Superb pairings at Tracy van Maaren trade wine tasting at Auslese

Why are we telling you about a trade wine show you probably will never be invited to? Because it showcased some really excellent wines and some amazing food pairings by Chef Harald Bresselschmidt at Aubergine and we think you should know about them, as it might give you some constructive ideas and some good wine suggestions. Tracy represents an excellent range of wine farms and, this year, there were a couple of new ones.

The tasting was from 3 to 7

Elsie Pels CWM with her range of fine wine glassware, Signature Crystal from Bohemia. Should you be interested in purchasing some, you can contact her on 076 942 5412 elsie@signaturecrystalglassware.com

It is always great to start with a bubble and John Loubser's Silverthorn range of MCCs is eminently suitable. His Jewel Box, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, was paired with two different oysters

The Genie, a salmon pink rosé MCC made from Shiraz, which has notes of roses and Turkish delight, was matched with superb quality tuna and flaked salt. We could also taste The Green Man, a classic Blanc de Blanc from Chardonnay, fast becoming a favourite of ours

It was a very good turnout of sommeliers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, wine shop owners and wine media

These small Fromage blanc and red pepper tarts were matched with the Eagle’s Nest 2015 Viognier which is full of ripe peaches and butter with hints of wood on the end. The peppers fought a bit with the delicate flavours of the wine

To pair with the spicy and rich Eagle’s Nest Shiraz, air dried slices of springbok sprinkled with dark chocolate and some kale puree. The puree did not excite, the springbok was superb

This was a very clever pairing. Catherine Marshall's Clay Soils 2013 Pinot Noir with a crisp broccoli tempura, earthy creamy mushroom parfait and a saffron sabayon were delightful together - it is a really great Pinot Noir

as is her Sandstone 2015 Pinot Noir, rich with raspberries served with coq au vin on pak choi with a raspberry vinaigrette

Ginny Povall of Botanica Wines is a new addition to Tracy's excellent list of wine farms and this pairing of her Fire Lily straw wine n/v with the pork and prawn dumplings in a sticky sauce was inspired

Her labels are beautiful botanical references. The Arboretum 2014, a four way Bordeaux blend was complemented by the fried ostrich tartare topped with salted capers and good mayonnaise

Vriesenhof showed three of their best red wines. The 2014 Pinot Noir is elegant and always a great food wine. Lynne says they should have a spray of truffle oil at all tastings, it goes so well with these wines. This pairing was a seared duck slice on a polenta cube topped with a red cabbage square. Sadly, cabbage does not do much for Pinot Noir, but it could be removed

And this was Lynne's wine of the week and also her best pairing of the day. The lamb rump had been cooked perfectly and was in tender slices with herb notes, rather like a good Sunday lunch. The wine, the Vriesenhof 2014 Grenache is exciting, wild and free and full of all the right fruit notes to make the lamb even more delicious

You could also taste the 2009 Grenache, lots of concentrated full rich dark fruit flavours, lovely and mature and very different from the younger version

B Vintners (Muscat) de Alexandria has the pure fresh notes of hanepoot grapes, just picked, quite lovely and lively. This is a negociant venture between cousins Gavin Bruwer Slabbert and Bruwer Raats. The pairing with rabbit livers on a flower and herb jelly was inspired. How many times have you had rabbit livers in South Africa? We need more. Iron rich, they come somewhere between chicken livers and lambs liver, very tender

Their Liberté Pinotage was paired with chicken sukiyaki with smoked fish aroma, unusual but good

Bryan MacRobert’s Steen (Chenin's old name in the Cape) is made in the Swartland and has those oxidised, almost sherry, layered flavours one has come to recognise from the new wines in the area. It was paired with beautifully thick slices of Kassler style pork loin on a parsnip puree with tarragon

The Field Blend of dense Shiraz, Mourvedre, Cinsaut and Carignan replicates many a Rhône wine tasted in Southern France. This went with Warthog croquettes, which were quite a tasty mouthful. A winery to watch

Then it was time for the Raats wines, which never fail to impress and excite. Bruwer's 2014 Red Jasper Cab Franc led Bordeaux blend is ripe and ready and went so well with the Beef Brisket with potatoes

