Media launch of Durbanville's Feast of the Grape at Diemersdal - 12 Characters working together towards a goal

Brunch at Diemersdal

Twelve Characters working together towards a goal. This was the media launch of the Feast of the Grape festival which will be held this weekend, 27th & 28th February, at D'Aria in Durbanville (we will be there with friends on Sunday). We were invited to come and have brunch and taste the Durbanville 12, a wine made by using one ton of grapes from each of the 12 farms in Durbanville. Our expectation of brunch is not high and we were very pleasantly surprised; we had a slap-up lunch produced by talented chef Martin de Kock of the Diemersdal Pantry and the company of many of the winemakers of the area, for which we are very grateful. It is the busiest time of the year for them and they had to make time for us in their busy day. Programme link

Gathering in the vine-covered porch next to the tasting room and restaurant for a cup of coffee

John Meinking sending his drone up for photos from above LINK HERE

Freshly picked pears, also being harvested now

In the cellar with Martin Moore of Durbanville Hills, Etienne Louw of Altydgedacht and Bennie Howard of Meerendal

Table plan for the guests

Catching up with some MCCs from the valley are Graham Howe, Martin Moore, David Biggs, Myrna Robins, Cathy Marston and Greg Landman

The bubbles to enjoy

Graham Howe had questions for Martin Moore about the harvest

Lunch was at two long tables in the cellar

Canapés of quail eggs, crisp bacon and asparagus

Smoked salmon, quail eggs and hollandaise

Martin Moore with Diemersdal's winemaker Thys Louw. Martin is now in his 18th season in the valley. He says the crop is lower but it looks like a good vintage, "if we manage it ripe, it will be good". Durbanville is an oasis, irrigated vineyards are a worry and might suffer, unirrigated vineyards adapt and put down deep roots, they are still finding water

Etienne Louw, president of the Durbanville Wine Valley, telling us about the harvest, the coming festival and the Durbanville 12 wine. So nice to see everyone working so well together in the valley; it’s rare. They meet regularly and they help each other and share information. Harvest is three weeks early this hot year

Cool T shirt John Meinking

So great to see a healthy David Biggs

Angela Fourie, PR manager of the Durbanville Wine Valley has a lot on her plate organising the Feast of the Grape festival

Diemersdal's winemaker Thys Louw tells us about the harvest and the production of the Durbanville 12 Sauvignon Blanc. We drank the 2014 with lunch, the 2016 was picked just a few days ago

Grapes coming into the press as we partied

We tasted some of the newly fermenting Durbanville 12 Sauvignon Blanc. It is figgy and green on the nose, very sweet fruit, as the alcohol has not fermented out the sugar yet, but lovely ripe sauvignon fruit with a kick of Durbanville salt. It is fermenting at 16 to 18°C this year, warmer than the usual 13 to 14°C . After a visit to New Zealand, they are adopting this practice. It adds extra flavours. It will lie on the lees till June and be bottled in July

Greg Landman of Country Life with David Biggs

Charles Hopkins, cellarmaster of De Grendel says that they are one month earlier than the inner valley

The Louw children with their buggy

Arno Smit has taken over as winemaker at Hillcrest where he has been for the last 6 years; he replaces Graham Read, who has now taken charge of the beer making

Freshly baked bread rolls and vetkoek, a traditional deep fried savoury doughnut

Karin de Villiers of Klein Roosboom. Behind her are Christian Eedes of winemag.co.za and Bernhard Veller of Nitida

The five sparkling wines from the valley, MCCs from Durbanville Hills, Nitida and Altydgedacht. The Pop Song sparkling Sauvignon Blanc is from D’Aria and the B'Loved is from Signal Gun

Durbanville 12 Sauvignon Blanc 2014. We had a hand in picking a few of the grapes that went into this wine. The wine is figgy and green on the nose, a classic Durbanville Sauvignon Banc with figs on the palate, fresh crisp and refreshing

