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Friday, December 01, 2017

The 2017 Diners Club Winemaker and Young Winemaker of the Year Awards dinner at La Residence, Franschhoek

This is one of the high points of the wine world each year and was held, again, at La Residence, a five star boutique hotel in Franschhoek on Saturday night. They also present an award to the Young Winemaker of the year. People do follow the dress code of Black Tie, so it is a rather glamorous evening, filmed by TV and the awards are presented during dinner where the winning wines are served

It is such a beautiful setting too

Welcomed with Steenberg's 1682 MCC Chardonnay Brut

Wade Roger-Lund of Jordan Wine Estate, Stellenbosch and 2016 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year, Pierre Wahl of Rijk's in Tulbagh with Wade's fiancée Elizabeth Mathewson and Pierre's wife Anli

Some canapés appeared, small blinis topped with smoked salmon, skewers of tomato and olives and tiny fish cakes

Two industry gentlemen, previous winner Bartho Eksteen and Distell's Duimpie Bailey in serious discussion

A peacock on the roof

The other welcoming MCC was from Colmant in Franschhoek

Willie du Plessis and his partner for the evening. He is Standard Bank’s Head, Business Banking, W Cape. Standard Bank holds the South African franchise for Diners Club

The crowd gathering on the lawn. There were some very beautiful dresses and most men looked immaculate in their dinner jackets

Michael Crossley of Reciprocal trading with Teddy and Doreen Hall

Time to take our seats at the long tables in the Long Hall

It is a very long room

JP Rossouw, Publisher of Platters Wine Guide, was the MC for the evening. This is the 37th year of the competition for Winemaker of the Year and 17th year of the competition for the Young Winemaker of the Year. A different category for each is chosen every year, this year it was Pinotage for the senior competition, next will be Chardonnay. The category for the Young Winemaker (must be under 30 years of age) alternates each year between white wine (2017) and red wine (2018). This year it was white wines. Entry is free and cases of the winning wine must be available to Diners Club. The winning Winemaker will be able to choose a winemaking destination in the USA and be given two first class return tickets on Delta Airlines and a prize of R50 000. The Young Winemaker will win the same prize, but travel in Tourist class and the prize is R25 000. The Judges this year were William Prudhomme, Carrie Adams, Debi Van Flymen, James Pietersen, Michael Crossley, Nomonde Kubheka, and Ntsiki Biyela, who was at our table. He also said the judges were very sad that Dave Hughes was not able to be involved this year, he has been involved for many years

Duimpie Bailey looking happy and content

Managing Director of Diners Club Pan Africa, Lesego Chauke-Motshwane spoke about her job and about the Diners Club Cares Corporate Responsibility programme, investing in education to make a better life for people in this country. Diners Club has had a 61 year relationship with Standard Bank

JP Rossouw with last year's Young Winemaker of the Year, Murray Barlow of Rustenberg, who had to hand over the award to the new winner

We all watch on screens above our heads as the room is too long for us to see the presentation

There are some anxious faces here

Murray Barlow handing over the Trophy to Wade Roger-Lund for his Jordan MCC Brut

Wade is really delighted about his win

The proud Young Winemaker of the Year 2017

Lots of loud applause

Editor of Platters Wine Guide, Philip van Zyl with esteemed former Nederburg cellarmaster Razvan Macici

The menu for the evening

As the Young Winemaker award was announced, the wine was poured and we had it with our starter. Blanc de Blanc 2015 Mèthode Cap Classique from Jordan, has been on the lees for 2 years and is floral on the nose with some wisteria and brioche, fresh and lively on the palate, clean and slightly spicy, full of limes and lemons, with lots of prickle on the tongue and it has long flavours. This is a temporary label; the wine will only be available to the public from the cellar in the New Year

Herb butter and lard

The rather minimal starter of a couple of cold baby calamari with salad, mango squares, raw onion salsa and a cashew crisp

Time to applaud last year's winner who will hand over the trophy to this year’s winner

Pierre Wahl, Winemaker of the Year 2016 with the trophy

And the winner is...

