Elgin Wine Valley Christmas Tweetup

The Elgin Winemakers Guild decided to reward all the hard work by the Tweeters this year with a last tasting for 2015 and Christmas lunch party in Elgin at South Hill. Transport was arranged for many of us from town and a great day was had by all

The first pick up was for Atlantic coast people and was at the Mouille Point lighthouse, where you can park free all day. We then picked up more people at The River Club and in Somerset West

Sadly, road works on the N2 made for heavy traffic for a while, but we made it in time

The first white wines we tasted were Iona 2015 Sauvignon Blanc (our favourite), Elgin Ridge 2014 Sauvignon Blanc and South Hill 2015 Sauvignon Blanc. Two superb white blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon: Highlands Road 2012 Sine Cera and Oak Valley 2011 Mountain Reserve, made by the late Pieter Visser

Everyone getting their phones, tablets and computers tuned into the Internet. We had some problems getting connected, but not overwhelming as we all appeared to have 3G connectivity

The next flight we tasted was Chardonnays: Paul Cluver 2014 (the wine that wowed Lynne the last time she tasted it), the excellent Hannay 2014 made by Richard Kershaw, Winters Drift 2014 and Almenkerk 2012

Then we were on to the reds

Dead soldiers

Karen Glanfield Pawley taking us through the wines

The four really great reds tasted were this marvellous merlot from Shannon - Mount Bullet 2012 made by Gordon Newton Johnson - 2012 Pinot Noir from Elgin Vintners, Richard Kershaw’s 2013 Syrah and Thelema Sutherland 2011 Syrah

Owner of South Hill, Kevin King

Group pose! A very joyous day

Girls having fun

Back inside for lunch

There was a lovely selection of other Elgin wines to drink with lunch

Sandy King supervising the lunch service

Our starter was a cup of good pea soup - the perfect foil for a good sauvignon blanc

Then a fresh Panzanella salad

Gammon and roast pork with a mustard sauce and lots of vegetables was the main course

A very good vanilla panna cotta with strawberries nicely topped off a great meal

Natalie Opstaele of Almenkerk with Karen Glanfield Pawley

Kevin King with South Hill winemaker Sean Skibbe

Kevin with his very friendly pooch. Thank you Elgin. And, yes, we did trend No.1 on Twitter

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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SASSI Trailblazer 2015 Award Winners presentation at The Table Bay

Every year SASSI (South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative) awards chefs and others who support the initiative in some way. This year the awards went to seven chefs and to a cookbook writer. SASSI is aimed at informing the public how their choice of fish for consumption can help determine the future health and productivity of our oceans. We were invited to the awards, which took place last Monday evening

Clare Mack, of Spill Communications, also the awards organiser, said, “It’s gratifying to see, in the third year of these awards, that many restaurants are adopting sustainable practices in seafood, without any intervention or prompting. Sustainability is now mainstream, it has really caught on”

Listening to the award announcements

Two wines had been donated to refresh the guests: De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay and a rosé from Flagstone

Pavs Pillay, SASSI Programme Manager at WWF-SA, commented, “Our partnerships with chefs are inspired by a love of seafood and a shared commitment to help restore our overexploited seafood species. The chefs we are recognising have gone the extra mile in advocating the sustainability message”. She thanked the nominees for flying the SASSI banner and welcomed the newcomers

Previous Trailblazer winner, now mentor and SASSI stalwart, Chef Brad Ball of Peddlars in Constantia

Brad accepted the awards for Chef Greg Coleman of East Head Café, Knysna; and Chef Michelle Theron of Pierneef à La Motte, who could not attend

Chef Jonathan Japha, of Black Sheep restaurant in Kloof Street, was an award winner

So was Chef Peter Pankhurst of Savoy Cabbage

Another winner, Chef Hylton Espey of Equus at Cavalli Restaurant near Stellenbosch with his wife, Petro

Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams of the Table Bay Hotel was delighted to receive one

Chef Sias Tabambi of Harbour House in the Waterfront was another winner

The winners posing with Percy the seal

Happy smiling faces

We spent a very enjoyable late afternoon on the terrace at The Table Bay talking to the winners

And watching the working harbour tugs

And the tourists walking along the dock

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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This Week's MENU - Travel Massive, Klink Awards, Casa Labia, 40 Years of Meerlust wine, Wine Concepts Champagne Festival, Diners Club Winemaker of the Year, A night at Le Franschhoek

The Meerlust manor house, built in 1776

In this week’s MENU:

 Klink Awards

 Casa Labia relaunch

 Meerlust 40th Anniversary lunch

 Fire and Ice at the Wine Concepts Champagne Festival

 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Awards

 Le Franschhoek

 Travel Massive

 This week’s recipe: Carrot and Cashew Nut Gratin

If you have missed and wish to catch up on a previous issue of MENU for any reason, please go to Main Ingredient. The second page of the site has links to previous issues of MENU.