But the best match was the cold vichyssoise velouté with prosciutto flakes and pesto. paired with the Old Vine Chenin Blanc which is a superb expression of the grape, this is Bruwer's skill showing. Multilayered flavours of apple and cream, crisp citrus, ginger and floral perfume. Our favourite Chenin of the evening

In the busy prep kitchen which kept turning out food non-stop all evening

Tessa and Hans Hugo having fun

Remington Norman at the Eagle’s Nest counter

Maggie Mostert, chef Harald Bresselschmidt and Hennie Coetzee

Jan Laubser and Anel Grobler with Andrew Chicorimbo

Discussing the wines

Bruwer Raats

Chef Harald with Michael Pownall

Richard Kershaw in deep discussion. His superb Elgin Syrah and Chardonnay are a delight

Jan Boland Coetzee with Chef Harald

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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Classes in culinary arts for kids kick off at The Table Bay

Following the super success of the cooking workshops for kids in 2015, The Table Bay’s Executive Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams, will be hosting monthly classes in culinary arts for emerging young cooks from April to November 2016. Mini Chefs will get to work side by side with Myers-Adams for two inspiring hours while learning some special tricks of the trade. Each two hour Mini Chefs class is an interactive learning experience that gives children between 5 and 12 years of age the opportunity to develop a life-long love for the culinary arts, whilst celebrating South Africa’s rich culinary heritage. Each month, the children will prepare something different based on a theme which is aligned with the seasons or a special occasion. They will be assisted by Myers-Adams and a dedicated minder, and will get to take home what they have prepared. 

Mini Chefs takes place in The Table Bay’s Atlantic at 12h30 on scheduled Saturdays. The cost is R300 per child.

Mini Chefs dates and themes for 2016:

Saturday, 30th April        Breakfast spoils for mom / Buttermilk and oat crumpets topped with maple syrup, butter and beef sausages

Saturday, 21st May Chicken time / Chicken mayo roosterkoek, Tannie Rose’s pumpkin fritters with cinnamon cream

Saturday, 4th June Traditionally South African / Chicken Breyani, Chef Bobby’s koeksisters                                  

Saturday, 2nd July Warming winter / Tomato beef bredie, our famous hertzoggies

Saturday, 6th August        Easy as pie / Chicken pot pie, Gloria’s apple fritters with vanilla cream

Saturday, 3rd September  What’s in the oven / Banana bread, wild garlic rolls and mosbolletjies                                           

Saturday, 1st October      Oodles of Noodles / Whole wheat spaghetti, rocky road oats

Saturday, 5th November  Foraging garden visit / Special lettuce wraps, Oscar’s chocolate brownies. 

Booking is essential. To book, please email: TableBayDining@suninternational.com or call: 021 406 5988

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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This Week's MENU: Wildekrans, Beaumont, Luddite, Manny's Seafood in Bot River, Benguela Cove, La Vierge, Newton Johnson, Spanakopita, Forrester Meinert FMC

A blue headed agama lizard (bloukop koggelmander) basking in the sun

  In this week’s MENU:

 Relaxing at Wildekrans

 Bottles and seafood in Botrivier

 Hemel and Aarde for lunch and a little wine tasting

 This week’s recipe: Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

 Wine of the Week: Forrester Meinert Chenin

 Coming events

To get the whole story with photographs, please click on the paragraph title, which will lead you there. At the end of each story, click on RETURN TO MENU to come back to MENU.

Relaxing at Wildekrans     We had a lovely weekend away re-discovering the Bot River valley. We were invited to come and stay at Wildekrans by owner Amanda Harlow when we met her and farm manager/viticulturist Braam Gericke last year at the Green Wine Awards. They received the Best Farming Practice Award, Leadership in Community Development and for Best Value IPW for their 2015 Sauvignon Blanc. With busy schedules and lots of overseas visitors this year, it took a while before we could take up the invitation, but we had a lovely weekend staying in their cottages Read on to see the farm

Bottles and seafood in Botrivier     As we were in Botrivier, we thought we would visit some of our wine friends in the area. We had just received an email from Beaumont telling us about their new releases and we had been meaning to visit Penny and Niels Verburg at Luddite for ages. Appointments were made during the week and off we set on Saturday morning. Lunch was to be at Manny’s 'on the plein' in Botrivier - a Portuguese restaurant with great sea food, we were told More here, with photos

