A blaze of Spring daisies
Another full week, with more news than
we had time to include in this week's MENU, so some will have
to wait until next week to be included in our ongoing story. Winemag.co.za's
Riscura White blends is one of them. We'll write more, with photographs next
week, but you can see the results
here. Proof that this country
can produce stunningly good white blends. We also enjoyed a private wine
tasting of Burgundies and South African equivalents. One of the Chardonnays in
the tasting has been awarded a score of 96/100 in Tim Atkin MW's latest list of
top South African Wines. From a Hemel en Aarde farm we visited earlier in the
year. We'll keep you guessing until next week....
Silverthorn
MCC vertical tasting with John & Karen Loubser This has to be the highlight this week. Occasionally,
we write about tasting South Africa's version of Champagne (made to exactly the
same method and called in South Africa Méthode Cap Classique or MCC because,
justifiably, Champagne guards its brand). We do not have the same climate or
terroir, but we do have winemakers who have studied the process in depth, made
these wines for many years and so understand the process that they are
producing superb sparkling wines. John Loubser is one of these. It was very
exciting to be invited with other members of the media and wine trade to taste
several different vintages of his Silverthorn wines at his home. It was a very
rare opportunity to taste so many vintages of great MCC
Thelema and Sutherland trade tasting at Auslese Thelema, situated on the slopes of the
Simonsberg at the top of the Helshoogte Pass, is one of our premium wine farms
and its wines have a great reputation. They also make wines in cooler Elgin,
marketed as Sutherland wines, and these are also excellent. We went to taste
these wines, some of them new season releases, last week at Auslese in the
Gardens where chef owner Harald Bresselschmidt delighted John with his food
pairings
Elgin Shiraz Tweet up Just a quick mention of another good
tasting of some of Elgin's Shirazes this week. Lynne often struggles to
recognise Shiraz, with its many varied taste profiles coming from all over our
winelands, often terroir related, but sometimes because the makers just have no
clue of what they are doing. The Elgin wines we tasted do not fall into this
trap; they are all, in their own way, identifiably Shiraz, even though some
have a definite European profile and others more of the warm southern
hemisphere in the bottle. We tasted eleven, starting with four older wines from
2011 and 12, then four from 2013 and the final three from 2014 and 15. The
Sutherland Syrah (2011) always stands out, we have bought various vintages
again and again. One to watch is Moya Meaker 2012, made by a Frenchman, Damien
Landouar. Richard Kershaw's Clonal 2013 Syrah is outstanding, very Rhône style,
if expensive, and we loved the Almenkerk Syrah 2013 with its potential to
cellar. Iona never fails to impress and the Solace 2014 scored well as did
South Hills 2015. So if you want to drink good Shiraz, look to Elgin. You can
follow us on Twitter at @mainingmenu
Seductive Sauvignons Festival This annual opportunity to taste some of
the best newly released Sauvignons Blanc and the current vintages of the
Cabernet Sauvignons was hosted last Friday by Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine
Concepts at the Vineyard Hotel. It always is a serious and fun tasting. We
attempt to taste as many as we can on the evening, but there are many new wines
to taste and, even if we did speed tasting (which we don’t), there are lots of
questions one wants to ask the winemakers
A visit to Ridgeback Wines We hadn't visited Ridgeback since 2013
and they invited us to return and taste their wines recently, so we decided to
combine the visit with a trip to see the Spring flowers up the West Coast last
Saturday, which was a lovely sunny day. The tasting was followed by lunch on
the deck and then a chat with the owner Vernon Cole and his daughter. They are
originally from Zimbabwe where the Ridgeback dog is famous.. It was a very
friendly tasting and we were ably led through the wines, which are made by Toit
Wessels, by Pieter van Straaten. Then we motored off through the Malmesbury and
Darling countryside to spot the daisies
Spring
flowers near Darling As we
were in the area last Saturday, we were able to drive from our appointment at
Ridgeback through the very green countryside through Malmesbury and Darling,
looking for spring flowers which we had heard were spectacular this year. They
were good, but perhaps the best are inside the Postberg Nature reserve
More breaking News Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate has
appointed renowned winemaker Johann Fourie as its head winemaker. Johann,
formerly head winemaker at KWV, was Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year in 2015.
And that’s just the South African brief – Fourie will also be lending his
expertise to and spending considerable time at the owner Penny Streeter OBE’s
UK property in West Sussex: Manning’s Heath Golf Club & Wine Estate, where
the focus is production of patrician sparkling wine
What’s on the MENU this week
OK, we are great advocates of Banting; we know some of you are too. We
have been doing it for nearly two years now, not intensely with our limitations
when eating out at catered events, and really feel the benefits, if not the
weight loss. But sometimes you watch the Food Channel, find a great Italian
chef doing pasta and it is too tempting not to try. So, last night for the
first time in two years, Lynne cooked a pasta dish. It is the easiest and
quickest dish to make and it can be straight from your larder. Preferably use thin
spaghetti if possible, but it is not essential. Quantities are for two
Really
good Extra Virgin Olive oil, at least a 1/3rd of a cup or more - 2 or 3 large
cloves of garlic, thinly sliced - 1 t finely chopped red chilli or chilli
flakes -Spaghettini or Angel hair pasta - Flaked salt - freshly ground black
pepper - 2 T chopped parsley or oregano - 35 to 40 g finely grated Parmesan or
Grana Padano cheese
Boil
a pot of really salty water - it should taste like sea water. In an frying pan,
cover the base with a layer of good green olive oil (at least a 1/3 of a cup,
and put it on a low heat. Add the garlic and the chilli and cook gently until
the garlic is just beginning to take on some colour. Do not let it brown, it
will be bitter. At the same time add the pasta to the water and cook until it
is al dente. Just before it is ready, take a 1/3rd of a cup of the pasta water
and add it to the garlic and chilli oil. Stir rapidly till it begins to
emulsify, this is the sauce. Drain the pasta and put it into the oil and stir. Add
a little more pasta water if you have no sauce. Add seasoning and stir in the
parsley. Transfer to bowls for serving and add the cheese just before you eat. It
is that simple. Enjoy with a healthy salad of mixed vegetables
On our Wine MENU this week A wine we tasted at the Thelema Sutherland
trade tasting that so impressed us and indeed many others in the trade who were
attending, including some top sommeliers.
Thelema's Sutherland 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot Not only is this wine a steal at the price,
but its perfumed, enticing nose, full of violets and fruit, makes one want to
dive into this silky soft wine with its nice kick of warmth, spicy dark fruit
and long, long length. It will be on quite a few wine lists, we suspect
8th September
2016
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172
/ 083 656 4169
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