Chefs in the temporary kitchen, plating up

It was a very enjoyable friendly lunch

The starter was a simple salad with mozzarella cheese, garden vegetables and roasted baby tomatoes

Then a raw marinated scallop with dollops of pea puree & baby beets served with a mussel and sweetcorn soup, and topped croutons. The scallop was very delicate, but still tasting of the sea and the dish had lots of texture from the toppings

Two main courses, served together. On the left Duck three ways with grilled nectarines, a lovely combination with the tart stone fruit. On the right a fillet steak with a herb and garlic chermoula and a rich red wine and coffee sauce which contrasted well

Dessert was a granadilla parfait, rich and creamy with notes of egg and condensed milk sweetness, with granadilla juice and vanilla ice cream. If this is the sort of food Chef Martin de Kock serves in the Pantry, we will definitely visit to try more of it. He is talented. And the food is nicely presented

Birds have been attacking this small Granny Smith apple ripening on a tree in the werf

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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Hidden Valley wine estate relaunch

Dave Hidden sold Hidden Valley Wines last year to Riaan Stassen, the now retired CEO of Capitec Bank. We were invited to meet him and his partner this week to find out what changes they are making to the farm, to drink the newly released wines and to eat Bertus Basson's lovely food. His restaurant, Overture, is on the Hidden Valley estate

Hidden Valley has wonderful gardens

and spectacular views - looking over their olive grove and vineyards on a clear day, you can see Table Mountain in all its glory

The newly released Hidden Treasure 2015  Rosé is made from 72% merlot 15% cabernet Sauvignon 13% shiraz. It bears the new label which features a sculpture of a face by Willie Botha, who has his studio on the farm. You will see one of these large sculptures as you enter the farm gate and you can visit the studio

Also for tasting were the two Hidden Valley MCC's, the Brut  Rosé and the classic Brut

New owner Riaan Stassen enjoying some Hidden Treasure Rosé with Christian Eedes of Winemag.co.za

Two new labels for the Hidden Gem and Hidden Secret reds

Louis Strydom, winemaker at neighbour Ernie Els Wines and Rianie Strydom, winemaker at Haskell Vineyards. They also have their own label

Lots of small dishes from the kitchen kept us very happy all evening. This is one of Bertus's signature dishes. Tender belly of pork in an intense jus, topped with a spicy and crisp corn fritter and fly away pork scratchings. Lynne's favourite of the evening

Thank you, Overture, for toasting these wraps, so they were not slimy. Filled with intense tomatoes and cream cheese

Duck spring rolls

Beautifully cooked mushrooms, well fried till almost crisp, with buttery gnocchi topped with grated parmesan

Uva Mira Winemaker Christian Coetzee with Tobie Venter, owner of neighbour Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards and Porsche SA

Crisp tempura prawns in a jar were very moreish

Dessert was a cheesy panna cotta topped with fresh figs, a fruity goo and pieces of honeycomb

Journalist Lucille Botha and Wynland editor Edo Heyns

The sun sets behind the mountain

Bertus tells us the great news. This restaurant is going to be changed into a braai restaurant under Bertus's supervision and Riaan Stassen is building a larger restaurant on the hill next to the winery for Bertus

Rapt audience

Riaan Stassen tell us of his plans for Hidden Valley

Sculptor Willie Botha and his wife Carlene

Lynne with Judy Brower of Wine.co.za with Riaan and Anton du Toit

Anton du Toit with Annalie van Dyk, Hidden Valley winemaker

The winemaker in her cellar

Willie Botha's gallery

A bust of Anton Rupert

Bronze buffalo

Lynne chatting to Willie

'Cat' in fine detail

The face bronze which features on the wine labels

All the bronzes and other sculptures are for sale

This is a commissioned work in progress, still in the clay stage

Boy with staffie on the beach

Another small rendition of the huge face sculpture at the front gate to Hidden Valley

entitled Marikana

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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