A Historical “Home Coming” at Groot Constantia

Groot Constantia brings home an 1821 bottle of its famed Grand Constance

Groot Constantia was recently the successful bidder in an overseas auction for a 195 year old bottle of Grand Constance 1821, a wine that was produced in the Groot Constantia Cloete Cellar. They were so delighted at acquiring the wine and returning it to its origin that they invited a group of us to celebrate its return last week. They also promised a surprise event during the day

The Groot Constantia Manor House, one of our iconic National Monuments and celebrated as South Africa's oldest wine producing farm, founded in 1685

The welcome drink was a glass of their NV Brut Rosé, a light salmon pink, floral with flavours of brioche, apple and nuts

Canapés were served. Paté topped with chutney

Small tomato tarts

Blue cheese topped with apple crumble

Very good samoosas with a very thin, crisp pastry skin, served warm

Information about the Grand Constance wine. The event was held in the old Cloete Cellar behind the manor house, which is currently undergoing renovation. Half of the cellar will house a museum, whilst the other half will be an additional tasting room where visitors can have a unique heritage experience of the Groot Constantia wines

“With such a notable and celebrated history to this centuries old South African brand, we are suitably excited to have this nearly two centuries old Grand Constance bottle returning to its ‘birthplace’”, said Dr Ernest Messina, Chairperson of the Groot Constantia Trust

Dr Messina and Groot Constantia's Marketing manager, Grant Newton opening the parcel in which the 1821 Grand Constance bottle was delivered

The bottle is revealed

It does still contain wine

Not much of the label is left, but enough to identify it.

Everyone wanted a picture

Then came the special event which was inspired by the delivery of the 1821 wine

This niche in the wall of the Cloete Cellar will become a time capsule. Prominent members of the farm and people connected to it were each asked to place one of 12 bottles of Grand Constance 2009 into the niche. The Estate will brick it up. This time capsule will only be opened on 2 February 2109 when the South African wine industry will be celebrating 450 years of existence. The stored wine will then be 100 years old.

Beautiful clivias blooming in abundance on the farm

Time for lunch in Jonkershuis restaurant

Lunch was served family style, so you could help yourself. The starter was a different coloured beetroot salad served with ashed goats cheese and assorted salad leaves

and a good tender beef Carpaccio with burnt pineapple and a crème fraiche. Both were delicious

Guests sat in the open courtyard

The menu for lunch

Bottles of the current vintage of Grand Constance 2013 with a vase of King Proteas (Protea cynaroides). It sells for R516 a bottle on the farm

We drank the Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon 2015, very refreshing, nicely crisp

Serious discussion! Wine journalists Christian Eedes and Sandile Mkhwanazi

Other Groot Constantia white wines on offer

and the Merlot went very well with the Carpaccio and the main course

Also on offer the award winning flagship, Gouverneur's Reserve 2013

A huge helping of perfectly cooked seared Kudu Loin served with spring vegetables, apricots and a Grand Constance reduction. Lynne had to take a doggie bag home

The fish option

The dessert of a Bruléed lemon tart with its mascarpone mousse and a honey and rosewater syrup really impressed. The pastry was light and crisp, the lemon curd an exact balance of sweet and sharp. And with a glass of the Grand Constance to top it off, we were in heaven. It is a perfect balance too of honey sweetness and good grape acidity, filled with apricots, nuts and light caramel, with whiffs of rose petals from the Muscat

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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This Week's MENU. HogHouse Game of Wines, Riscura White Hot Wines, Blaauwklippen Blending Competition, Picanha beef, Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir

Winter has gone. Families playing at the water’s edge, Three Anchor Bay

 Game of Wines at The Hoghouse - A Pretty Pinot Quiz

 Riscura White Hot Wines Awards for white blends

 The 33rd Blaauwklippen Blending Competition

 What’s on the MENU today:  Picanha beef

 On the Wine MENU this week: Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir 2016

 Coming events

Cape Town is a winning city      We have to boast! This week, The Conde Nast Readers’ Travel Awards 2016 in category “The Best Food Cities in the World”, chose Cape Town as Best Overseas City for Restaurants and Bars. We so agree. AND the globally-recognised travel magazine also named Cape Town as a runner-up in the category of Favourite Overseas City on September 1st

Cape Town Tourism chief executive Enver Duminy said “It must be noted that tourism in the city is a major driver of the economy to the Western Cape, providing job opportunities to thousands of residents, and the attention earned by such awards aids in the growth of this sector”

UK Daily Telegraph readers named South Africa amongst their three favourite countries alongside New Zealand and the Maldives