Off to Hemel and Aarde for lunch and a little wine tasting     We checked out of Wildekrans on Sunday morning and had intended to visit Barton, a farm which we have wanted to visit for a long time, but we have never managed to be there at the right time. They are on the road just outside Botrivier, but we discovered that they are closed on Sundays. So off we went to visit Benguela Cove. They had invited us to their new wine release event a couple of weeks before, but we were unable to attend. So, where better to go on a Sunday morning. Then, still being early for our lunch booking at The Restaurant at Newton Johnson, we made a call at La Vierge. It was an expensive weekend, we bought wine at four farms. The lunch which followed was superb. Read on to see the places and the food

Please drive safely     When we left Wildekrans on Saturday morning, heading for the Hermanus market, we came past one of the worst traffic accidents we have ever seen. Horrendous and shocking. Please do be careful on our roads, you never know when your life may change disastrously. Courtesy and politeness may save lives, dangerous speed and impatience won’t

This week's Recipe     This makes a very large pie for a celebration dinner or party. You can halve the recipe to make a family pie. Please try to use real spinach, it gives the right flavour. You could use Swiss Chard if you like but leave out the thick stems. You will need to cook it first and drain it well then chop it very fine. The secret of this pie is the well drained spinach. If you have any filo left at the end, you can refreeze it safely.

Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

1 to 2 T extra virgin olive oil - 1 large onion - 2 garlic cloves - 825g frozen spinach (NOT creamed), defrosted and drained of all water - 3 T fresh dill, chopped - 1 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dried or a mix of both – 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice - Zest of one lemon - 350g feta, crumbled - 150g ricotta cheese - 6 eggs, lightly beaten - 1 box frozen filo pastry, defrosted - 1 cup of melted butter - salt and freshly ground black pepper - optional: nutmeg

Make sure your spinach is defrosted and well drained, press out any residual moisture, you might like to start this about an hour before you use it

Set your oven to 180 ⁰C. You will need a large round pan or dish approximately 30 cm across and 5 cm deep. Butter it well. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in some of the olive oil until soft, but not browned. Cool slightly. In a large bowl add the onion mixture and stir in the spinach, dill, oregano, lemon juice and zest. Then add the beaten eggs, and both the cheeses. Mix well so that everything is incorporated. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can add a good scraping of nutmeg which goes so well with the spinach, if you like.

Now to assemble the pie. Open your box of filo and roll out the filo. Cover it with a damp but not wet tea towel to prevent it cracking. Remove one sheet and, using a pastry brush, cover it all over one side with melted butter. Lay it in the pan, buttered side up, with the edges hanging over the sides. Do another sheet but lay it at about a 50° angle across the tin so that you have full coverage, and do the same with the next sheets. Do this until you have a layer of five sheets of filo. Carefully pour the spinach mixture into the pan. Now cover the top with another five sheets of buttered filo, laid in a wheel. Then pull up all the ragged edges and lay them on top of the pie in a fairly jumbled loose mess. Take another sheet of buttered filo and rumple it up and put into the centre of the pie, so that you have lots of edges to crisp up. Dot the top of the pie with any remaining melted butter.  Put into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the filo is nice and crisp and golden on top. Serve in slices, hot or cool

Wine of the week: Forrester Meinert Chenin     

Spinach is not very good with wine, as it can taste a little metallic. However any full ripe wines like a good crisp Chenin Blanc with a little bottle age and some wood work well with this and the cheese. For special occasions we love the zesty and full elegance of the Ken Forrester FMC (Officially Forrester Meinert Chenin, but Ken refers to it as EFF..ing Marvellous Chenin) with its layers of fruit which sing on your palate. Current vintage is 2013 and it sells for R449 a bottle from the farm,  For everyday drinking, have a look at another favourite which has similarities, Ken's Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2015, R110 on the farm.

Food Fact: Do you know what this kitchen implement is for? 

Spear half an onion with it, and cut between the spokes and then across for perfectly cut onion in half the time, and no cut fingers. You can also just make slices.

We are going to be at the Pinotage and Biltong festival, which will take place over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of April on L'Avenir Estate in Stellenbosch. Book your tickets now, they are selling fast. It’s a great festival with some really good Pinotages which will be paired with Joubert and Monty's biltong.

