Durbanville Feast of the Grape at D'Aria

This was held last weekend and was an example of how to do a family wine festival. Not only were there lots and lots of good Durbanville Sauvignons and other red and white wines to taste on all the Durbanville wine farm stands, but lots of great entertainment had been provided. You could stomp grapes, you could do guided tastings. One farm, Nitida, had a four course fine dining lunch at a table next to their stand for which you could book and there was some lovely old fashioned fairground entertainment for children, which was a delight to watch. Food trucks and the wine farms’ stands provided the food and there were tables and chairs under umbrellas and marquees for shelter from the sun.

Ah, grapes to taste at the door, where you collect your armband, glass and ...

... your clip card

Time to get some of that wonderful Nitida Sauvignon Blanc

Everyone had a pouring measure on their bottles, so you got just enough to prevent drunkenness; very sensible we thought

Cassia restaurant had this fine dining table for which you could book

From Klein Roosboom, a good charcuterie and cheese platter

Shady umbrellas and a huge marquee

Warren Swaffield of Cassia restaurant at Nitida preparing his second course

Signal Gun had their wines and their craft beers for tasting

A magical golden dragon fly on the guy rope of a tent

Grape stomping, with all the profits going to the Pebbles Project. The main emphasis of the Pebbles Project is education as well as nutrition, health, community and protection.. They work with children and families in the Winelands farming communities in the Western Cape

Children having such fun on the old fashioned swings

Getting nice and sticky foot pressing grapes

Try a quad bike? Some needed a push or two, this one still needs to learn to pedal

On the trapeze, risking all and having an amazing time

The old fashioned children's carousel

Pancakes are very good for soaking up wine

The array of food trucks

Sounds healthy

For the thirsty

Hmm those look good

Friendly attention and lovely wines at Diemersdal

Peter and Yvonne from Holland on the Diemersdal stand

Durbanville Hills Sauvignon Blancs are lovely. They sold a lot of wine

Then to one of the guided tastings. We were ferried to the D’Aria tasting room in a brand new Mercedes van. The tasting was four Pinot Noirs and four Pinotages from Durbanville farms

Here is Bennie Howard with the Meerendal magnum of Pinot Noir

We loved the rich and spicy Pinotages; the valley obviously has good terroir for them. The Pinot Noirs are elegant, but still very young and need time in the bottle

Etienne Louw, Chairman of the Durbanville Wine Valley and winemaker at Altydgedacht, with Marketing manager of DWV Angela Fourie, who so ably organised this very enjoyable festival

The 8 wines we tasted were Pinot Noirs from Meerendal, De Grendel, Nitida and Altydgedacht and Pinotages from Meerendal, Altydgedacht, Durbanville Hills and Bloemendal

Bennie Howard and Etienne Louw guided the tasting

Then we made a quick dash back down to the Cassia dining table for a late lunch

We joined a table of four people who were great fun and foodies like us

The Menu

We began with a very fresh Oyster in Tequila, a good shooter. It was spiced with chilli which rather stole the freshness of the sea from the oyster. It was paired with Nitida Coronata Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc white blend, such a good match for the two starter

Then came a Guinea Fowl pot. A lovely meaty aspic jelly with small pieces of guinea fowl, a blueberry compote in a port reduction, which added the desired fruity acids to light up the dish, and a rich toasted brioche

The main course was a clever adaptation of a Beef Wellington, eminently suitable for a festival with minimal cooking facilities. It was a rich, braised Wagyu beef ragout, wrapped inside pastry with a truffle infused jus and summer vegetables on a potato rosti. Crisp pastry and delicious beef. We had glasses of 2009 Nitida Calligraphy, warm spicy and layered classic Bordeaux Blend of Merlot (54%), Cabernet Franc (21%), Cabernet Sauvignon (17%) and Petit Verdot (4%), which is on Cassia's restaurant wine list

Dessert was a piped vanilla crème brulée with a peanut butter cookie and a brandy snap, rich and fun. This was a lovely lunch. We would like to see more of these at wine festivals

Warren Swaffield, Chef patron of Cassia restaurant and Nitida owner Bernhard Veller

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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Sushi at Dynasty Chinese restaurant in Sea Point

We have often written about Dynasty, our favourite local Chinese restaurant. They have moved from Nedbank Centre (above our old shop) into new premises on Main Road in Sea Point. Mr Chan was there previously. You may not know that Chef Alex Xu is a sushi master and we go there to enjoy his wonderful sushi as often as our girth allows us. Now temptation is even stronger as, at lunch times, the sushi is half price.

