Durbanville Season of Sauvignon

This annual festival heralds the new releases of the Sauvignons Blanc from the Durbanville Valley. We went on Saturday and we started at the furthest farm, Phizante Kraal, where we were given a tasting of four bubblies from the area, two made from Sauvignon Blanc, in the media lounge. They had also laid on brunch, but we were rather tardy after our long Karoo trip and there was not much left when we got there, entirely our fault but we had eaten breakfast.

Each farm had organised its own tasting, its own entrance price, its own deposit on glasses and its own entertainment. So those farms who could afford to go to town had a lot of visitors, more than the others. At previous festivals people circulated from farm to farm much more than we saw this time. We managed to get to 8 farms but didn't manage to taste at all of them. And a 9th was just too popular and we were not allowed to go in. We had a good lunch at Hillcrest

Four bubblies to start the day off well: Nitida The Matriarch MCC, Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc; Daria Pop Song Sauvignon Blanc & Bloemendal MCC from Chardonnay & Pinot Noir

Brunch is almost over

Some egg, cheese and bacon quiches topped with pesto

Cheese and apple on French toast

PR manager for the valley, Angela Fourie

Off to Diemersdal next, but the car park was full to bursting. They were charging R100 entrance per head, so people were spending the day there. We had media passes, but had you moved around a bit, the day could have become quite expensive with all the individual charges. We skipped on to Signal Gun, where Marli Geldenhuys very kindly gave us a tasting glass to take with us, as well as a gift of some wine and their craft beer. We were not given any glasses for the day and were expected to put deposits on glasses at several of the farms, on one of which the staff were quite rude about it. Paying and then retrieving the deposit at each farm would have taken up a lot of time and we didn't have much cash on us - we live a fairly cashless life; debit cards are king. We had two glasses in our car already, there for emergencies such as this, but managed to break one of them trying to hold glasses and camera while closing the heavy lid!

We spotted this butterfly romping in the lavender there

People having fun at Signal Gun

One good thing was you could taste all the Durbanville Sauvignons at each farm, if you knew where to look! But you could only buy the one from the farm you were on. Here, they were on a barrel next to the tasting area and you could help yourself

The most stunning banks of vygies (mesembryanthemums) in clashing colours

More on the way out. On the left were the farm's emus in their enclosure

Next, to friendly Meerendal, where David Sibande and Denise Croy looked after us. We were offered lunch, but we had already been booked into Hillcrest. We will return soon

There was a Saturday morning market on the green and lots of things for children to do. And they were not too busy

The roses are spectacular at the moment

Marketing Manager, Bennie Howard CWM, was giving a guided tasting of Sauvignons in the cellar, including one each from Chile and New Zealand, and we were rushed in to join it and received a warm welcome

Luckily it had just begun. We tasted some great Sauvignon Blancs and especially liked the older 2009

SA, drink your Sauvignon Blancs with some age, they really do get better and less acidic. Bennie generously gave us a bottle of the wonderful 2009 Meerendal to take home

Bennie with winemaker Liza Goodwin and broadcaster Guy McDonald of Magic 828 AM

The 2015 Durbanville 12 - made with grapes from 12 Durbanville wine farms

The Meerendal Hotel in the historic manor house. The farm was founded in 1702

Off to lunch at Hillcrest, where the organisers had booked us for lunch. Loriane Grobbelaar found us and she ably organised wine and lunch

Not exactly a selfie, but he asked nicely

Graeme Read, winemaker and now brewer, with a sample of his brew. They also gave us some olive tapenade and some olive oil to take home

We bumped into friends at the Restaurant and John had a great Burger and Lynne a steak salad. We enjoyed a bottle of the 2015 Hillcrest Sauvignon Blanc, always a favourite

Then off to Altydgedacht, which was thinning out. The restaurant had been busy, we were told

Owner and Cellar master Oliver Parker tasting some of the other valley wines.

