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Thursday, November 23, 2017

Winemag's White Blends Report at Fairview

Cape White Blends Report

This is the second time WineMag.co.za has held this competition. Wines entered need to contain some Chenin Blanc (more than 15% and less than 85%). Why do they insist on a Chenin Blanc blend? The panel of judges feel that "If we were to make Chenin Blanc non-compulsory, then producers forfeit a significant point of difference relative to wines from elsewhere in the world. With approximately 18 000ha of Chenin in the ground, it's our most planted variety and we should find ways to celebrate it". Chenin is what we do best, it is a wine with a unique character, identifiable but also able to appear in many different guises and it always adds something unique. Still there is no sponsor for this very important wine blend; it really does showcase the very best of what South Africa can make in the white wine field. South Africans need to be encouraged to drink these delicious blends too, they don't know what they are missing

The Awards were held at Fairview in their Master Tasting facility

It has a good terrace where we all gathered

Andre Morgenthal, who is involved with the Old Vines project, was being abstemious

Fairview welcomed us with their Brut MCC, itself an unusual blend of 50% Viognier with Grenache Noir and Blanc. The early harvested viognier is elegant rather than rambunctious and shows as dusty white peaches with some warm croissant notes on the nose, the long crisp palate has more white peach nectarine and citrus

Time for Jacqueline Lahoud of WineMag.co.za to begin the awards ceremony

There were 38 wines in the line-up, which are all judged blind, no labels shown. 22 wines were rated 90 or higher on the 100-point quality 95, which is a very high average, an indication of where these white blends are going. Many farms have added Rhone and southern Mediterranean grapes to their vineyards, which are now producing superbly as they can cope with dry land conditions

Editor & Creative Director Christian Eedes announced the wine placings, the wines which scored over 90 points.. Certificates would be given to the 9 wines scoring over 92 points. He said the panel agreed the wines are outstanding. "There is a potential for greatness here, the category is small but will grow, it was the highest coring white wine category this year. It shows adventurous winemaking with some challenges. There are degrees of oxidation and flavours which the average wine drinker won't get, it is demanding and rewarding. If you have oxidation, don't lose the fruit and rely on it too much. Some of the wines have volatile acidity making this too much like sherry, too dark, keep the fruit safe and do persist with these blends as the quality is fantastic, may be difficult even though marketing."

94 Keermont Terrasse 2015 Price: R160

Lammershoek Terravinum Reserve White 2016 Price: R185

Solms Delta Amalie 2015 Price: R180

93 Cavalli Cremello 2015 Price: R135

Lammershoek The Innocent White Blend 2015 Price: R88

Olifantsberg Blanc 2016 Price: R165

Painted Wolf Peloton Blanc 2016 Price: R100

92 Fairview Nurok 2016 Price: R170

Muratie Laurens Campher 2016 Price: R135

91 Bergsig Icarus 2016 Price: R180

Blake Family Wines Tourmaline 2016 Price: R120

Darling Cellars Lime Kilns 2016 Price: R100

Eerste Hoop Lodewijk X 2017 Price: R240

Miles Mossop Saskia 2014 Price: R257

Sijnn White 2016 Price: R180

90 Bosman Family Vineyards Adama 2016 Price: R150

B Vintners Haarlem to Hope 2016 Price: R185

Leipzig White Leipzig 2017 Price: R110

Marvelous Yellow 2015 Price: R90

Rascallion Vinyl Collection 33 1/3 RPM 2017 Price: R118

Vrede en Lust Artisan Range Chenin Blanc Semillon 2016 Price: R129

Zevenwacht The Tin Mine White 2016 Price: R79

Then it was time to taste the top 9 wines

Fairview Nurok 2016 Price: R170 92 points A blend of Chenin, Vigoner, Roussan & Genache Blanc. Some light oxidation, warm fruit, pineapple and figs, very Mediterranean in character on the nose, crisp and full fruit on the palate with nice glycerol, oxidised apple, straw and Bing cherries, a lovely wine

Muratie Laurens Campher 2016 Price: R135 92 points We drink this a lot so nice to see it doing well.. A 47% Chenin led four way blend with 27% Verdelho, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 6% Viognier. Full on nose with Chenin dominating, lots of fruit on the rounded nose and palate, the other grapes just add that something else. A good quaffing and food wine.

