It
was all about the views. Oh and some restaurants. And of course wine. We took
our Dutch friends to Franschhoek this week, at their request and showed them
some beautiful wine farms, good restaurants and amazing views on the trip. And
we tasted a few wines and had lunch. They are looking for a special restaurant
to celebrate a birthday next month.
We began at Glenelly as our friends had seen our post
about it last week and were keen to see this beautiful farm in Ida's Valley. It lies at the bottom of the Helshoogte Pass in front of the Simonsberg.
They were very impressed
Then it was up to the top of the pass to Delaire
Graff, where they admired a different view of the same mountain and the
vineyards in front. We bumped into the winemaker Morné Vrey who is in the
middle of his harvest, saw the amazing jewels, the art and sculptures and
looked at their menu
Franschhoek was shimmering in the heat and we made
our way to Mont Rochelle which also has lovely views across that valley
We headed for the Country Kitchen in the old house
next to the winery, as it was time for lunch. They do have a fine dining
restaurant Miko, at the hotel
You can have picnics in the vines there (they must
be booked beforehand) and we did see some folk heading that way with the large
picnic basket. Others were braving the heat and eating on the terrace
We headed inside for the coolth of the old
building, and the good blasts of air from the roof fans
This is the tasting room area
Bread and butter was brought to the table
The menu has something for everyone, but is not
very exciting. We were a little surprised at the prices, as it was much more
reasonable the last time we visited, but it seems they have upped their game. Good
to see them supporting SASSI - using only sustainable fish
Three of us decided to go for the Beef hamburger
(it can come with a chicken breast instead) and it was a very, very good choice;
it is a hamburger like no other, royalty in the genre. Not something Lynne has
often but this was probably the best burger she has had for years. They cost
R170
The Angus beef is roughly minced, has great
flavour and is not filled out with anything. We all asked for them to be cooked
medium and they were rather rarer than that in the middle but it was fine, the
beef was so good, it was like eating a good beef tartare. You can of course ask
for well done. The sesame bun comes drenched in creamy mayonnaise, cheese, a
large slice of tomato, slices of pickled cucumber, rocket and marvellous crisp
and crunchy fried onions. And as an extra a small pot of sliced mushrooms
cooked in a creamy sauce that tasted as if it had brandy in it. The icing on a
great cake, if you love mushrooms. Lynne got John's! Most of the buns were set
aside as we tackled this moist flame grilled burger with gusto. However the
chips were very disappointing as they came 'slap' not crisp, something many
South Africans enjoy, but we detest half cooked limp oily chips. We had asked
for crisp chips and when we mentioned this to the manageress she quickly
brought us a large bowl of good crisp chips to share. Thank you!
Yvonne ordered the fish cakes which she said are
full of fish, not padded out with potato. They were served on a radish and
celery salsa, wild rocket, a tartare sauce, caper berries and pickled cucumber.
R165. A substantial dish for a small eater, she took a doggie bag of two home
with her
We didn't order a bottle of wine, instead we did
the wine tasting. with lunch. The very well trained sommelier Natania served us
and gave us all the information we needed about the wines. Her knowledge impressed us and she told us that she has passed WSET 2 and the Cape Wine Academy exams. We opted for two of
the 5 wine flights at R75 per flight and we shared. 5 Wine Flight – R75 per
person
Mont Rochelle Little Rock Blanc 2015. A wine we
all liked while it was chilled. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay,
Semillon and Viognier. They all show up individually and then get together. So
the nose is most dusty full Semillon, Guavas from hot country Sauvignon Blanc,
then the Chardonnay arrives crisp and clean with limes, and the Viognier brings
the peach and melon. A slight bitterness on the end from perhaps one component
that has a lot of wood
Mont Rochelle Sauvignon Blanc 2017. This lovely
Sauvignon needs less chill for the characteristic green leaves, peppers and
figs to reveal themselves. As it opens up on the palate, apples and English
gooseberries show well. A food wine
Mont Rochelle Chardonnay 2016 has toasted brioche
on the nose, and lot of wood on the palate. Limes, lemons and apricots from 4%
viognier which is added.
Mont Rochelle Little Rock Rouge 2014 a Bordeaux
blend, is almandine garnet purple, has a lovely nose, red berries and
unexpected complexity. Juicy with warm alcohol, with sweet cherries and berries
Mont Rochelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Classic
cassis driven Cabernet on the nose. Some wood hints on both nose and palate.
Some green tannins and cassis leaves
Mont Rochelle Syrah 2014 Pepper and spice on the
nose full of red and black fruit, warm alcohol and dark coffee chocolate wood
On the terrace
The girls needed to do some quick shopping in town
so the lads dropped them and went off to Le Lude to taste some of their
renowned bubbly. Very French Empire in influence, this is the tasting room
The glass floor gives one a sight of the bottles
in the pupitres, slowly being riddled to get the lees to the neck of the
bottles
Impressive chandeliers ...
.... and impressive Bubbly
Time being a little constrained (we'd been given half an hour) we elected the most simple tasting, the Brut NV and Brut Rosé, priced at R90. Le Lude's wines are different in that the second fermentation happens under cork, rather than the more common crown steel cap. The Brut is still a little young, but has light yeasty flavour over gentle citrus and a a refined bubble. The Rosé is more of a cocktail party wine, ripe strawberry flavour giving an impression of sweetness while it is still bone dry and a good, energetic bubble
Our final farm was on the way home. Glen Carlou
also has a great view over the vineyards looking towards the Paarl mountains. We
were ably served by Zayne Smith, another WSET graduate. He has attained Level 3. It is very encouraging to see how many people showing the wines on wine estates are being given this training
It was very hot in the afternoon so we sat on the
shaded balcony and tasted five wines. We began with the Unwooded Chardonnay
made in a ceramic egg. It has the reductive characteristic that one would
expect from wine made this way
Then the newly released 2017 Curators Collection Chenin Blanc which blew our
minds. Wow. This complex wine plays a tune on your palate - we foresee lots of
awards for this vintage. It is an absolutely delicious rendition of what we
would like Chenin to be. Wood shows on the end but Pianissimo. It has flavours
of lemon, lime, golden peaches, loquats and litchi. It is our wine of the week
and yes we did buy some
The 2015 Pinot Noir with roses, violets and
cherries on the nose. Soft fruit with some fresh fruit acids, lightly wooded with
some chalky tannins. Needs more time, this could be a 10 year Pinot, built to
last
2015 Shiraz has incense wood, cherries and spice
on the nose. It delighted our Shiraz fans, Cherryade on the palate with good
fruit acids, warmth and some chalky tannins, with licorice wood on the end
These friendly Barn Swallows were perched on a
wire above us
We saw them in Germany last May and are amazed at
such a small bird's ability to fly between continents
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
