Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Harvest Day at Lanzerac, Stellenbosch

It is Harvest time in the winelands, so we were up early to join the arranged transport to Lanzerac in Stellenbosch (for which we are very grateful) and warmly welcomed on arrival by General Manager Barend Barnard
He provided us with reviving coffees before whipping us up the mountain in 4x4 vehicles
We have known the farm for many years, but had absolutely no idea that the Lanzerac vineyards went so high up the mountain. This was the Shiraz vineyard
Fantastic, huge bunches of blue Shiraz grapes were being picked and we could join in
Just a quick explanation of how to do it from Barend and Viticulturist Danie Malherbe. We are old hands and really enjoy picking grapes
Botmaskop mountain. Their green vineyard up on its slopes on the right is the highest vineyard in central Stellenbosch, it is planted with Sauvignon Blanc at 560m above sea level
Lynne starts picking
and in the next row, Leanne “The Wine Girl” Beattie begins to fill her crate
Lovely blue grapes
Our kind helper took off leaves, so we could see where the plentiful grapes were hiding. Apparently the size of the grapes is down because of the lack of water, but the quality is up. And he carried our full crates to the tractor
Now that is a huge bunch
Full crate, NEXT!
It was very hot indeed and it was time to go back the cellar
This is one of the professional pickers, they are so fast!
Views over the Stellenbosch Hills and Stellenbosch
A very empty dam
A tractor bringing the grapes to the cellar for pressing
Pinotage grapes from a bush vine
Looking down the rows
Botmaskop
Two of the names of older vineyards, either side of the road
Hand sorting as the grapes come in
The cellar is buzzing with working winemakers
We were extremely grateful for these ice cold damp cloths and the cool cellar after the 34ºC heat in the vineyards
Ah, yes please, we would love a glass of the excellent MCC Blanc de Blanc Brut with its lovely citrus flavours and crisp bubbles, 100% Chardonnay
Chilling
The wines of the Keldermeester Versameling (Cellarmaster Selection): Bergpad Pinot blanc, Prof (dedicated to Professor Perold, the father of Pinotage) and Dok (in honour of rugby legend "Doc" Craven). The labels are very difficult to photograph, with embossed lettering in a white label
Three of Lanzerac's top wines: Mrs English Chardonnay, Le General Bordeaux blend and the Pionier Pinotage
Are you game to press by foot?
Winemaker  Wynand Lategan joins us for the tasting. Barend talks about the wines
 Wynand demonstrates grape pressing
Volunteers having fun
Very squishy and a good exfoliator of feet
New volunteers, who are joined by Barend
till smiling, but waiting to get into the foot bath
Juicy
More of the Lanzerac wines
Wynand then gave us some tank samples to taste. First the base wine for the MCC. It’s a good rich Chardonnay
and shares it out
Then the base wine for the Pinotage Rosé, which has lovely summer fruit
Gives Lynne a taste of his Semillon
and some for PRO Pippa Pringle
Barend gets some of the almost black Pinotage
And we get to taste the Pinotage grapes 
with the newly fermented wine. You can see the similarity
In their Vinoteque Lanzerac's famous skittle bottle. While the first grapes came from Bellevue farm in 1959, Lanzerac was the farm that made them into the first bottled Pinotage. This is from the 1992 vintage
We got to look at these old gems. No tasting sadly. The 1957 Cabernet Sauvignon
Handle with care, these wines are rare
Time for lunch, which was served on the Deli terrace under shade. It was served family style
The menu. You too can go and have this lunch
Chef Stephen Fraser had prepared us a feast. They do picnics as well. The new restaurant is being rebuilt after the disastrous fire which destroyed several buildings last year
Hopefully, it will open in a couple of months' time
Killer crisp salted potato wedges, sprinkled with cheese, so hard to resist
Snoek Paté served with Pinotage grape jelly, pickled onions and a Lavash cracker
A mixed salad with Pinotage Biltong, minted courgette slices, pink candy beetroot slices, pomegranate aruls, peppered Caciotta cheese and sun dried tomatoes
A very generous cheese board of great local cheeses, fruit chutneys, dried apricots and walnut nuts
Mini filled farm pies
Slow braised lamb, pulled and formed into patties, then breadcrumb coated and deep fried. Topped with pea shoots and mayonnaise. These were really excellent, full of rich lamb
Hot smoked trout salad
Different shaped mini pies, these seemed to have a sweet and sour filling
We were served some of the excellent Lanzerac wines with lunch
The small desserts were all made by a skilled pastry chef. A mini chocolate mousse with crisp broken meringue, honeycomb and mini choc Maltesers for texture; there was a tiny apple tart and a mini light-as-air lemon meringue tart; both had thin, buttery perfect pastry. We had these with espresso coffees
Lanzerac's main building was devastated by fire last year and is currently being rebuilt. We were taken on a tour to see what is happening. We so admire the skill of building this oak crux frame roof over the reception area, very, very specialised. This was how ships and houses were built in the 16th century, generally in England
The same reception hall, which was about to go through a makeover, when we photographed it in November 2016, before the fire made the makeover even more necessary!
They are building a new fine dining restaurant and we were taken to see the set up
There is some very sexy cooking equipment in this kitchen ...
... a chef's dream
Another nice touch, an espaliered peach tree
In one of the newly decorated suites
Lovely art
And beds the size of football fields; the bathrooms are so huge and luxurious too.
The Lanzerac Manor House, with the renovations going on. Thank you for a really lovely day. We hope to come and see it when it is all finished
Posted by MENU at 9:23 pm 0 comments