Cavalli Cremello 2015 Price: R135. 93 points A lightly oaked blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Verdelho, whiffs of smoke, crisp with lots of limes, lemons and marmalade on the end with some mouth drying tannins, showing age potential

Lammershoek The Innocent White Blend 2015 Price: R88 93 points A blend of Swartland Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Harslevelu, Chardonnay and Viognier.. An interesting integrated nose, some fennel, pine, pears and quince giving it an old fashioned penny sweets nose. Lovely round mouth feel, with warmth and some wood, sweet chenin and melon, with glycerols and more sweetness left on the palate.

Olifantsberg Blanc 2016 Price: R165 93 points A blend of Chenin, Chardonnay, Roussane, Grenache Blanc. This is an appealing dusty grassy warm land wine, A lovely rich and full blend of golden fruit, apples, gooseberries, ripe cling peaches and more, on the nose and palate. Showing so well with more of everything than most of the other wines, it went very well with food too.. It is our wine of the week.

Painted Wolf Peloton Blanc 2016 Price: R100 93 points A blend of Chenin, Viognier, Roussane, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche,. it is full of richness and fruit on the nose. On the palate a rounded mouthfeel but the wine is lighter than the nose indicates. Flavours of the Chenin and the Roussanne, and there are hints of red plums

Lammershoek Terravinum Reserve White 2016 Price: R185 94 points A blend of Chenin Vigonier and Chardonnay. Aromatic on the nose with herbs, buchu and fennel, a lovely palate of delicious fruit salad, apricots, peaches, melon, white cherries. A summer wine for terrace drinking with Mediterranean food

Solms Delta Amalie 2015 Price: R180 94 points A blend ofChenin, Grenache, Roussane, Verdelho. Shy on the nose initially, on the palate Chenin and Verdelho show most, with some salty cherries and warmth.

Keermont Terrasse 2015 Price: R160 94 points A blend of is elegant on the nose with some perfume of fennel and violets, Typical Chenin grapes, with some peach, apricot and white Bing cherry. It keeps evolving in the glass. A blend of Chenin, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc & Chardonnay

Receiving their certificate are Fairview winemakers Stephanie Wiid, Annette van Zyl and Anthony de Jager

Time for some food and Fairview did produce a very good spread. which we drank with the winning wines. Salmon paté on cream cheese with lemon

Seared sesame tuna dressed with Ponzu

A very good cheese selection with good bread - Fairview could do no less

Some of the excellent breads, available from tasting room deli with the cheeses

Tiny quiches in filo pastry

Biltong and droëwors

A significant number of the wines was made by women

Maggie Venter of Darling Cellars, Elizma Visser of Olifantsberg, Stephanie Wiid of Fairview, Corlea Fourie of Bosman, Annette Human of Cavalli, Danielle Jacobs of Eerste Hoop and Annette van Zyl of Fairview with Jacqueline Lahoud of WineMag

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Thursday, November 16, 2017

This Week’s MENU. Bellevue 1953 & restaurant, Ocean Basket Summer celebration, Diners Club Wine Maker of the Year, Pollo Orvietana, Groote Post SeaSalter

Beach huts, Muizenberg

In the 1970s, a system of wine bottle neck “bus tickets” was introduced by the Wine and Spirit Board. On these tickets, up to three coloured stripes designated origin, vintage and cultivar. The flaw in the system was that the public assumed that the more stripes there were, the better the wine. As the third stripe denoted “cultivar” it was translated as meaning that a single cultivar wine was better than a blend. It has taken many years to recover from this flaw and, while red blends have become respectable, only recently have white blends achieved serious recognition. This week, our Wine of the Week is a white blend and we’ll tell you next week about the great wines we tasted at a white blends awards ceremony. Please click on these links to see this week’s stories:

Bellevue launches 1953 Pinotage, their new Restaurant and Tasting Room

We visited Bellevue Wine Estate in Bottelary recently to taste their wines and they told us that their new restaurant and wine tasting venue would be opening soon and that we would be invited. This launch took place last week and it was also their opportunity to launch an iconic new wine, 1953 Pinotage, made from the vineyards planted on Bellevue 64 years ago. Pinotage vines (a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault -aka Hermitage- propagated by Professor Abraham Perold in 1925) were planted on Bellevue in 1953 by PK Morkel. The grapes for the first commercially produced Pinotage were harvested from these vines and made into this original South African wine which sold under the Lanzerac label, owned at the time by Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery. Bellevue is an historic wine estate (established in 1701) with its original Cape Dutch homestead built in 1803. The modern new facilities complement the original farm buildings

Ocean Basket summer celebration at Canal Walk

Over the last year, we have been asked by Ocean Basket management to sample new ideas in their menus and give suggestions. Last week, we were invited to Canal Walk Ocean Basket with several other members of the media to hear about and taste what they are currently launching. This was their Summer Celebration, where we could taste some of the new ideas they have for food in the restaurants. They have been moving to a more Mediterranean style and doing their best to work around the diminishing supply of sustainable fish. And we were told to come hungry. And this after the lunch at Bellevue!

Groote Post launches their SeaSalter white blend at the Cape Grace

Minerality in wine is 'a good thing'; it adds to the complexity. Sometimes, a little salt is found in wine. It is not a negative flavour and adds some nice savouriness, it helps to highlight other flavours and aromas in the wine, as it does in food and it often comes from the same areas. We look for it in wines from Darling, Durbanville and other West Coast areas. Groote Post has some in this new Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend just released by the Pentz family of Groote Post and it is an impressive wine. We were invited to taste it and six of their other wines this week at the Cape Grace

Short list of candidates for the Diners Club Wine Maker of the Year and Young Wine Maker of the Year

These awards will be presented on Saturday 25th November in Franschhoek. We have been invited and hope to be there if we get accommodation. It is a long way to drive home after midnight.

Winemaker of the Year Finalists: Category - Pinotage

· André Scriven - Rooiberg Pinotage Reserve 2016 (Robertson)

· Christiaan Groenewald - New Cape Wines - Arendskloof Pinotage 2015 and Eagles Cliff Pinotage 2017 (Worcester)

· Clayton Reabow - Môreson Widowmaker Pinotage 2015 (Franschhoek)

· De Wet Viljoen - Neethlingshof Pinotage 2016 (Stellenbosch)

· Niël Groenewald - Bellingham Homestead Pinotage 2016 (Franschhoek)

Young Winemaker of the Year Finalists: Category - White Wines

· Charl Schoeman - Simonsig Roussanne 2016 and Roussanne Marsanne 2016 (Stellenbosch)

· Murray Barlow - Rustenberg Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2016 (Stellenbosch)

· Philip Viljoen - Bon Courage Chardonnay Unwooded 2017 and Noble Late Harvest 2016 (Weisser Riesling/Gewürztraminer) (Robertson)

· Wade Roger-Lund - Jordan Blanc de Blancs Méthode Cap Classique 2015 (Stellenbosch)

What is on the Menu this week? Pollo Orvietana - Chicken with Kalamata olives and Balsamic vinegar

We first had this lovely summery dish at Morgenster when, several years ago, we were invited to lunch with owner Giulio Bertrand and it was prepared by his chef. If you can get hold of the Morgenster Balsamic and their Olive Oil it will be superb. Lynne cooked it for friends this weekend as a simple supper and it was delicious, so we thought it might be time to reprise this recipe.

8 jointed chicken pieces – seasoned flour - Extra Virgin olive oil - fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary and oregano) - 2 bay leaves - 500ml chicken or vegetable stock

16 kalamata olives - 3 or 4 large peeled potatoes, cut in quarters or eighths - Balsamic vinegar di Modena

Dust the chicken joints with flour, braise with herbs until golden in olive oil. Add olives and stock, and par-cook chicken for about 15 minutes. Add potatoes for the last 15-20 minutes, so that they will be cooked at the end, but firm. When all is tender, ensure that the stock/juices are reduced until consistency is slightly syrupy. You might want to pour this off into another pot, as you don’t want your chicken/potatoes overcooking to pulp. Add generous dollops of vinegar five minutes before serving and swirl all the syrupy gorgeousness to coat every morsel. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with last minute drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and chopped parsley. (By courtesy of Christiaan van Graan-de Groen – former chef/butler to Mr Giulio Bertrand, Morgenster Estate)

