Thursday, July 25, 2019

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 2. Blaauwklippen

When we arrived at Blaauwklippen, we were welcomed with a glass of MCC… but, first, it had to be opened... 
One of the staff members demonstrated sabrage on a bottle of their Zinfandel bubbly to welcome us
And bang goes the cork with the top of the bottle!
And one of member of our media group also had a go, with explosive result
Snowdrops already in bloom
And we then enjoyed a glass or two of the Blaauwklippen MCC Brut 2017 made from Zinfandel,
less sugar than before in the dosage making this a nice crisp MCC
Then Marketing Manager Johan van Dyk took us on a lovely walk through the gardens
We saw the Jonkmanshuis, which is now good accommodation
The old cellar
and the old manor house, which has now been converted into a superb venue
which can be hired for business, weddings or any other family or group occasion
It is superbly decorated and finished. It has a long dinner or board room table
Four stunning bedrooms with the en suite in each room
Very spacious
Two of these old Armoires are built into the hall walls; they are fully functional
Another of the bedrooms with an open fireplace
A superb and very large modern kitchen has been installed
Another angle
and on the window, a pane that may not be touched or washed
Johan shows us a message written on the glass many years ago, using a diamond
A glass building that can be used for conferences, weddings, festivals, with a lovely view of the mountains behind
We went into the Jonkmanshuis to see the accommodation there
A nicely decorated and rather comfortable room with its own separate bathroom
Up close to the conservatory building
Amusingly, they have converted these old wine storage tanks into toilets, which would serve the conservatory building
We went inside for a tasting and to have some lunch
 This is the current price list which has details of the different tastings on offer and the wine prices
We were to taste three wines which were paired with their Bunny Chows (which is a takeaway food consisting of a hollowed-out half loaf of bread filled with a vegetable or meat curry, believed to have originated in Durban). Lynne, who had reservations and who does not like soggy bread Bunny Chows, was delighted at these and really enjoyed the pairing. You too can do this pairing at Blaauwklippen: Bunny Chow & Wine Tasting - R175 (Per Person)

Nonotsikelelo Fundakubi (known as Nono) took us through the wines and the pairing
The first wine was the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc which has pine and guava notes on the intense herbal nose. Round on the palate then crisp zingy acids. This paired well with the flavoursome Butter chicken Bunny chow, served, not in a hollowed out piece of bread loaf, but in a hollowed out herb roll. The next pairing was the 2017 Shiraz, which has spent 20 months in French oak. Initially lactic notes then lots of spice and sour cherry and rhubarb on the nose. Dry tannins, soft cherry and plum fruit on the palate, with long flavours and dark wood. This was paired with quite gamy Springbok curry in an olive and herb bread. Then for the dessert bunny chow which had berry fruit and dark chocolate topped with whipped cream in a roll with chocolate chips. And was such a good pairing with the Before and After aperitif, sweet zingy cherries and lots of warm alcohol. Perfect on a chilly day
We could also taste the award winning Blaauwklippen 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon (89% & Merlot 11%), which has spent 20 months in oak. This scored 93 points in the Winemag Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report 2019. Cherry cassis berries on the nose, with smoky bacon wood. Cassis and cherry fruit then chalk on the long well flavoured palate with a little green leaf wildness on the end
The current line up of Blaauwklippen wines with their Brandy and White Zinfandel
Judging will be taking place this week for the annual Blaauwklippen Blending Competition where wine clubs enter their blend of supplied Blaauwklippen wines. If you have a wine club you might like to enter next year. Look at the Blaauwklippen website for details of this

It is great fun to do. This year’s winners will be announced on the 18th of October