The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships     During the month of April anyone can vote for their favourite steakhouse, via Facebook and SMS, and stand a chance to win fabulous prizes of The Wolftrap wines.

So please cast YOUR vote, and please spread the news to get the public voting like crazy, via www.facebook.com/SteakHunter and SMS 32845

7th April 2016

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

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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MENU's Wine of the Week: Forrester Meinert FMC

Spinach is not very good with wine, as it can taste a little metallic. However any full ripe wines like a good crisp Chenin Blanc with a little bottle age and some wood work well with this and the cheese. For special occasions we love the zesty and full elegance of the Ken Forrester FMC (Officially Forrester Meinert Chenin, but Ken refers to it as EFF..ing Marvellous Chenin) with its layers of fruit which sing on your palate. Current vintage is 2013 and it sells for R449 a bottle from the farm,  For everyday drinking, have a look at another favourite which has similarities, Ken's Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2015, R110 on the farm

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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This week's MENU Recipe: Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

This makes a very large pie for a celebration dinner or party. You can halve the recipe to make a family pie. Please try to use real spinach, it gives the right flavour. You could use Swiss Chard if you like but leave out the thick stems. You will need to cook it first and drain it well then chop it very fine. The secret of this pie is the well drained spinach. If you have any filo left at the end, you can refreeze it safely.

Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

1 to 2 T extra virgin olive oil - 1 large onion - 2 garlic cloves - 825g frozen spinach (NOT creamed), defrosted and drained of all water - 3 T fresh dill, chopped - 1 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dried or a mix of both – 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice - Zest of one lemon - 350g feta, crumbled - 150g ricotta cheese - 6 eggs, lightly beaten - 1 box frozen filo pastry, defrosted - 1 cup of melted butter - salt and freshly ground black pepper - optional: nutmeg

Make sure your spinach is defrosted and well drained, press out any residual moisture, you might like to start this about an hour before you use it

Set your oven to 180 ⁰C. You will need a large round pan or dish approximately 30 cm across and 5 cm deep. Butter it well. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in some of the olive oil until soft, but not browned. Cool slightly. In a large bowl add the onion mixture and stir in the spinach, dill, oregano, lemon juice and zest. Then add the beaten eggs, and both the cheeses. Mix well so that everything is incorporated. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can add a good scraping of nutmeg which goes so well with the spinach, if you like.

Now to assemble the pie. Open your box of filo and roll out the filo. Cover it with a damp but not wet tea towel to prevent it cracking. Remove one sheet and, using a pastry brush, cover it all over one side with melted butter. Lay it in the pan, buttered side up, with the edges hanging over the sides. Do another sheet but lay it at about a 50° angle across the tin so that you have full coverage, and do the same with the next sheets. Do this until you have a layer of five sheets of filo. Carefully pour the spinach mixture into the pan. Now cover the top with another five sheets of buttered filo, laid in a wheel. Then pull up all the ragged edges and lay them on top of the pie in a fairly jumbled loose mess. Take another sheet of buttered filo and rumple it up and put into the centre of the pie, so that you have lots of edges to crisp up. Dot the top of the pie with any remaining melted butter.  Put into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the filo is nice and crisp and golden on top. Serve in slices, hot or cool

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Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

Tasting in Walker Bay and Hemel en Aarde; lunch at Newton Johnson

The tasting room at Benguela Cove is on the edge of the Botrivier lagoon. Construction of a new very large conference centre and hotel is taking place next to this

Inside, a warm welcome from Leandre Muller, the manager of the tasting room

She took us through all their newly released wines

Some of the new wines with their newly redesigned labels

The current range of wines. We started with Matilda's Secret 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Its in the tropical style, with lots of granadilla, racy acidity and a grapefruit end. R70. Then the magic 2015 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blend. This was made for them by Johann Fourie who is also Chief winemaker at KWV and Diners Club winemaker of the year 2015. Herbal and green pyroxene notes on the elegant nose, the lovely mutton fat mouth feel of a crisp satisfying classic white blend using Semillon. The perfect wine for seafood, crayfish, prawns, scallops and rich sauces. R140. A case came home with us. The Benguela Cove Sauvignon blanc is full of green peppers and herbs, green melon on the palate, clean and crisp with a long finish. The Benguela Cove Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 months on new oak, has vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate, plums and cassis and needs 5 years. The 2014 Merlot is classic with cherries, pears in red wine; soft and fruity, no bitterness or greenness and has great potential. The 2014 Shiraz is spicy and peppery with salty liquorice and cherries, warmth from 14.5% alcohol, a lovely mouth feel and chalky tannins on the end. We finished with the Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, which has mango, litchi and roses on the nose, is light and honeyed with some acidity, but It could do with a bit more for contrast and punch. A good tasting