Menu's Wine of the Week. SeaSalter from Groote Post in the Darling area

is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The Semillon and Sauvignon components were made separately and then blended. 40% of the wine is wooded for 4 months in French oak barrels, the rest is made in tank. We were so impressed with this wine. R250 a bottle on the farm. It does indeed smell of sea mist with some kelp and herbs and minerality too. It sparkles on the palate with lovely fruit acids, a tingle on the front of the tongue, rounding on the end from the Semillon. Refreshing, It has had wood and lees contact and the salt stays on the palate at the end. And it is a food wine. Quite French in style, we suspect that it is headed for some awards in future

In next week’s MENU: White blends, Distell 5 Star brandies Wine Concepts Champagne Fest

16th November 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 fro

Short list of candidates for the Diners Club Wine Maker of the Year and Young Wine Maker of the year

These awards will be presented on Saturday 25th November in Franschhoek. We have been invited and hope to be there if we get accommodation. It is a long way to drive home after midnight

Winemaker of the Year Finalists: Category - Pinotage

André Scriven - Rooiberg Pinotage Reserve 2016 (Robertson)
Christiaan Groenewald - New Cape Wines - Arendskloof Pinotage 2015 and Eagles Cliff Pinotage 2017 (Worcester)
Clayton Reabow - Môreson Widowmaker Pinotage 2015 (Franschhoek)
De Wet Viljoen - Neethlingshof Pinotage 2016 (Stellenbosch)
Niël Groenewald - Bellingham Homestead Pinotage 2016 (Franschhoek)

Young Winemaker of the Year Finalists: Category - White Wines

Charl Schoeman - Simonsig Roussanne 2016 and Roussanne Marsanne 2016 (Stellenbosch)
Murray Barlow - Rustenberg Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2016 (Stellenbosch)
Philip Viljoen - Bon Courage Chardonnay Unwooded 2017 and Noble Late Harvest 2016 (Weisser Riesling/Gewürztraminer) (Robertson)
Wade Roger-Lund - Jordan Blanc de Blancs Méthode Cap Classique 2015 (Stellenbosch)

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What is on the Menu this week? Pollo Orvietana - Chicken with Kalamata olives and Balsamic vinegar

8 jointed chicken pieces – seasoned flour - Extra Virgin olive oil - fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary and oregano) - 2 bay leaves - 500ml chicken or vegetable stock

16 kalamata olives - 3 or 4 large peeled potatoes, cut in quarters or eighths - Balsamic vinegar di Modena

Dust the chicken joints with flour, braise with herbs until golden in olive oil. Add olives and stock, and par-cook chicken for about 15 minutes. Add potatoes for the last 15-20 minutes, so that they will be cooked at the end, but firm (not cooked to a mash). When all is tender, ensure that the stock/juices are reduced until consistency is slightly syrupy. You might want to pour this off into another pot, as you don’t want your chicken/potatoes overcooking to pulp. Add generous dollops of vinegar five minutes before serving and swirl all the syrupy gorgeousness to coat every morsel. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with last minute drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and chopped parsley. (By courtesy of Christiaan van Graan-de Groen – former chef/butler to Mr Giulio Bertrand, Morgenster Estate)

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MENU’s Wine of the Week. Groote Post SeaSalter

SeaSalter from Groote Post in the Darling area is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The Semillon and Sauvignon components were made separately and then blended. 40% of the wine is wooded for 4 months in French oak barrels, the rest is made in tank

We were so impressed with this wine. It sells for R250 a bottle on the farm and you may find it in some of the better wine merchants such as Wine Concepts, Caroline's or Sunset Beach. Only 2000 bottles were made. It does indeed smell of sea mist with some kelp and herbs and minerality too. It sparkles on the palate with lovely fruit acids, a tingle on the front of the tongue, rounding on the end from the Semillon. Refreshing, It has had wood and lees contact and the salt stays on the palate at the end. And it is a food wine. Quite French in style, we suspect that it is headed for some awards in future

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Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Groote Post launches their SeaSalter white blend at the Cape Grace