Ollo with his son David

We did a quick tasting with the girls and then it was time to be off to the next farm. It was almost time for the Rugby to start

Baby calves and their mothers and some who looked just about to calve

A quick call to Durbanville Hills next; it wouldn't be the Sauvignon festival without a visit here

They were open till 5 but had just closed the tasting room at 4 because there were too many enthusiastic tasters so, sadly, we didn't get to taste the new wines. However, they did give us a bottle of the new Sauvignon Blanc in a cooler bag to take home. We will just have to return soon and see our friend, Cellarmaster Martin Moore, who was overseas

Brand Home Manager Kate Jackson with friends of Durbanville Hills

The view toward Klein Roosboom from the terrace at Durbanville Hills

Everyone was sitting in the marquee watching the Rugby World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks when we got to Klein Roosboom. John was recording it on PVR so we didn't want to watch too much until we could see it at home

Nice to hear the anthems though

We said a quick hello to Karin de Villiers winemaker/owner and tasted the delicious new Sauvignon Blanc. She kindly gave us the open bottle and another to take home

Our final stop was De Grendel, who were staying open till 7. We thought a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc on the terrace in the sunshine with the fantastic view would be a lovely end to the day

Sadly, the view was covered in sea mist, as the day was quite hot and the sea still Antarctic cold! They were not busy

We stayed for a little while, then went home to watch the disappointing Rugby

Stephanie Phelps and Shannon Stirrup, the girls in the Tasting room were super and very welcoming. They were hoping Sunday would be busier

Thank you to all the farms we visited and thank you for the wines and generous presents we received from some of them and the lunch and the tastings

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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This week's recipe: Veal Limone with fried Fennel

Both of us have picked up a lot of weight over the last few months on the media circuit, so we are back to Banting and eating lots of fresh food for a while to see if we can avoid canapés and eat healthy. Lynne spotted some mini steaks in Checkers that were so pale she surmised they might just be baby beef. She batted them out with a mallet and made this for supper last night. It is very quick and tastes heavenly. We hope you will try it. You need thin slices of beef or veal steak or you could use pork leg. Instead of using just salt and pepper as a seasoning Lynne uses the Woolworths Steak & Chops spice mixture in the large grinder. This contains fennel seeds with other herbs and spices and garlic and really adds more flavour to the dish.

Veal Limone with fried Fennel

1 or 2 large bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced - 2 T olive oil - 2 T butter - salt and freshly ground pepper - 8 thin slices of veal, beef or pork steak - 1/4 cup of flour - Steak & Chop seasoning - zest and juice of one lemon - 1/2 cup of dry white wine - 1 cup of good chicken stock - 1/2 T butter

Put the meat, one piece at a time, into a plastic bag and bash with a meat mallet on both sides until it is thin and twice its original size. Set aside. Mix the flour with the seasoning. Heat a frying pan till it is sizzle hot, add the oil and the butter and when foaming add the sliced fennel. Season it. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, till it is golden brown and softening. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. If necessary add more oil and butter to the pan.

Dip the meat into the seasoned flour on both sides and fry a couple of pieces at a time for just a minute on each side till they are golden on the outside. Put in a dish under foil while you finish the sauce. Add the wine to the hot pan and let it reduce, then add stock and the lemon zest and juice. Let it reduce till it begins to thicken, taste and adjust the seasoning. Monté the sauce (this enriches it and makes it glossy) by adding the half a tablespoon of butter in small pieces. Put the meat back into the sauce and serve immediately on a bed of the fried fennel. Feeds 4. You can halve the recipe for 2

We had this with a large salad with lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, avocado, sliced courgettes and olives and drank a good unwooded Chardonnay (from Ashton) which went perfectly with the lemon and butter flavours of the sauce.

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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151028 This Week's MENU - Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chenin & Pinotage; Reciprocal Trading tasting; Nedbank Green Wine Awards; Bistro 13 1st anniversary; Robertson Wine on the River; McGregor Country Cottages & Green Gables; Jan Harmsgat Country House; Delish roadside restaurant; Akasha Mountain Retreat; De Zeekoe, Oudtshoorn. Meerkats in the morning; With Boets Nel, De Krans; Overnight in Calitzdorp; Axe Hill wines; Joubert Tradauw, Barrydale, Veal Limone with fried Fennel

A family of meerkats in the Karoo near Oudtshoorn

In this week’s MENU:

  Fleur du Cap launches Unfiltered Chenin blanc and Pinotage

  Reciprocal Trading tasting of imported wines at The Vineyard

  Nedbank Green Wine Awards

  Bistro 13 at Stellenbosch Vineyards celebrates its first anniversary

  Robertson Wine on the River Festival

  McGregor Country Cottages and Green Gables Mill House Country Inn

  Jan Harmsgat Country House

  Delish roadside restaurant, Heidelberg, Cape

  Akasha Mountain Retreat - the house

  Akasha Mountain Retreat - The beauty of nature

  De Zeekoe, Oudtshoorn. Meerkats in the morning

  Tasting and lunch with Boets Nel, De Krans, Calitzdorp

  Overnight in Calitzdorp

  Axe Hill wines, Calitzdorp

  A visit to Meyer Joubert at Joubert Tradauw, Barrydale

  This week’s recipe: Veal Limone with fried Fennel

We’ve made a major change to the Main Ingredient website. It has morphed into the MENU website. The home page now comprises links to the current issues stories. If you have missed MENU for any reason, please go to Main Ingredient and catch up. The second page has links to previous issues of MENU.

Best laid plans... We intended to publish as we went along last week, But..  The power cable for our laptop was left behind in Cape Town. We were able to buy a replacement in Robertson, but had to wait until Monday. Then, when we reacheds Akasha we were not able to get an internet link. By the time we reached Oudtshoorn, we’d lost four days and the backlog had become too big, so this is a bumper edition with a record 15 stories.

We write about our experiences in MENU, not only to entertain you, but to encourage you to visit the places and events that we do. We know you will enjoy them and we try to make each write up as graphic as we can, so you get a good picture of what is on offer at each place, restaurant, wine farm, festival we visit. To get the whole story with photographs, please click on “Read on.....” at the end of each paragraph, which will lead you to the related blog, with pictures and more words. At the end of each blog, click on RETURN TO MENU to come back to the blog version of MENU.

Fleur du Cap Launch     Fleur du Cap launched their new unfiltered 2014 Chenin Blanc and 2014 Pinotage at an exciting new venue in Oranjezicht on the 14th. It was a little hard to find using the GPS on our phones but thanks to helpful locals we did find our way to the historic Platteklip Wash House where centuries of servants and slaves came to do their masters' washing. It is managed by the Parks Board. A great place for weddings, and other medium sized functions if you have a PR or wedding budget. Read on...

Reciprocal Trade Tasting at the Vineyard Hotel     It is a special occasion when we are invited to taste good French and other nations wines like Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and South America. This event is held annually for the trade and media and good customers and we were delighted to be invited. Pics here...

Nedbank Getaway Green Wine Awards     It has now been six years since the inception of these awards in 2009 and we have seen such an improvement in our Green and Bio diverse wines . The awards were held in a new venue for us In the Vine on the R44 in Helderberg. A total of 150 wines were judged across two categories (Best wines made from Organically Grown Grapes and Best Wines from Integrated Production of Wine category). The panel was led by internationally renowned wine judge and journalist Fiona MacDonald. Other members were Greg Mutambe, Dr Winnie Bowman CWM, Francois Rautenbach and winemaker Nomonde Kubheka. Wine journalists Anel Grobler of Spit or Swallow and Shante Hutton of Wine.co.za were co-opted onto the tasting panel as bloggers. More words and pictures...

Celebration lunch for the first anniversary at Bistro 13 on Stellenbosch Vineyards      This bistro opened just a year ago and it already scores 5 stars in the reader reviews on Eat Out. Chef Nic van Wyk, ably assisted by his partner Roxy Laker, has put together a winning formula of good bistro food, paired with a selection of Stellenbosch Vineyards wines. We were invited for lunch with other media to come and celebrate and sample their new summer menu. We were fed good food till we begged "no more please!"  See what we ate...

The great (Klein) Karoo Trek started with Wine on the River's 10th Anniversary     We set off on Saturday morning and aimed for Robertson for the 10th Wine on the River Festival where we would spend both Saturday and Sunday. We haven't been to all 10 but very nearly as it is one of our favourites each year. The people are friendly, the wines superb and many are good value and the venue alongside the river is very special. You pay one entrance fee, you get a glass and you can taste all day. There are also very good food stands. It's a formula which works. Read on...