Game of Wines at The Hoghouse - A Pretty Pinot Quiz      The HogHouse in Pinelands invited us to join them and take part in this wine quiz which is held once a month. We had no idea what we were in for, drank some good wine, did extraordinarily badly at the quiz but met some great folk and had much fun. Their resident sommelier Kimi Blackadder sent us the invitation and he sets and runs the quiz. This time it was five Pinot Noirs, one Pinot Meunière and three white pinots, some local, some international. If you want to attend one of their events, check out their website http://hhbc.co.za/events/  Their next event will be Hogtoberfest on the 8th of October, which sounds like a lot of fun, given the great beers they brew and sell

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. That may all 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 get better 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 they 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/

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

What’s on the MENU today:  Picanha beef

You might have noticed this aged triangular roast in your supermarkets and wondered what it is. The name is Spanish and it is a cut of meat used in South America where it is regarded as one of their top cuts. It is actually the point of the rump and Lynne cooked it for the first time last weekend. We discovered not only how incredibly well flavoured and tender it is, and very easy to cook but it also turned out to be rather economical for a family of 2. It made us three very different dishes over three days. We will have guests next week and are going to cook this on the braai.

Cooking it is very simple. We had a roast of almost exactly a kilo. Traditionally, all you do is cover it in flaked salt and leave it to sit for a couple of hours, brush off the salt and cook. We had some South American Gaucho spice so Lynne used that as well. You then heat up a ridged skillet and, starting fat side down, sear the meat all over, including the one cut end. You leave it fat side up on the skillet and put into a hot oven at 170⁰C for about 35 to 40 minutes. We used a meat thermometer. When it gets to 50⁰C and no more, remove it from the oven and set aside to rest under foil for 10 minutes. Remember that while resting under foil the meat will continue to cook for a bit and it will also throw off some good meat juices to use as gravy. This produces perfectly pink steaks. There is contention about whether to cut across the grain or with it but whichever way you cut it, you will have beautiful, tender flavourful steak. And for those of you Banting, the fat is absolutely delicious. (John - who abhors all fat, is shuddering). Cook for a slightly longer time if you do not like rare meat or less if you like yours blue. Searing the fat for longer produces a wonderful crisp outer skin. We cut of two 3 cm steaks, leaving two thirds for the next day

On Monday with a third of the meat, Lynne made an Asian beef salad, using lots of different vegetables, seeds and a good dressing (recipe next week) and on Tuesday she used the remaining third in Beef Stroganoff (recipe next week). It is a great discovery

We drank Phizante Kraal Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 with the steaks, Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir 2016 with the Beef Salad and De Krans Wild Ferment Unwooded Chardonnay 2014 with the Stroganoff

On the Wine MENU this week: Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir 2016     Summer has arrived with this newly released wine. Well, if you are not convinced, all you have to do is open a bottle of this week's wine and you will feel the sun on your face. It is so reminiscent of the rosés of Southern France. A blend of noble varieties, it is full to bursting with strawberries, raspberries, a good bite of juicy white peach and sunshine. So good with food. If you tasted this blind you might think it was a serious red, but its light, fruity floral nose and beautiful lipstick pink will convince you otherwise

15th September 2016

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On the Wine MENU this week: Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir 2016

Summer has arrived with this newly released wine. Well, if you are not convinced, all you have to do is open a bottle of this week's wine and you will feel the sun on your face. It is so reminiscent of the rosés of Southern France

A blend of noble varieties, it is full to bursting with strawberries, raspberries, a good bite of juicy white peach and sunshine. So good with food. If you tasted this blind you might think it was a serious red, but its light, fruity floral nose and beautiful lipstick pink will convince you otherwise

RETURN TO MENU

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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What’s on the MENU today: Picanha beef

You might have noticed this aged triangular roast in your supermarkets and wondered what it is. The name is Spanish and it is a cut of meat used in South America where it is regarded as one of their top cuts. It is actually the point of the rump and Lynne cooked it for the first time last weekend. We discovered not only how incredibly well flavoured and tender it is, and very easy to cook but it also turned out to be rather economical for a family of 2. It made us three very different dishes over three days. We have guests next week and are going to cook this on the braai

Cooking it is very simple. We had a roast of almost exactly a kilo. Traditionally all you do is cover it in flaked salt and leave it to sit for a couple of hours, brush off the salt and cook. We had some South American Gaucho spice so Lynne used that as well. You then heat up a ridged skillet and starting fat side down, sear the meat all over, including the one cut end. You leave it fat side up on the skillet and put into a hot oven at 170⁰C for about 35 to 40 minutes. We used a meat thermometer. When it gets to 50⁰C and no more, remove it from the oven and set aside to rest under foil for 10 minutes. Remember that while resting under foil the meat will continue to cook for a bit and it will also throw off some good meat juices to use as gravy. This produces perfectly pink steaks. There is contention about whether to cut across the grain or with it but whichever way you cut it, you will have beautiful tender flavourful steak. And for those of you Banting, the fat is absolutely delicious. (John - who abhors all fat, is shuddering). Cook for a slightly longer time if you do not like rare meat or less if you like yours blue. Searing the fat for longer produces a wonderful crisp outer skin. We cut off two 3cm steaks, leaving 2/3ds for the next day.