To get the whole story with photographs, here and in our blog, 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.This has been another hectic week, with some wonderful events to report, while we prepare our house for a big event at the weekend. Lots of things on this weekend and we are going to miss lots of them as it is time for a big celebration. Friday will be John's 70th birthday and we are having a family dinner on Friday night and a lunch party for close friends and family on Saturday. Lynne has been cooking and preparing for weeks. We did try to have it elsewhere, but the function venues were out of our reach, so home it had to be. And we will have some great wine to drink from our cellar.

We will be at the Beer Festival launch on Thursday evening, however and also hope to get to the Jordan Summer Festival on Sunday, bearing animal necessities. It really depends on how much clearing up we have to do and how tired we are! Hope to see lots of you there.

We have many American readers, to whom we send our hope that you will have a joyful, peaceful Thanksgiving celebration.

Klink Awards     The awards focus on what wine farms have to offer visitors, other than the wine. The awards were held on the terrace with those marvellous views of the city at De Grendel wine estate, last Thursday evening. Wesgro have come on board as sponsors; we hope the association continues for a long time. Wesgro is the official Destination Marketing, Investment and Trade Promotion Agency for the Western Cape.

"Out of its 17 categories ... the best performing category, with 1512 votes, was the Gourmet. It awards the best cellar-door restaurant that is set in a great location, offers first class service, focuses on artisanal foods, has a sommelier service and wine list with older vintages, own wines and other regional wines. Among Klink’s 77 nominees across its 17 categories, the overall Supernova (or nominee with the most votes) was De Grendel. It took first place in both its category (the Gourmet) as well as overall, receiving 634 votes, beating La Colombe and Waterkloof to the true-blue foodie post." See the event and the results here

Casa Labia relaunch     This beautiful house, filled with treasures, is owned by the Labia family and has been used as a museum for several years. It was returned to the family by the state after several years in the shadows. They have now restored it perfectly and on Thursday evening we rushed from the Klink Awards to the relaunch of the house and the opening of the new restaurant and function venue, which will be run by Andrea Foulkes of Dish Food and Catering. With a huge fire raging on the mountain in Simonstown, we did not rate our chances of getting there on time, but the trip down the M5 was fast and seamless at 6.30 pm. The good news is that the road repairs outside Casa Labia have now been completed. Click here for photographs

Meerlust 40th Anniversary lunch     How to describe this classic Cape Dutch wine farm in the Helderberg? Owned by charming Hannes Myburgh, who prefers to keep rather a low profile, the award winning iconic wines are made by Chris Williams and shepherded into the cellar by viticulturist Roelie Joubert. Guests are shepherded to the tasting room by the ten friendly dogs, who have the most wonderful life on the farm. We were privileged to have lunch on Friday in the beautiful lived-in Manor house, which is filled to bursting with art, antiquities and curiosities. We had a marvellous Cape country lunch and a tasting of great vintages of Meerlust Cabernet and Rubicon, starting with the first ever vintage, made in 1975. And, yes, it has lasted, as we expected.

We also visited the Compagniesdrift wine storage and bottling facility next door, which Is the Myburgh Family Trust Social Responsibility investment in their staff. The companies involved, MWT Investments and Faure AgriVillage, are jointly owned (50% each) by the Myburgh Family Trust and the Meerlust Empowerment Trust, which is comprised of 72 people who have long-standing relationships with the Meerlust, Vriesenhof and Ken Forrester farms in the area. See the wines, the people and the farm here

Fire and Ice at the Wine Concepts Champagne Festival at the Vineyard     After a nap, Friday night saw us enjoying life at The Vineyard Hotel, where we enjoyed Wine Concepts’ annual salute to French Champagne. It was a busy and very social evening, with a chance to taste 18 Marques (brands) and at least two different champagnes on each stand. Many of the top names were there to enjoy. Lots of prizes were awarded to ticket holders, the band played great music and you could fantasise about driving and buying the two classic cars in the room. And The Vineyard supplied canapés throughout the evening. Glitter and glam here

Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Awards     This glittering affair was held at La Residence in Franschhoek on Saturday night where the Winemaker of the year Award went to Johann Fourie of KWV for the Mentors Pinotage. The Young Winemaker of the year was Phillip Viljoen of Bon Courage for his NLH. It was a chance to put on one’s best bib and tucker and enjoy the good wines entered into the competition with dinner. A truly  glamorous affair, see it here