This interesting wine made from 73% Sauvignon Blanc and 27% Semillon. 50% was aged for 4 months in 500 litre French Oak barrels and it was bottled in April 2016

Trade and media were invited to taste this wine at the Cape Grace

Our welcome drink was Groote Post Brut Rosé MCC; 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, it has lovely strawberry and raspberry hints, nice yeasty brioche. Red berry flavours, crisp and juicy

Nick Pentz, owner of Groote Post and wine maker Lukas Wentzel

Cool

The wines, ready to taste

Nick gave us some background to the wines. Neil Ellis was an inspiration to Darling when he came seeking different grapes from good vineyards in the 1990s when quotas fell away, which was when Groote Post made its first planting of Sauvignon Blanc, and this led the way for other grapes. The Old Man's Blend they make is named for Nick’s father, Peter Pentz. He was farmer of the year in 1998, but not for wine, for milk! Nick told us that this new wine, SeaSalter, takes Sauvignon Blanc to a different level with its saltiness and dustiness. They have made Semillon for a couple of years; the blocks were planted specifically to put into a white blend. West Coast and specifically Darling minerality plays a part and the ocean smell on warm beaches is there too. It is named after a village in the Canterbury District of Kent in England which Nick visited. He thought that the name just suited this wine to a T. The Atlantic Ocean is just 6 Km from the farm and he says, "the packaging has to reflect the west coast with its ice sea, standing on the beach with the waves crashing on broken shells and the resultant salty invigorating ocean smell"

The family line up of Peter Pentz, his wife Lesley, Nick's daughter Nicki and his wife Annelie

Winemaker Lukas Wentzel with Sales manager Wimpie Borman. We learned that Groote Post is 30% down on crop this year, that the vines are all dry land but the drought is playing a part. Nick Pentz says that the next three to four years will show who is whom with the grape shortage. They say their good soil will see them through, but it is likely to be a reduced harvest. They are now taking out more leaves in the vineyard; canopy management is key or the wines become too acidic.

The tasting began with the Groote Post Kapokberg 2017 Sauvignon Blanc. It is full if the lovely Sauvignon flavours and aromas of fig leaves, green pepper and elderflower, clean and crisp with a lovely golden mouthfeel, zingy and with good texture. Lukas finds blackcurrants on their Sauvignons Blanc and when we looked, so did we. They use Diam corks. We then tasted the 2015 Kapokberg and it was very different. Unusual but pleasant, there is nutty sesame on the nose and some warm linen, and more sesame on the palate with crisp green apples. This is showing some rewards of aging and is very enjoyable

Lukas guided us through the wines. Next came the Groote Post Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2012 with golden fruit on the nose and a slight smoke whiff. Lemon and lime crisp on the palate. Then the Groote Post Darling Hills Semillon 2015. A waxy semillon nose with pears and oil. Refreshing on the palate with crisp limes, lemons and juicy William pears. This wine has had a little wood maturation. It will age beautifully. The 2009 Groote Post Sauvignon Blanc is full of tinned asparagus on the nose, more golden fruit. notes too. Crisp on the palate with a slight bitterness on the end. Lukas told us this was the old style, which they are not making anymore

And then finally it was time to taste the SeaSalter. The Semillon and Sauvignon components were made separately and then blended. 40% of the wine is wooded; the rest is made in tank. We were so impressed with this wine; it is our Wine of the Week. R250 a bottle on the farm. It does indeed smell of sea mist with some kelp and herbs and minerality too. It sparkles on the palate with lovely fruit acids, a tingle on the front of the tongue, rounding on the end from the Semillon. Refreshing, it has had wood and lees contact and the salt stays on the palate at the end. And it is a food wine. Quite French in style, we suspect it’s headed for some awards in future

Then it was time for some food to go with the rest of the wines in our glasses. We were very impressed with the spread that the Cape Grace Hotel prepared. Trays of the canapés were offered and there was a large table at the end of the room. This tray has a vegetarian medley with spiced chickpeas and vegetables; on the spoons are shaved springbok with poached pears (interesting pairing), a butternut soup, small light as air curried chicken vol au vents topped with raita and rosti topped with slices of rare fillet steak and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. All excellent