Then as it was only 11h15, we headed for La Vierge in the Hemel and Aarde Valley to taste their wines which, we had heard, are improving under the guidance of winemaker Gerhard Smith

Lunch menu, not very inspiring, but the views are superb

The tasting lounge

Wines available for tasting. You can taste 6 wines for R30, which is deducted if you buy wine. We shared the tasting, as we often do, not to save money but to save wine and our livers

The restaurant

We began with the Sauvignon Blanc, tropical and warm with some semillon added. High acidity and more of a chenin character. Then the 2015 Jezebelle wooded Chardonnay, apples, caramel, long flavours, nice wine. The Pinot Noir, called Seduction, has plums and perfume on the nose, soft earthy fruit, dark wood. Anthelia Shiraz: smoky bacon, vanilla from US oak and soft deep fruit. Satyricon 2012 is a wild and sexy blend of Italian grapes Sangiovese, Barbera, Nebbiolo. The still chalky tannins indicate that it needs more time

And then the Nymphomane 2014, R115, a classic Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec that delighted us. The Cab Franc leads the nose and this wine has everything to offer that it should, but in the future. Definitely one to buy and mature for several years. We risked a case to hide in the back of our cellar

The view from the terrace

And then, suddenly, it was time to race up the hill to Newton Johnson for lunch, cooked by talented chef Eric Bulpitt, where they gave us a table with a view

It is an open kitchen, but not very easy to see from the restaurant

Atmosphere

Guests consulting the chef about the lunch menu

Chef preparing Lynne’s Kabeljou for the sous vide bath

The menu is concise and looks simple, but has something for everyone. We chose the 2 course option and ordered glasses of Newton Johnson wine

First you get the home baked bread. Wicked fritters, whipped lard, very nutty health loaf, glazed rolls and homemade butter filled with some honey - an idea to copy at home. It's a course on its own and comes free of charge

Starter of soft smoked salmon trout, done in the kitchen, with superb deep fried spiced cauliflower - it tasted as if it had been barbequed, really delicious. Cauliflower also came raw and as a puree and there was homemade grainy mustard for an added kick, also given by the mini nasturtium leaves and the green olive oil. Lynne drank a glass of the Newton Johnson Chardonnay with this

Friends at another table had the Soup and Sandwich which one of their children enjoyed

John’s starter was the Chalmar beef tartare, nice cubes of chopped tender beef, with all the required flavours mixed in, topped with potato crisps, and served with pureed and pickled turnip. Sadly, the picture has disappeared

Lynne's main course of Sous Vide butter poached Kabeljou (AKA Kob), a meaty white fish that can grow very large. They warn you that, when it is cooked, it will be slightly translucent and much softer than usual. It was amazing, one of the best fish dishes she has ever eaten and she was not deterred by the soft flesh. It was topped by a thick lemon Hollandaise sauce, perfect foil for the rich fish. and came with rather woody, slightly bitter radishes, and cauliflower greens. She still had her glass of Newton Johnson Southend Chardonnay. You do get a good large pouring

John's main course was tender Pork fillet in a lentil casserole, wonderful deep flavours, reminiscent of cassoulet, served with pommes puree and a Mint salsa verde. He had this with a glass of the Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir

We finished lunch with double espresso and the view of the autumnal vineyards below

The bill

Chef Eric and his wife Celeste coming for a quick chat after lunch

There is always wildlife and good fynbos to see on the hill above the winery. This is a bloukop koggelmander, or blue headed agama lizard

And a baby basking on a hot rock

A lovely day, great wines were tasted and great food was eaten. You do need to book if you want to eat at The Restaurant at Newton Johnson

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