Christiaan Groenewald of Eagles Cliff/New Cape Wines, Winemaker of the Year 2017 for his 2017 Pinotage

It was then served to us to go with our main course. It is an old style Pinotage, in a screw cap bottle, with rusty nails, some spice and banana bread, initially soft on the palate with lactic notes then prunes, sharp mulberries and rhubarb, and a rather bitter (wood?) end. Over the course of the evening, we had some more wine from four different bottles poured for us and some different characteristics appeared. The wine does change in the glass, and it did go well with the food. We had three winemakers at our table and a senior member of the wine trade, so there was much discussion. The 2016 is described in the latest 2018 Platter as "Unoaked, juicy, rounded, very fruity & moreish. A fun wine for early drinking" 3.5 stars

The main course of lightly spiced springbok loin which, we surmise, had been marinated in buttermilk, so was tender. Served on a lake of parsnip and potato purée and a very sharp tomato ratatouille and sour plum, baby carrots and a little lamb jus. Were they matching the flavours to the Pinotage? Sadly, it was stone cold. They were feeding a very large audience

The judge for the winner of the social media tweet of the evening gives his result

The winner of the social media tweet of the evening getting her reward which was a signed bottle of each wine, which she is not permitted to sell. We managed to send out just one tweet before all the others were lost, the WiFi was completely overwhelmed as so many social media messages were sent out. The competition trended #1 by 10 pm

The winners pose with last year’s winners

Time for dessert. a jelly topped panna cotta with some berries, a wonderful pistachio ice cream and a very chocolatey mini macaron. Could have eaten three of those with ice cream and been happy

The winners with judge Carrie Adams, director of Norman Goodfellows. The band was beginning to play. And then our carriage was at the door to drive us home. A really great memorable evening

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Thursday, November 30, 2017

The annual Street Smart Awards ceremony

Lynne spent several years of her (long and varied!) career working for two charities in London, so she has a special place in her heart for NGOs that make as much difference as StreetSmart. You may notice, when you dine out at good restaurants, that you have the opportunity to add R5 to your bill which goes to StreetSmart to support homeless children. They have been very successful indeed this year and your generosity has contributed R1 120 000 to this worthy cause. We were invited to the annual presentation of this money to the various NGO's they supportThe event was held at the Silesian Institute in Somerset Road, Cape Town and was well attended

The event was held at the Silesian Institute in Somerset Road, Cape Town and was well attended

MD of StreetSmart Melanie Burke told us an important fact; every penny you donate via the restaurants goes direct to the recipients. The organisation and its sponsors raise all the money needed for administration, salaries and infrastructure separately. This year the total donated by the R5 addition in restaurants raised was R1 120 000. They fund 31 programmes which individual aim to prevent, to cure, to educate and to get the children back into society

These are the certificates which go to the top restaurants for their contributions

The childrens’ choir sang us two songs, both à capella (unaccompanied by music or instruments). They do have the member who beats time on a djembe drum. They sang ‘Judgement Day’ and a moving song called ‘I know who I am’. And they do have potential. However, we feel they so need some musical support and hope one of our readers will be tempted to volunteer to assist. A pianist, a guitarist or a band would give them a much better range of notes and rhythm. You can see how some of them love to sing, aided by their choir master. They so need some joy and fun in their lives as they rediscover their place in society

Margi Biggs, who started StreetSmart 12½ years ago, did the draw of lucky numbers; a number of prizes had been donated. She told us how the organisation was growing. First they get a representative in a town, others join and then they form a group. Some accommodation partners are coming on board, like the Cape Town Backpackers and François Hayden with his "Farm for Real"

Then it was time to hand over the cheques to the Agencies working with the street children. If you are interested in what they do, we have put in the links to their organisations. R90 000 to Cape Town Multi Service Centre.

Sue Birch, a Trustee, presents a cheque for R90 000 to Home from Home

Caroline Bagley, owner of Savoy Cabbage restaurant and a Partner, presented R90 000 to Learn to Live

Margie Biggs handed a cheque for R90 000 to Ons Plek (Our Home) which is a place for girls

R90 000 went to T.L.C. Children's Home

and another Cheque of R90 000 went to School of Hope Centre for Education Innovations

Caroline Bagley, who is a partner, told us a moving story of a donation from one of her regular customers who wishes to remain anonymous. He was celebrating with a large group of friends at Savoy Cabbage as they were all off to Antarctica and has made very big donations before. This time his donation was for a staggering R40 000! "It is the right thing to do", he said and everyone cheered. She said it is so great to collect these donations and then see how they are used

We then heard from this brave young lady who has come from the School of Hope. She shared her story of what it has done for her. At 13 she was on the street and addicted to Tic (crystal meth) and uncontrolled. StreetSmart has provided her with schooling, counselling, given her many chances and she is doing her matric again, even though returning to school was very difficult for her. "Education" she says, "is my stepping stone"

Chef Richard Chamberlain of Out of this Planet Caterers donates his and his staff’s time and the food to StreetSmart events

The event's sponsors

Certificates were presented to some of his staff for their individual contributions