On Monday with a third, Lynne made an Asian beef salad, using lots of different vegetables, seeds and a good dressing (recipe next week) and on Tuesday she used the remaining third in Beef Stroganoff (recipe the following week). It is a great discovery.

We drank Phizante Kraal Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 with the steaks, Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir 2016 with the Beef Salad and De Krans Wild Ferment Unwooded Chardonnay 2014 with the Stroganoff 

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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Game of Wines at The Hoghouse - A Pinot Quiz

The HogHouse in Pinelands invited us to join them and take part in this wine quiz which is held once a month. We had no idea what we were in for, drank some good wine, did extraordinarily badly at the quiz but met some great folk and had much fun. Their resident sommelier Kimi Blackadder sent us the invitation and he sets and runs the quiz. This time it was five Pinot Noirs, one Pinot Meunière and three white pinots, some local, some international. If you want to attend one of their events, check out their website http://hhbc.co.za/events/  Their next event will be Hogtoberfest on the 8th of October, which sounds like a lot of fun, given the great beers they brew and sell

It is behind security gates between Ndabeni and Pinelands, with guarded parking, very near Sunrise Circle. Lynne gets a warm welcome!

There is seating downstairs next to the kitchen

and upstairs, where we had the quiz. There were two teams on two separate long tables

Events coming soon to the HogHouse

We learned the rules from Lara. Rather confusing at first. Kimi would ask four questions about each wine and there would be an either or answer, so you always have a 50% chance of being right. Then you had to hold up a paddle (a numbered one per couple) with a black and a white side

Our neighbour was the chef from Chalk and Cork. Their paddle is on the table. They were much better than we were. The young man on the end kept the score for the table. Sadly, the other table won

The competition wines. all unidentified. The sort of question we were given was: Do you think this wine is from South Africa or Europe? Is it Italian or from Alsace? Was it fermented in wood or stainless steel? Does it have 4 g/l litre sugar or 9 g/l ?

The white wines were Pinot Gris and the reds were Pinot Noir and one Pinot Meuniere

Kimi Blackadder asking us a question

It was great fun, there is lots of interaction between people on the tables and of course we had lots of wine to sample

Um, that question obviously has us stumped

This wine was auctioned: Haarlem to Hope from B Vintners in Stellenbosch. It is a blend of 54% Chenin Blanc, 42% Semillon and 4% Muscadel, with the Chenin barrel fermented and matured for ten months in 500-liter French oak barrels. The name comes from the town from where the Dutch departed when they ventured to deepest darkest Africa in the 17th Century

There was a competition for the best team on the winning table, they won a meal for two at the HogHouse

Three of the Pinot Noirs we tasted; one, unlabelled, was specially bottled for the HogHouse. The other wines in the picture were Clos Henri Pinot noir from New Zealand and B Vintners Pinot noir from Bruwer Raats and Gavin Bruwer in Stellenbosch. All the wines were very good and well selected

 You can order food from the kitchen ( they offers a Texan-style smokehouse experience) during the competition but, thankfully, most of us decided to do so when it had finished. Barbecue meats are priced per 100 grams of cooked weight (as is the practice in Texas BBQ establishments). The meat is smoked without sauce, allowing the natural flavours of the meat to blend with the smoke from the Rooikrans wood. We could drink the rest of the wines from the competition or order more or have their excellent beers - they have six on tap and several in bottle. John had a duck leg and croquetten. These came with a cucumber relish and a green dipping sauce. http://hhbc.co.za/

Our neighbours Beverley and Francois had a burger, ribs, huge chips, scotch eggs, a toasted sandwich and a chicken dish. This is no place for vegetarians or non meat eaters!

Lynne had a pulled pork burger (the pork was a little dry) and some very charred but delicious lamb ribs. And we both wished we had ordered some of those chips. The bill for four of us came to just over R700

The Quiz over, everyone settled down to enjoying the company, the food and the wines and beers

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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