sales Manager, sporting an interesting pair of shades

Hattingh de Villiers, Muratie’s winemaker, setting up his ribs on the braai. Muratie like their ribs big and were braaiing whole crowns of lamb. They used only salt on them

More Lady Alice for the guests

with Laurens Campher white blend. Muratie’s wines are named for people who have played a part in the farm’s long history

Posy Hazell enjoying some roasted brie with fresh strawberries

The table set up in the wine cellar for the judges

The Du Toitskloof cooks, Production manager Shawn Thomson and Muller Coetzee, Technical Director at ERM,

with their sosaties, which they marinaded overnight in buttermilk

and ribs, flavoured with salt and coriander seed

Muratie’s sosaties, ready for the table

and their ribs, juicy and just rare

Rijk Melck spells out the rules

While his wife, Kim, and Hattingh carve the ribs

Professor Johann Kirsten, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria told us about how the EC had suggested that we protect some of our own regional produce as Europe does. So far Rooibos and Honeybush tea and Karoo Lamb all have their protected status. South Africa is trying to value, promote and protect our special regional foods, starting with Karoo lamb, as products of origin and quality, as we already do with our wines