Le Franschhoek     Diners Club, thankfully, offered us and many other guests accommodation for the night at Le Franschhoek, which meant we could really enjoy the evening and, because shuttles were provided, no driving was required at all for John. We had a very comfortable room in a quiet setting and a good breakfast the following morning. See the hotel here

Travel Massive     We also did some good travel networking this week at the local Travel Massive meeting held at the NAC helicopter offices in the V&A Waterfront. Photographs here

This week’s recipe is a vegetarian dish for a change. It serves 4 to 6 people. Carrots have an affinity with two spices - cumin and nutmeg. You can add a dusting of them to the purée if you want more flavour but not at the same time, either powdered cumin or nutmeg.

Carrot and Cashew Nut Gratin

750g thickly sliced peeled carrots - 100g raw cashew nuts - 2 T dried breadcrumbs - 100g fromage frais or mascarpone cheese - salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the carrots in boiling water until soft. Meanwhile, roast the cashew nuts till golden, either in the oven or in a dry frying pan over a low heat. Take a tablespoon of the nuts, chop them coarsely and mix with the breadcrumbs. Drain the carrots and put into a food processor with the fromage frais and blend till smooth. Stir the whole nuts into the mixture and season well. Spoon into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the nut and breadcrumb mix and place under the grill till golden. Serve with green vegetables or a salad. Great with a dry Viognier or a crisp Chenin Blanc.

25th November 2015

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This week's Recipe: Carrot and Cashew Nut Gratin

Carrot and Cashew Nut Gratin

750g thickly sliced peeled carrots - 100g raw cashew nuts - 2 T dried breadcrumbs - 100g fromage frais or mascarpone cheese - salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the carrots in boiling water until soft. Meanwhile, roast the cashew nuts till golden, either in the oven or in a dry frying pan over a low heat. Take a tablespoon of the nuts, crush them coarsely and mix with the breadcrumbs. Drain the carrots and put into a food processor with the fromage frais and blend till smooth. Stir the whole nuts into the mixture and season well. Spoon into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the nut and breadcrumb mix and place under the grill till golden. Serve with green vegetables or a salad. Great with a dry viognier or a crisp Chenin Blanc.

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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A night at Le Franschhoek

Diners Club, thankfully, offered us and many other guests accommodation for the night at Le Franschhoek, which meant we could really enjoy the evening and, because shuttles were provided, no driving was required at all for John. We had a very comfortable room in a quiet setting and a good breakfast the following morning

The entrance portico. Many of you might remember and have visited The Swiss Farm Excelsior in Franschhoek in the past. Le Franschhoek is the Phoenix that rose from the flames, it's the Swiss Farm reincarnated

The terrace next to the restaurant, where you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner

The pool area hasn't changed very much. it used to feature on all the postcards

Our room with its French doors leading out onto its own patio

It is a bit bland, but has everything you want or need. A extra large bed, good linen, air conditioning, because you can't sleep with the French doors open. There is a small lake nearby, which is likely to breed mosquitoes. Also, impressive bedside lamps that can swing over the bed if you want to read. Coffee and tea making facilities and good shortbread biscuits. One thing we notice is that hotels have quite warm duvets and they don't provide a loose sheet under the duvet. As the weather gets warmer, one would throw off the duvet and just need to sleep under a sheet. I suppose you are supposed to turn up the air conditioning, but we hate it, as it dehydrates one badly

We were left a complimentary bottle of wine, much appreciated. There is a bar fridge under the flat screen TV, but no prices and only soft drinks and a bag of crisps. Perhaps Diners Club organised that

We could park outside the room and not have to do the long hill climb up to the reception. It's a nice peaceful room, great if you just want to chill out. There is also a golf cart service, which took us to the room. You can call it to fetch and carry you if you don't want to walk up the steps to breakfast

The restaurant menu, which we found in the hall

Down to breakfast the next morning. It is buffet style, but John was able to order a freshly made omelette. This is the cheese platter next to the cold meats and the smoked salmon

Jams, croissants, Danish pastries and a honeycomb

Lots of fresh fruit, cereals and yoghurt

And the hot breakfast is serve-yourself from the bains marie

Lynne could not resist American pancakes and crisp maple bacon, a reminder of her round the world trip in large global hotels a few years ago, where this was the constant no matter which part of the world you were in. We drank lots of black coffee

John's cheese omelette with 2 different sausages and bacon

Perhaps we should have sat outside? Time to go home after a nice event and a comfortable stay. The staff are a bit vacant and could do with a shake up and some hospitality training, but we are sure that will come

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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