Harvest festival at Muratie Wine Estate, Stellenbosch

An annual event we really look forward to; this Harvest is worth celebrating. We had a lot of fun, as did everyone else who attended. In a very difficult year for the wine industry because of the drought, most farms are producing slightly less because yields are down and there are smaller grapes, but they are getting very good quality. The wines are looking good. However we must have rain this winter; if we don’t, next year's harvest is doubtful
Touriga Nacional grapes ready for stomping. This is a Port varietal and there was a competition to see who could stomp the most grapes and produce the most juice. Prize of Muratie Rosé
Lots of tables on the terrace, lots of umbrellas for shade or shelter from the promised rain! There was only a very light drizzle right at the end of the afternoon, sadly
On our media table, there was this great selection of things to nibble and share. Cheese and charcuterie, bread and savoury biscuits, olives, peppadews and sun dried tomatoes, a cream cheese and basil pesto, divine caramel popcorn, a chewy corn flake & raisin crunchy and really honeyed hanepoot grapes. We had bottles of the Laurens Campher white blend and magnums of the Martin Melck Cabernet Sauvignon
They had great live music, two different bands played during the afternoon
Wines for buying with lunch or tasting in the tasting room
A lovely Shiraz, vintage 2003 was available for sale for R200
People having fun and lunch
Muratie’s outstanding view of the Mountain
The media table
The food station
The very popular Butter chicken. They also had Chinese noodles with chicken and a bean burrito
Owner Rijk Melck took us on a history walk
And told us some of Muratie's colourful past and about some of the past owners. The farm was founded in 1685. Ansela van de Caab was the first woman to make wine in the Cape, she was the daughter of a slave woman who had been brought to the Cape from Guinea. She fell in love with a German soldier, Laurens Campher, who was in the service of the Dutch East India Company. He would walk to Cape Town, a three day march, to see Ansela. He was granted the farm, now Muratie, by the Governor Wilhelm Adriaan van der Stel. They were only allowed to marry after she was baptised and freed and, taking their three children, he moved his family to the farm. There they built a house and began farming. Rijk's ancestor Martin Melck bought the farm in 1763
The first house Laurens and Ansela built still stands and is now an art gallery, MOK. It features modern South African art, with an emphasis on local artists, many of whom come from a disadvantaged background
Girls having a great day. René Bampfield Duggan and Yvonne Kampmeinert Pont
In the tasting room
Ah, someone stomping grapes
with his wife
and the whole family
She won the prize
The old kuipe, concrete wine tanks, have been cut open to allow seating inside. Many people are starting to use them again, some never stopped
The cellar; Muratie is dog friendly, on the lead of course as there are farm dogs
While we enjoyed ourselves, winemaker Hattingh de Villiers and his team were hard at work pressing grapes
Taking the pressed skins out for composting
The Festival also caters for children
One of the happy staff at the end of a lovely afternoon. Thank you Muratie
Posted by MENU at 6:38 pm 0 comments