You can't miss the signage. It’s on the block just before Woolworths or the Sea Point Protea Hotel, on the Hotel side of the road

A new one for us, Salmon lovers with avocado and cream cheese

The Tempura prawn rolls are exquisite

Hot kisses come with togarashi spicy chilli sprinkled on top

and, finally, a plate of Salmon Fashion sandwiches, Prawn Fashion sandwiches and Salmon California rolls to finish

Chef/owner Alex Xu making sushi

The light and spacious restaurant

His wife and restaurant manager Shirley, who is very friendly and welcoming. They do very good Chinese food as well, with an emphasis on dishes from Shanghai and Szechuan. Try the whole Peking Duck. Or some dumplings?

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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Lunch at The Table Bay's Camissa with SASSI green list fish prepared by Exec Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams and superb wines

Executive Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams is a committed sustainable fish chef and she produced a superb lunch showing how beautifully our local fish on the SASSI Green list can be prepared. This was served with an outstanding selection of some of South Africa's really great wines. We were indeed indulged, cosseted and fulfilled

Yes please, I would love some Paul Cluver Chardonnay

The bread selection, it did go a bit untouched as we are all watching our carbs

Or you can have the La Motte Sauvignon Blanc

The exciting menu. We could taste portions of everything on the menu. The dishes were served for us to share

The very fresh Yellowtail ceviche in a cucumber and melon salsa with locally foraged seaweed, Yuzu pearls and a sesame soy vinaigrette was a perfect summer starter

The other starter was Tempura Angelfish with beautifully crisp batter on a slice of pickled apple topped with a small salad and a fynbos aioli. Apple and fish is a good combination if the apple is tart, which this was

Starter portion

Topping up Leah van Deventer's glass. She works at Good Housekeeping

Wines for the next course were both outstanding. David Nieuwoudt's refined, crisp and lean Ghost Corner Semillon and Paul Cluver's elegant, dark and moody black cherry Seven Flags Pinot Noir; both were outstanding accompaniments to the fish dishes

Such crisp baby calamari served with a tomato vierge, hand cut chips (that could have been a bit more crispy) and a deep rich Fynbos aioli was a huge favourite on the table

Grilled fillets of Angelfish in a lemon fennel bouillabaisse with wild garlic croutons could have made a lovely summer lunch on its own and went perfectly with the Semillon

The best piece of Yellowtail Lynne has ever had. Not her favourite fish as it is usually overcooked and dry, but these large thick slices really showed off the fish to perfection, it was moist, juicy and full of flavour. Served on wild garlic rice and tomato relish with confit agave shoots, another first for us. The skin was crisp and much favoured by some at the table

And a final unexpected reward was the iconic Vin de Constance from Klein Constantia to accompany dessert

which was another tour de force. An Amarula liqueur and Coffee square cake - a different play on tiramisu

Fresh summer Berries with an MCC sabayon and small lavender meringues

The absolute piece de resistance from their talented pastry chef Bobby Kumar. A Passion Fruit and Pistachio torte, which was incredible and captivated even Lynne, who is not a dessert person. Not only did most of us enjoy a slice, but another went home with us for a treat with supper the following day. The cake was soaked in passion fruit sorbet, sandwiched together with lemon curd and covered in a green pistachio 'marzipan', then topped with fruit. You should go and try this for yourself; it is so wonderful and they serve it with the Afternoon tea, R260 per person. We just wish that this standard of baking would become normal in South Africa. Well done Chef Kumar

Executive Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams who produced this wonderful meal did join us for lunch. She has a huge commitment to serving SASSI approved fish. She told us about her rooftop garden at the hotel and how she is becoming very interested in foraging for local South African herbs and other edibles and she is learning about them. She wants to incorporate them in her menus. She picks the agave buds and pickles them. We had them on the Yellowtail and they are different from anything else we have tasted before. They come from the giant Agave sisalana that you see growing along our coastline, the huge stems with bracket flowers , the whole plant dies once it has flowered

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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