Riscura White Hot Wines Awards for white blends

These are blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and produce elegant dry white wines which show a lot of depth, length and quality. All that may sound rather vague but, when you taste a good white blend, you know you have something special in your glass. The combination of these two grapes is a magical one, the wines keep and improve as they age. The Semillon softens the Sauvignon and it's an almost perfect marriage. If we could only convince South Africans to drink more of them, they would deservedly become more popular. In France they revere them. If this blend is grown in Bordeaux near the Gironde River in North Western France the wines are simply labelled with that appellation. 35 entries from 31 producers were tasted by the judges Christian Eedes, James Pietersen and Roland Peens. The lowest score (they use the 100 point scheme) was 86. This year there were certificates given to 14 wines that scored over 90. Three wines scored 94, the highest. To see the entire list click here http://winemag.co.za/riscura-white-hot-wine-awards-2016-results/

Albrecht Gantz, Head of Riscura Analytics at sponsor RisCura Solutions (Pty) Ltd, chatting to Jean Daneel who represents Tonnellerie Sylvain, donor of a new oak barrel to the top wine which, this year, was the Iona One Man Band White 2015

Judge Christian Eedes of Winemag.co.za with Derek Prout-Jones of 4 Decades Capital and Albrecht Gantz

Derek Prout-Jones with his daughter

Barton winemaker PJ Geyer with journalist Mel Minnaar

Dana Buys and winemaker Susan Erasmus of Vrede en Lust

Jacqueline Lahoud of Winemag.co.za, who helps Christian to organise the event, welcomed the guests

Albrecht Gantz spoke about RisCura's sponsorship

After the certificates are awarded, the wines are uncorked and we can taste them all

Tokara 2014, one of the top wines, scoring 94, had hillside herbal pyrazines with long leanness and salty minerality

The Strandveld Adamastor from Elim near Cape Agulhas, another 94, was smoky, restrained with a little kelp and nice layers of fruit in waiting, ready to open up

Constantia Uitsig Natura Vista 2014 scored 93. Notes of herbs and fynbos, lean fruit, very crisp and serious

The top wine, Iona One Man Band White 2015 really delighted. It's green and smoky on the nose, full of pure fruit, lime and a hint of cassis and finishes slightly salty. In waiting for a splendid coming out in a year or two

Trizanne Signature Wines Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 scored the only 92. Lean, perfumed, salty and layered

Highlands Road Sine Cera 2014 scored 91. It is herbal, with green notes, crisp and dry

KWV The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015, another 91, is tongue tingling, fresh and with a good mouthfeel showing the roundness of the Semillon

Delaire Graff White Reserve 2014 scored 91. It has asparagus on the nose, and is clean, mean and green. One to watch as it matures

Creation Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 was another 91. Fynbos and pyrazines on the nose with a little Sauvignon cat's pee. Peachy, ripe and full on the palate, the style we appreciate

Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2015 scored 91. It  is salty and full to bursting with Semillon flavours. Softer than previous vintages

Barton Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 another 91. Full of mutton fat and lime, balanced. It is unwooded

Zorgvliet Simoné 2015 scored 90. Full of clean limes. This, however, was a little contentious as it seemed to be going through malolactic fermentation in the two bottles we tasted, as it was fizzy

Canapés of smoked salmon mousse on a green base

Warm mussels in a sauce

Mulderbosch Faithful Hound White 2014 scored 90. Salty and full, slightly sweeter and rather tropical

Nitida Coronata Integration 2015 was another 90 point scorer. Herbal and full of Durbanville pyrazines and salt. Sweeter fruit with smoky wood on the end. To our taste, especially with a little age

Juicy pork belly squares topped with fennel were a really good match to the blends. The dish didn't fight with the crisp flavours and warmed its belly on the Semillon

The venue was Tjing Tjing Torii restaurant in Longmarket Street

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Subscribe to MENU

This Week's MENU. Silverthorn MCC vertical, Thelema tasting, Elgin Shiraz, Seductive Sauvignons, Ridgeback Wines, Spring flowers, New Benguela Cove winemaker, Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic, Sutherland Cabernet Petit Verdot