MENU's Wine of the Week. Villiera Barrel Fermented 2017 Chenin Blanc

This is the Villiera Traditional Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2017. Rich on the classic Chenin nose; on the palate it starts shyly, then suddenly blossoms out and grows in depth and fruit, showcasing just how versatile and enticing Chenin with a little wood can be
Full of golden fruit, pineapple, peach, lemon, honey, some subtle spice and with just a little toasted vanilla wood, it shows lees and some minerality. Perfect for food and so quaffable. 4 months in oak barrels, 20% new French, the rest 2nd fill, given regular batonage to the lees and fermented with natural yeast. We predict that this wine is going to win more awards; it already has two. It will age beautifully. Get some soon. R129 on the farm. Platter gives it 4½ stars
Posted by MENU at 5:32 pm 0 comments

Media preview of the Biltong and Pinotage festival at Perdeberg Winery

This year's festival will be held on the weekend of the 14th and 15th of April at Perdeberg Wine Cellar in Voor Paardeberg, easy to get to: down the N1 and turn off at the R44 towards Wellington, then left at Windmeul winery. Tickets are available in advance from www.plankton.mobi or www.computicket.com at R200 (and R230 on the gate depending on availability). You will get a wine glass to keep, and can taste 18 Pinotages that have been paired with 18 biltong flavours, which will be marked off the card as you taste them. The wine farms involved will also be bringing other wines and you can taste these as well at no charge. There will be live music, food trucks, craft beers, cheese platters and a play area for children. Sounds like a wonderful day. Dress code is purple and white. Saves having to wash out any Pinotage splashes!
First we had a briefing then a taste of some Perdeberg wines. Participating Wineries are: Badsberg Winery, Beyerskloof, Boland Cellar, Bonnievale Wines, Delheim Wines, Flagstone Winery , Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate , Idiom Collection, Knorhoek Wines, Lanzerac Wines, Mellasat Vineyards, Overhex Wines International, Perdeberg Cellar , Rhebokskloof Wine Estate, Simonsvlei Winery, Stellenbosch Hills Wines, Van Loveren Vineyards, Wellington Wines
And then a taste of the five different biltongs from Afrifoods & Butcher. All set out on the table to see how we liked the pairings. We liked the smoked biltong very much, they have plain beef, beef with some fat, chilli, Kudu and droë wors. These will be paired with the 18 Pinotages. They are moist and flavourful
There is also droewors (dried sausage)
 Pairing time in the tasting centre, eating lots of biltong
Perdeberg’s range of wines. Many are multiple award winners, especially their Barrel Fermented Dryland Chenin, one of our all time favourites and a 2017 Platter 5 star wine
Cobie van Oort of CVO Marketing, the organiser of the festival with Johan van Dyk, who is Perdeberg's marketing manager
Etienne Louw, Head of the Pinotage Association, with a bottle of his own Pinotage based Cape blend, "42"
Next we were ushered into the formal tasting room where they had some fun for us. We were given four wines: Vineyard Collection Shiraz, Pinotage, Malbec and the Rooted Merlot. We were asked to make a blend using the wines the only stipulation being that we must use 30 to 70% of the Pinotage
On the table were some of the ripe grapes and two Vleis (meat) croquettes made with biltong and potato and topped with peppadews, just in case we got peckish while working. Nice touch
The blending wines. The Malbec was our Wine of the Week on 7th March
We had a lot of fun. First you taste the component wines and then you start to blend using a small measure. We all made about four different blends. John and I tasted each other's and we didn’t make the same blend. When you have found one you really like, you make the blend in the large measure and pour it into one of the empty bottles they supplied, together with labels on which we entered our names. These were then corked and were ours to take home. (We put our two in the cellar to mature!) You also put a glass in the front of your station for the winemaker to taste. She was the judge. The winner was Elmarie Berry. Her winning blend had 30% Pinotage, 50% Merlot and 20% Malbec
Then it was time for some lunch
Each couple was served this tray of food called the Perdeberg Tapas Picnic. This will be available on the day of the festival and costs R300; it serves 2 generously. Sticky chicken wings, breaded pork belly topped with mayonnaise, Greek salads with lots of garlic, tiny chicken tacos, potato wedges (they needed a bit more cooking) and, for dessert, pannacotta topped with berry compote. A good deal
The handsome young man who runs the tasting room could easily be an understudy for Denzel Washington
Posted by MENU at 3:24 pm 0 comments

