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Thursday, October 26, 2017

This Week’s MENU. Prescient Chardonnay, Groot Phesantekraal, Veritas tasting, Caroline's White Wine review, Robertson Wine on the River, Asparagus, De Wetshof Bateleur

A yellow-billed duck takes off from a pond

The “gurus” of food and wine marketing appear to believe that everything should be crammed into the couple of months before Christmas. We are turning down invitations because we have already accepted others for the same time and date; and we sometimes have more than one event on the same day. Great fun, but huge pressure when we have to write, edit and put it all together when we come home. Thank goodness we love what we do! This week, we’ve capped the stories to those you see below and have held some over till next week; we already have seven stories in the pipeline for next week

See all this week’s MENU stories at www.mainingredient.biz or click on these links:

Prescient Chardonnay Awards

Another competition from WineMag.co.za. This time with sponsors Prescient and some great local Chardonnays achieved very high marks. There were 11 wines scoring 93 to 95 this year and we tasted them at The Stack in the Gardens. During the disastrous ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) years Chardonnay became popular worldwide and our winemakers, embracing the challenge, planted it. Sadly many, who had not worked with this noble grape before, gave it far too much new wood contact and put many South Africans off drinking it; it was a tough ride for the industry. But times have changed, much more experience has been gained and we now have much success with different styles appearing. Sales are growing and the wine is being enjoyed. It is also winning many accolades from top judges here and worldwide. We can and do grow and make superb Chardonnay

Groot Phesantekraal Rebrands itself

For many years many of the Cape’s highly awarded wines, especially Sauvignons Blanc, contained wine from this prolific Durbanville farm owned by André and Ronelle Brink. They recently rebranded themselves Groot Phesantekraal and released their own 2016/7 wines with new branding,. We were invited to go and sample them over lunch in their restaurant on the farm. (They were previously known as Phizante Kraal). You can do so yourself this coming weekend at the Season of Sauvignon in Durbanville

Veritas tasting at the CTICC

Sadly, we had to miss the Veritas Wine Awards this month as we were away with our Wine Club in Bot River, so we were very keen to go and taste some of the top medal winners at this year’s open tasting at the CTICC. KWV did not enter any of their really vintage wines this year, so there was no rare wine to taste but there were many great current vintages and some older ones from the farms that entered. It is always a very sociable evening. There were 638 entries this year, and there were 71 Double Golds, 193 Gold, 654 Silver and 554 bronze medals. If you want to see this year's results in full click on the link: http://veritas.co.za/awards_brochure/files/assets/basic-html/page-1.html#

Caroline’s White Wine Review

We are always delighted if we are invited to Caroline's wine reviews; her selection of wines is usually very much to our taste. This year her White Wine Review was held again at the Table Bay hotel and was a great event, with lots of newly released wines from familiar farms to taste and new wines we have not heard of before as well as some older gems. The many MCCs and other bubbles were arranged in a row in the first room; what a lovely way to start a tasting. The wines of the evening that really impressed us were the Richard Kershaw Elgin 2016 Clonal Selection Chardonnay, the Anthonij Rupert Cape of Good Hope Caroline wine blend, a superb food wine, Almenkerk Chardonnay, Cape Chamonix Chardonnay, Life from Stone Sauvignon Blanc from Springfield and Nick van Aarde's White Lady Chardonnay. Obviously the Chardonnays were really hitting the spot! We try but we cannot taste all the wines

Robertson Wine on the River Festival

This year we were invited to this, one of our favourite festivals, for just one day which was a pity, as we really wanted to go for longer - there is so much to do at the festival, but we were told that there was no accommodation available; it is very popular. We were transported by minibus from the V&A Waterfront with an early start planned for 8am (it is a 2½ hour plus drive). We had taken an Uber to get there as parking at the V&A all day would cost rather a lot. We actually left an hour late because we waited for late-comers, which compromised our limited time in Robertson. We arrived back in town at 7.45 pm. And, because we were delayed waiting for someone to collect something from us which they had left on the bus, we finally arrived at home at 9h20. It was an interesting and fun but very, very long day

What's on the Menu this week? Fresh Asparagus

Asparagus is in season; it is short, but a good one. We had some tonight, just lightly steamed for a couple of minutes, dusted with parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon. Or try melted butter and some fresh lemon zest. Lynne steams hers in the microwave for just 2 minutes. Other ideas are to brush the asparagus with olive oil and flaked salt and quickly cook them on the braai for a few minutes until charred a little; they will be slightly smoky and delicious

Or blanch the spears, drain well and cover with a rich thick cheese sauce to which you have added 2 egg yolks, a teaspoon of mustard and a dash of Worcester sauce. Cover with the sauce and brown under the grill for a few minutes. Arrange some freshly blanched spears on top of a quiche near the end of baking, or put them into a frittata. Or wrap each steamed spear in Parma ham and serve as a canapé. Enjoy

MENU's Wine of the Week. De Wetshof Bateleur Single Vineyard 2015 Chardonnay

This, for us, is the top of the range as Chardonnays go. Full of limestone minerality on the nose and palate, with hints of green limes as well and perfumed with William pears, lemon drops and gentle incense wood. Full on the palate, with apples, limes and some good chalky tannins; nicely crisp and crying out for some delicate meat, seafood or fish dish with a rich sauce. Just released this week and R417 a bottle. Very good value is the magnum at R545 (prices are from the farm)

26th October 2017

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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. 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. 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.