Our First night: a cottage in McGregor and great dinner out     The Robertson & McGregor Tourist Boards organised our accommodation while at the festival and for our first night we did self catering at Country Cottages in McGregor. The country views on the way are lovely. Pictures here...

Robertson/Klein Karoo trip night two, Jan Harmsgat     We were invited to review Jan Harmsgat Country House, on the road from Ashton to Swellendam. We have enjoyed a picnic here once before, when we were invited by the previous owners, but had never stayed the night. It is luxurious and your every need is catered for by the great staff. More...

Onward to Akasha, we stopped at Delish Deli for lunch     We agreed to be in Heidelberg by 2pm, where we would meet Chris van der Walt, the owner of Akasha, at Delish Deli. In fact, we arrived just before 1pm, which enabled us to have some lunch. They make great pies and you can order these to take away to enjoy on your trip or wherever you are staying. See it here...

Night 3: Off to a Moroccan inspired house, Akasha, in the high hill country behind Heidelberg. Everyone who had been here said to us we would absolutely LOVE this place and we did. We were invited to stay for two nights, which is always a good period to review a place properly. One night means you arrive, stay the night and leave the next morning giving you very little time to explore the place and the area it is in, get to know the locals and the staff and experience some of the differences, the drawcards and activities on offer to visitors. Akasha had lots to show us and we had time to wind down and stop a while instead of moving swiftly along to the next place. See the house...

The beauty of nature on Akasha Mountain retreat     When Chris and his wife Elana arrived, we followed them through the outskirts of Heidelberg and then up the dirt road for approximately 12 kilometres, climbing all the time. It's a good road and you don't need a 4x4. We came to the top of the hill and the countryside opened up before us. The hills slope down steeply towards the Duiwenhoks Dam and then climb again beyond it towards the far Langeberg mountains. You can see no houses, no people, only nature. Photographs tell the story...

Day 5, Onward to De Zeekoe to see the Meerkats     It was pouring with rain the morning we left Akasha and we drove down the slippery dirt road back to the N2 highway. It took us about 3½ hours to drive to the outskirts of Oudtshoorn and the drive through the Robinson pass on the R328 was sensational. Great to see it in rain and mist, but we must return to see it in sunshine, although there were some parts of the road where Lynne could not look down the mountain, her vertigo got the better of her. Have a look...

Tasting and lunch with Boets Nel, De Krans, Calitzdorp     When we told Boets Nel at a recent wine event that we were coming through Calitzdorp on this trip he insisted that we come and have lunch with him while we were there.  We met him on his farm De Krans for a tasting first.  It is only about 65 Kilometres from Oudtshoorn to Calitzdorp. More here...

Klokkies B&B     Lynne found this Calitzdorp B&B on Bookings.com, a site we use often and are rarely disappointed. We needed somewhere that was comfortable and good value for one night and this certainly fit the bill. Read on...

Day 7 a Tasting with Mike Neebe at Axe Hill     Before we left Calitzdorp we dropped into Axe Hill to see friend Mike Neebe and taste some of his lovely wines and ports. Mike had just finished bottling this year's wines. He is doing some innovative things. More....

Lunch with Meyer Joubert at Joubert Tradauw on the way home     We met Meyer at the recent tasting of Klein Karoo wines which inspired this trip and he said that we should join him for lunch if we were passing. As we had never visited the farm before, this was the perfect opportunity. It’s just outside of Barrydale, on the famous R62 road, a place we always mean to visit but haven't got to yet. The farm has lovely gardens and a tapas style restaurant, just redesigned and extended. Read on....

This week's recipe     Both of us have picked up a lot of weight over the last few months on the media circuit so we are back to Banting and eating lots of fresh food for a while to see if we can avoid canapés and eat healthy. Lynne spotted some mini steaks in Checkers that were so pale she surmised they might just be baby beef. She batted them out with a mallet and made this for supper last night. It is very quick and tastes heavenly. We hope you will try it. You need thin slices of beef or veal steak or you could use pork leg. Instead of using just salt and pepper as a seasoning Lynne uses the Woolworths Steak & Chops spice mixture in the large grinder. This contains fennel seeds with other herbs and spices and garlic and really adds more flavour to the dish.