A blaze of Spring daisies

 Silverthorn MCC vertical tasting with John & Karen Loubser

 Thelema and Sutherland Trade wine tasting at Auslese

 Elgin Shiraz Tweet up

 Wine Concepts Seductive Sauvignons at The Vineyard

 A visit to Ridgeback Wines

 Spring flowers near Darling

 New winemaker at Benguela Cove is Johann Fourie

 On the MENU this week: Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic (Aglio et Olio)

 Thelema's Sutherland 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot

 Coming events

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

Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic (Aglio et Olio)

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

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.

This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. We own our mailing software and keep our mailing list strictly confidential. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.

Subscribe to MENU

Thelema's Sutherland 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot

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

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

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Subscribe to MENU

On the MENU this week: Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic (Aglio et Olio)

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 and 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

Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic (Aglio et Olio)

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 good 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

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Subscribe to MENU

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

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Subscribe to MENU

New winemaker at Benguela Cove is Johann Fourie

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 on the production of patrician sparkling wine

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Subscribe to MENU

Thelema and Sutherland Trade wine 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

Auslese is a function venue you may hire from Chef Harald Bresselschmidt. It is in Hope Street in the Gardens

Thelema’s MCC Brut 2013 gets us off to a good start

Pardon Taguzu, Sommelier of Aubergine Restaurant and Auslese, tries some of the Brut with Ralph Reynolds

Mark Herd of Sunset Beach wines chats about the Thelema White wines. We liked their crisp and zingy Verdelho 2015, probably profuse in the future of the Cape with global warming. Ed's Reserve Chardonnay 2014 always awakens interest with this interesting 'muscat' clone of chardonnay which give is perfume, litchi and zestiness

Paired with these white wines was a seafood paella

Many of the top sommeliers were at this tasting

Another pairing for the white wines was this Potato parfait and goats cheese. We found it went well with the Sutherland 2013 Viognier/Roussanne. A southern wine for summer, filled with apricots, orange blossom and warm citrus. The Sutherland Chardonnay 2014 deserves to end up on several wine lists. Fresh citrus flavours with toasty oak and a long fresh finish makes it a great food wine

This was the most popular pairing of the tasting, everyone was raving about how well the Rieslings, the Semillon 2013 Late Harvest and the 2013 Vin de Hel Muscat Late Harvest went with these spicy Thai fish cakes. The delicate off-dry rose petal Muscat de Frontignan is full of litchi and the Semillon has thick honey, apricots, ripe figs and cream; made for the gods

The Sutherland white wines

Time to move to the reds

The Thelema reds were paired with this lamb stuffed ravioli. All are good, but of special note is The Mint 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. Such an elegant, elevated wine, full of cassis and plums with dark After Eight mint chocolate on the end. The 2012 Rabelais has a perfumed nose from the Petite Verdot and is soft and sweet with some spice and with warmth on the end. A food wine

To another table to taste the Sutherland reds, which were paired with this classic Quail coq au vin; unusual with orange beetroot which added a lot to the flavour

Winemaker Rudi Schultz was busy on this popular table showcasing the Sutherland reds. We often buy the Sutherland Shiraz and think the 2011 is worth laying down for a while. Then we found a gem and we were not the only ones, it was the most talked about wine at the tasting: Sutherland Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot 2011. Perfumed with violets from the Petit Verdot, it is silky soft on the palate, then comes a nice kick of warm spice, dark fruits and lots and lots of length. Some is on order! The Pinot Noir is packed with cherries

Two well known Waterfront Sommeliers: Tatiana Marcetteau of The Cape Grace and Luvo Ntezo from The One and Only

Michelle van Eeden, Sales Manager, laughing at something John said

Francois Rautenbach of Singita gets some of that 2014 Riesling

Chef/Owner Harald Bresselschmidt in his kitchen with his chefs

The charming Cabernet Sauvignon/Petite Verdot is our wine of the Week in MENU

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Subscribe to MENU