What's on the Menu this week? Fresh Asparagus

Other ideas are to brush the asparagus with olive oil and flaked salt and quickly cook them on the braai for a few minutes until charred a little; they will be slightly smoky and delicious

Arrange some freshly blanched spears on top of a quiche near the end of baking, or put them into a frittata. Or wrap each steamed spear in Parma ham and serve as a canapé. Enjoy

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Robertson Wine on the River Festival

This year we were invited to this, one of our favourite festivals, for just the opening day which was a pity, as we really wanted to go for longer - there is so much to do at the festival, but we were told that there was no accommodation available; it is very popular. We were transported by minibus from the V&A Waterfront with an early start planned for 8am (it is a 2½ hour plus drive). We had taken an Uber to get there as parking at the V&A all day would cost rather a lot. We actually left an hour late because we waited for late-comers, which compromised our limited time in Robertson. We arrived back in town at 7.45 pm. And, because we were delayed waiting for someone to collect something from us which they had left on the bus, we finally arrived at home at 9h20. It was an interesting and fun but very, very long day

The beautiful Breede River at Goudmyn Farm in Robertson on the banks of which the Festival is held. So good to see the River so full, but so sad to report that it is all going into the ocean. They tell us the river needs to clean itself out

We started in the Tasting Tent ...

... with a tasting of seven Mèthode Cap Classique bubblies from the area

ably guided by Philip Jonker, winemaker and owner of Weltevrede

First a word from Peter de Wet of Excelsior; he is the Chairman of the Robertson Wine Valley. Peter told us that, as this was International Champagne Day, they thought that a bubbly tasting would be a very appropriate way to start it. We all agreed

The line-up: Paul Rene Brut, 100% Chardonnay; Philip Jonker Enthios from Weltevrede, 60% Chardonnay 40% Pinot Noir; Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2012; Jacques Bruère 2010 Blanc de Blancs; Philip Jonker The Ring from Weltevrede; Villion 2009 Blanc de Blanc from Viljoensdrift and De Wetshof Cuvée Brut, 65% Chardonnay and 35% Pinot Noir, 20% in barrel. It certainly is a valley that makes good MCCs

Then after a short comfort break, we went straight into a tasting of Chardonnays, guided by Johann de Wet of De Wetshof, a farm that makes several superb Chardonnays. This is the first flight, all unwooded: Rietvallei 2018; Springfield’s Wild Yeast Chardonnay; Langverwacht Kelder NV and Limestone Hill 2017 from De Wetshof

Johann told us that there are many variations of Chardonnays, which are either unoaked or oaked, with natural fermentation or inoculated - and he explained how it works. Then the area plays its part, as does the winemaker using his skills. Robertson is a long valley with huge variations of soils, some with limestone, others none. There is the wind effect which plays its part; this is not a warm area, it has heat during the day, but frost at nights sometimes gives it the coldest nights in the Western Cape. The cold protects acidity and freshness

The next flight poured was all wooded Chardonnays

De Wetshof Bateleur 2015; Arendsig 2016 from Bonnievale; Mont Blois 2016; Bon Courage 2016 and Robertson Winery's Constitution Road from McGregor (where there is no limestone)

Another short pause to admire the river and finish our Chardonnays

Then lunch was served which consisted of tapas on long boards

This was chicken with chakalaka

Smoked salmon mousse with grated beetroot

Olives and a snoek paté

Black rice topped with radish, carrot and ginger

Broad beans and udon noodles, bacon and prune Devils on horseback

Beef, sliced and topped with hollandaise sauce

More salmon served with gherkins

Biltong paté and chicken in mayonnaise

Sundried tomatoes, cheese and butter with roosterkoek

Following lunch, a tasting of Cabernet Sauvignons of the area, guided by Peter de Wet. Cabernet comprises 10% of the vines in the area, 1040 hectares. Black and red fruit without massive alcohols

The line-up of the first flight: Jan Harmsgat made by Lourens van der Westhuizen of Arendsig; Arendsig's own 2015; De Wetshof Naissance 2015, 90% new oak and Goedverwacht's Maxim 2015 from the cooler end of the valley

The second flight: Kranskop 2014; Incara 2013 from Bon Courage; Excelsior’s Evanthius 2013 and Springfield’s Methode Ancienne 2011. We learned that Robertson will soon be dividing into individual wards, 9 in all when agreed

Then, suddenly, it was nearly 3pm and time to go and quickly see something of the festival, which opened that day. This is one of the food trucks

This is why it is such an enjoyable festival. Sitting under a huge umbrella on the riverbank enjoying good wine with friends and finding good food to enjoy too

A golden hippo called Mr B on the Fat Bastard stand

Tasting Arendsig's lovely wines with Colyn Truter

And getting a pour from Elzette Steyn at Weltevrede’s stand

Fanus Bruwer of Quando looking serious, or is that seriously interested?

Just chilling

Time for our riverboat trip.

The media took over the top deck

And we had a jolly time seeing the festival from a different viewpoint

Maryna Calow of WOSA taking a group picture

Further up the river

Lovely views of the riverside

Enjoying the late afternoon

Turning around, you can see how full the river is

Downstairs passengers also having fun

Just enough wind to snatch that hat off

And the pretty barn swallows were using the prow of the boat to launch themselves off to catch insects flying over the water

Back to the festival to get a wave from friends

A quick tasting from Fanus of his lovely Rosé

Take a picture in the Graham Beck Frame and perhaps win a prize

And a final friendly farewell from the lovely girls, Elbè Nortje and Lisa Keulder, on the Graham Beck stand before boarding the bus for the trip back to Cape Town

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MENU, our weekly email newsletter, started as an advertising medium for Main Ingredient, our specialist retail grocery business. We opened our Sea Point shop in December 2002 because realised that there was a place in South Africa for a grocer catering to people with sophisticated tastes and needs. We moved the shop on line in 2010, but discontinued it in 2015, having decided that it is time to “retire” and concentrate on our writing, photography and tour guiding. MENU has a wide circulation and is read nationally and internationally.

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