Veal Limone with fried Fennel

1 or 2 large bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced - 2 T olive oil - 2 T butter - salt and freshly ground pepper - 8 thin slices of veal, beef or pork steak - ¼ cup of plain flour - Steak & Chop seasoning - zest and juice of one lemon - ½ cup of dry white wine - 1 cup of good chicken stock - ½ T butter

Put the meat, one piece at a time, into a plastic bag and bash with a meat mallet on both sides until it is thin and twice its original size. Set aside. Mix the flour with the seasoning. Heat a frying pan till it is sizzle hot, add the oil and the butter and when foaming add the sliced fennel. Season it. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, till it is golden brown and softening. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. If necessary add more oil and butter to the pan.

Dip the meat into the seasoned flour on both sides and fry a couple of pieces at a time for just a minute on each side till they are golden on the outside. Put in a dish under foil while you finish the sauce. Add the wine to the hot pan and let it reduce a bit, then add stock and the lemon zest and juice. Let it reduce till it begins to thicken, taste and adjust the seasoning. Monté the sauce (this enriches it and makes it glossy) by adding the half a tablespoon of butter in small pieces. Put the meat back into the sauce and serve immediately on a bed of the fried fennel. Feeds 4. You can halve the recipe for 2

We had this with a large salad with lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, avocado, sliced courgettes and olives and drank a good unwooded Chardonnay which went perfectly with the lemon and butter flavours of the sauce.

Coming Events:

OCTOBER

Thursday, 29th October at 19h00 Top12Wines tastings series: White Blends at MOLO LOLO LODGE 27 Hudson Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town www.molololo.com R220pp inclusive of meal & Cheeses from Ile de France The format is as usual, a blind tasting 12 of the best SA Wines in the category of the day, all winners of awards and top reviews, competing against the public! You will rank the wines in order of preference, with old friends and new friends alike. Expect amazing quality wines. Info: +27 81 799 3899 - info@top12wines.com - www.top12wines.com

Friday, 30th October The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa Wine Dinner – Raats Family Wines This month sees Executive Chef Christo Pretorius team up with Raats Family Wines for a gastronomical adventure. Food aficionados may look forward to a delicious four-course meal in our Azure Restaurant while enjoying a pairing of exceptional Chenin Blancs and Cabernet Francs. R 545 per person (includes 4-course menu, wine, water & gratuity) The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, Victoria Road, Camps Bay 8005, Cape Town, South Africa Telephone: +27 21 437 9029 Email: restaurants@12apostles.co.za

NOVEMBER

Thursday, 5th November at 19h00 Top12Wines tastings series: Pinot Grigio at MOLO LOLO LODGE 27 Hudson Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town www.molololo.com R220pp inclusive of meal & Cheeses from Ile de France The format is as usual, a blind tasting 12 of the best SA Wines in the category of the day, all winners of awards and top reviews, competing against the public! You will rank the wines in order of preference, with old friends and new friends alike. Expect amazing quality wines. Info: +27 81 799 3899 - info@top12wines.com - www.top12wines.com

Saturday, 7th November From 09h00 to 13h00 The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa Movember - #WaitersRaceCapeTown Camps Bay High School Sports Fields. We would like to invite hotels and restaurants to participate in our 3rd annual #WaitersRaceCapeTown - and encourage members of the public to join the action as spectators, free of charge! All proceeds of the day will be donated to Movember SA. READ MORE The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, Victoria Road, Camps Bay 8005, CAPE TOWN, South Africa Telephone: +27 21 437 9029 Email: restaurants@12apostles.co.za

Click here for details of more exciting events

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

The Hurst Campus, an accredited school for people who want to become professional chefs, has a variety of courses. See the details here

In addition to his Sense of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details here

Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has French cooking classes in Noordhoek 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

28th October 2015

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.

If you like the photographs you see in our publications, please look at our Adamastor Photo website for our rate card and samples from our portfolio

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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.

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