Angelo Casu who runs Grand Dedale Hotel in Wellington with his wife Tina, took part in this year's Cape Epic cycle race and raised R35 353 for StreetSmart. He has also donated his racing sweater to them. He will be doing the same next year in the 2018 Cape Epic. And what an epic that cycle race is! He has called on you to help sponsor him and his cycling partner Johan so that he can raise even more money for them this year. You can find him on Facebook or Linked In

Here presenting his donation to MD Melanie Burke

Time for some wine

And some canapés - sundried tomatoes on goat's cheese

Salmon mousse topped with capers

Tuna and salmon ceviché topped with sesame and soy mayonnaise

Tiny filo tarts with olives and cream cheese

And outside, mini gardens developed by Francois Hayden; how to produce sustainable produce and feed people in a small space

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Friday, November 24, 2017

This Week’s MENU. White Blends, Platter 5 star brandies, “Finer Things in Life” Champagne Affair, Bientang’s Cave, Wine & Recipe of the week

This has been a rather interesting week with some quite different functions to attend. We had a short but welcome break at the weekend at De Kelders and have now re-entered the week running. Welcome rain over the last two days and nights has filled our 'water tank' almost to the rim and the fish are very happy indeed

And to our many American friends and readers, we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving celebration

WineMag 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

Tasting Distell’s Platter Five Star brandies

What a great invitation and they promised that a special canapé menu had been created to pair with the four award winning potstill brandies, while Van Ryn’s Master Distiller, Marlene Bester, would be on hand to guide us through the tasting.

Wine Concepts “Finer Things in Life” Champagne & Sparkling Wine Affair

We love this annual celebration of Champagne as it is a real opportunity to taste the top Marques of French champagne and not pay a fortune for a tiny taster. This year there were also lots of Cavas and Proseccos and a Lambrusco or two as well. It is the 16th year this event has been held at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands.

Lunch at Bientang’s Cave We stopped off in Hermanus to do our Christmas dinner shopping at Woolworths; they have good gammons and then could not resist a walk along the front to see if we could spot any whales, but they were absent all weekend. As we finished our walk, we realised we were a bit peckish, so we went down the (new and no longer so steep!) stairs to Bientang’s cave, one of our favourite places in Hermanus for a quick seafood meal and a sensational view. We were given a table so close to the water, it was marvellous, but still no whales.

What’s on the MENU this week: Asparagus Quiche

Lynne made this to take with us on our break in De Kelders with vegetarian friends and it was very well received. The rich cheese pastry is a doddle to make in a food processor. We used very large asparagus spears and didn't cut them up. You might wish to. We also put them in raw; you could steam them for a minute or two or even use a large tin of asparagus if you want to make this out of season. It does make a very large quiche. Be careful with your pastry when you line your tin, so there are no cracks or leaks (it has happened to Lynne.) As a precaution, wrap it in aluminium foil. Or just use a large ceramic quiche dish.

Pastry: 140g plain flour - 85g cold butter, cubed - 85g good mature cheddar cheese - (optional) 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper - ice water

For the filling: 6 eggs - 225 ml cream - salt and white pepper to season - 100g cheddar - 300g fresh asparagus spears, washed and dried

Put the flour in a bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the grated cheddar and cayenne and mix. You can do this quickly in a food processor. Add 3 tbsp cold water and mix until the pastry forms a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 10 minutes while you prepare the asparagus.

Snap the hard bottoms off the asparagus spears - you can freeze the bottom pieces to make asparagus soup later

Heat oven to 160ºC. Butter a 20cm x 5cm deep loose-bottomed tart tin, or a 35 x 12cm rectangular tart tin. Dusting your surface with some flour, carefully roll out the pastry and line the tin. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes, then blind bake the pastry case, first lining with baking paper, and filling with baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, and return the pastry case to the oven for more 10 minutes. Remove and cool.

In a jug, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the cream. Season. Sprinkle half the grated cheese over the pastry case, then add the asparagus and egg mix. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese (if using a rectangular tin, you may not need all the mixture, so add it gradually). Bake in the lower half of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until it is just set. We had this with a butternut, beetroot and creamed goats cheese salad and a bottle of Vondeling Chenin blanc

MENU's Wine of the Week. Olifantsberg Blanc 2016

A blend of Chenin, Chardonnay, Roussanne and 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 both the nose and palate. Showing so well with more of everything than most of the other wines in the competition; it went very well with food too.

Price: R165. It scored 93 points in the recent WineMag.co.za Cape White Blends Report

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