Friday, March 09, 2018

On the MENU this week. Moussaka


We haven't made a substantial dish for a while and, as we are getting ready to entertain, Lynne wanted to try out one of her old recipes. You should use minced lamb, but you can also use beef mince if the current price of lamb scares you to death. It is a rich dish so, usually, just accompanied by a classic Greek salad of tomato, olives, green peppers and feta. You can add sliced potatoes to make it go further, or just serve with crusty bread. If you add a little macaroni, it's called Pastitsio - from the Italian influence

Photo © Anne Zouroudi

Ingredients
150-175ml olive oil - 1 large onion, finely chopped - 3 garlic cloves, crushed - 900g lean minced lamb - 50ml white wine - 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes - 1 x 5cm piece cinnamon stick - handful fresh oregano leaves, preferably wild Greek oregano, chopped or 1 t dried oregano - 3 large aubergines - salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping
75g butter - 75g plain flour - 600ml milk - 50g parmesan cheese, finely grated - 2 medium free-range eggs, beaten
Heat two teaspoons of the oil in a pan; add the onions and garlic and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the mince and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes, cinnamon and oregano and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes while you make everything else. Preheat your oven at 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6
Slice the stalks off the aubergines and cut them lengthways into 5mm slices. Heat a frying pan until it is hot, add one tablespoon of the oil and a layer of aubergine slices. Fry quickly until tender and lightly coloured on each side. Lift out with tongs and put a layer of them in the base of a 2.5-2.75 litre shallow ovenproof dish and season lightly with a little salt and pepper. Remove the cinnamon stick from the mince sauce, season to taste with some salt and pepper and spoon a layer over the top of the aubergines. Repeat the layers, seasoning each as you go. Have a mince layer on top
For the topping, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for one minute to cook out the flour. Gradually beat in the milk; bring to the boil, stirring, and leave to simmer very gently for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then. You can also make a quick roux in your microwave. Stir in the cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly and then beat in the eggs
Pour over the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden-brown and bubbling

Posted by MENU at 11:43 am 0 comments

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Perdeberg 2015 Malbec

We used this wine in a blend we were asked to make this week at a function at Perdeberg cellar - more about that next week - and the wine really impressed us, again.  We have bought it previously

On the nose it is quite sophisticated and integrated, with echoes of French Malbecs. On the palate this big wine is savoury at first with salty licorice then opening to robust dark fruit, shy supporting wood and good fresh fruit acids to help it last. It made a good blending wine especially with Pinotage, adding structure and depth. Great value at R98 per bottle ex cellar

Posted by MENU at 11:17 am 0 comments
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