The 33rd Blaauwklippen Blending Competition

This annual blending competition, which is now in its 33rd year and can be entered by wine clubs nationwide and overseas, had its awards ceremony this week on the farm. We love to go and meet the finalists over lunch and find out how their wine clubs work, how often they meet and how they approach the blending of the wine. During lunch we tasted the winning wine and, this year, we were surrounded by all four of the finalists. We had fun asking them if they recognised their own blend

 Some duck filled spring rolls with an apple sauce

We loved this combination of good Parma ham with a sweet melon salsa

Slices of pepper crusted springbok with a macadamia nut and cranberry sauce on top of crisp warm gooey cheesy deep fried polenta croquettes, the best version of polenta we have ever had and it took some convincing. We are converted

... and finally, oh so sweet tomato tarts with goats cheese and red onion marmalade. Pastry was melt in the mouth. Now we were really looking forward to lunch and finding out who the talented chef was who made all these excellent canapés

We drank The Diva MCC blanc de noir and Ons Sprankel tank fermented bubbly. light and summery, both made from Zinfandel

We take our seats

MD of Blaauwklippen Rolf Zeitvogel stands to tell us about this year's competition. This year they received 72 entries of which 8 were international and there were 11 newcomers. Wine clubs were challenged to produce an easy drinking, fruity wine of medium complexity. The winning blend was made up of 31% Malbec, 5% Merlot, 37% Shiraz and 27% Zinfandel

The blend of 2016 in its magnum bottle. The label is designed each year by well-known Stellenbosch artist Frans Groenewald

The lunch menu

First we were served the starter of salmon gravadlax marinated in beetroot and orange, had a lovely firm texture. It came on an asparagus foam, topped with fresh buttered asparagus spears, pea shoots and grapefruit segments. Sprinkled over was something new - sweet lime tapioca pearls, which added another texture and flavour to a good dish

Two members of the each of the final four wine clubs are invited to the awards and their travel is paid for by Blaauwklippen: Business Time from the Western Cape, Howling Wolves from Gauteng, Loerie Wine Gurglers from Mpumalanga and the German Weinnasen from Rindchen’s Weinkontor Uhlenhorst. They had to introduce themselves to us. First were Lisa Kollmark and Cathy Lankers from Weinnasen (Wine noses) who work for Rindchen’s Weinkontor Uhlenhorst near Hamburg in Germany

then Phil and Laurette Tasker from the Loerie Wine Gurglers in Mpumalanga

and Rian de Hart from Business Time Club in Cape Town

Johan and Marina Cloete from the Howling Wolves in Gauteng (made up of old Maties - Stellenbosch University alumni)

Winemaker Nerina Cloete told us about her fellow judges. Judges for this year’s competition were Blaauwklippen’ s cellar master, Rolf Zeitvogel, seasoned wine judge and wine buyer for Ultra Liquors, Mark Norrish, popular breakfast DJ Guy Mc Donald, tour guide and wine lover Ligia de Coito and wine judge and journalist Karen Glanfield.

Between courses we were served a lovely palate cleanser sorbet of the Blaauwklippen Citrus gin. Excellent!

Time for the main course of Braised oxtail on a parsnip mash with baby rainbow carrots, roasted vine tomatoes, mange tout and other baby vegetables, topped with biltong dried onions. It was rich and fully satisfying

Rolf introduces the Chef Louise Veldhuizen and her colleague Chloe Beattie. We think Louise has a great future in front of her. She produced some really good food.

We drank the winning wine with the main course and there was lots of discussion about it. it is full of good wood with spicy dark red fruit on the nose with hints of black pepper. On the palate salty silky red cherries and berries and some cola. The fruit is hiding a little but is has good soft chalky tannins. Probably one of the best blends we have tasted over the years. It went well with the oxtail

Beautiful flower arrangements on the table

Now time for the awards, The winner of the Newcomer award was the Business Club. Rian is engaged to Blaauwklippen’s Hospitality manager Nanette Cloete, sister of winemaker Narina Cloete

Rolf likes to spin out the announcements of the winners

And this year, for the second year running the award goes to Germany to Lisa Kollmark and Cathy Lankers from Weinnasen wine club

The girls with their award. SA must look to its laurels next year and try to win the trophy back

Newcomer Rian with winemaker Narina Cloete, soon to be his sister in law

Time for dessert and some of the Blaauwklippen Potstill brandy and some coffee

Assorted macarons

Strawberry cheesecakes, and chocolate Delice topped with pistachio nuts

Very sweet caramel crèmes

The Riff Raff club holds its first meeting. Perhaps discussing their entry into the competition next year

Broadcaster John Meinking and wine merchant Mike Bampfield Duggan 

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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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

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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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

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