All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 5:17 pm 0 comments

A Weekend in Stellenbosch. 1. Haskell Vineyards

A great invitation from Stellenbosch Wine Routes to "Experience Winter in Stellenbosch" with them last weekend
 #StellenboschisCool
We joined several other members of the media for the first event, a wine tasting at Haskell Wines
with Armand Swart, the Tasting Room Manager
The one white and four red wines we were to taste
Preston Haskell, an American born real estate magnate, owns the farm. Rudolph Steenkamp has taken over as winemaker
(and Viticulturist) since Rianie Strydom left to concentrate on making her own Strydom Vintners wines
Each couple received a generous gift of two Stellenbosch wines from Stellenbosch Wine Routes
We began with the 2018 Anvil, a single vineyard Chardonnay which is full of golden fruit and perfume on the nose It spends 12 months in new oak barrels and has crisp lemon lime flavours, chalky tannins and just a hint of wood on the long end. The 2013 Pillars Syrah is also a single vineyard wine. Good fruit and a touch of Brett on the nose, sweet berry fruit, nice tight tannins and lots of mulberries on the end. Haskell are currently replanting many of their vines due to virus. The 2014 Aeon Syrah has a pretty fruity nose with violets and wood. Soft mouthfeel on entry, then good dark berry fruit and grippy tannins. Needs more time. They have reduced the price from R350 to R205 and it is selling out. One for your cellar? The 2014 Haskell II a blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon has lovely savoury fruit on the nose with whiffs of smoke. Mulberry and cherry fruit soft and sweet initially, chalky and grippy tannins, long flavours with licorice wood on the end. The 2013 Haskell IV has dark almost bruléed fruit on the nose with smoke on the end. Dry chalky tannins initially hide the fruit, then grape jam appears in this Bordeaux blend which was matured in in 70% new French oak
The views are so good from the terrace. It was a very cold morning
We surmise that, overnight, this fountain would have had some ice on it
The Haskell Aeon Syrah 2014
The Long Table restaurant with its outside tables. There is a roaring fire in the passageway
View over a green and wintry Stellenbosch
The green is the cover crops growing beneath the vines, which will all be ploughed in to enrich the soil come Spring
A table set for a tasting outside. We, thankfully, were inside
Time to move on to the next wine farm on our journey through cool Stellenbosch
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus


The views are so good from the terrace.  It was a very cold morning. We surmise that overnight this fountain would have had some ice on it.

The Long Table restaurant  with its outside tables.  There is a roaring fire in the passageway
View over a green and wintery Stellenbosch  The green are the cover crops growing beneath the vines which will all abe ploughed in to enrich the soil come Spring.
A table set for a tasting outside. We thankfully were inside. Time to move on to the next wine farm on our journey through cool Stellenbosch

Posted by MENU at 4:29 pm 0 comments

DGB Trade Show at the Mount Nelson

Two trade wine shows this week and they could not have been more different. The first was Douglas Green Bellingham (DGB), held at the Mount Nelson. We began as we usually do with a tasting of the MCCs from Graham Beck and once again fell in love with the Blanc de Blanc, so crisp and seductive. We chatted with Chris du Toit GEO of Graham Beck Enterprises
Kerry Kirby handles sales for Steenberg and Graham Beck and we enjoyed tasting the Steenberg Christina Bordeaux blend, the Merlot and the superb Nebbiolo with her
Kerry Kirby with Heather Poulos, Steenberg's Marketing Manager
Wow, the best way to supply food to the hungry trade that we have ever seen. They (and we) come after (and some, before)
work and need something to line the stomach while tasting wine. No elusive canapés passing in the distance,
but a well supplied table groaning with easy to eat delicious food
Pork and Pistachio terrine and good salami
The Gravadlax salmon was in a gentle herb marinade
An assortment of bread and crackers
A good selection of cheese, grapes, preserved figs and dried apricots, apple and mango
Very good scotch eggs; the sausage meat had lots of flavour
Paté
And a huge selection of dips and patés
Good Parma ham
James Gower, Premium Brand Manager at DGB (Pty) Ltd, on the Franschhoek Cellar table
We really like the branding of this wine from Franschhoek Cellars, a blend of their best wines:
The Last Elephant 2017. a Bordeaux blend of Merlot 52%; Cabernet Sauvignon 29%; Cab Franc 10%, .Malbec 9%
Great news that Boschendal winemaker Lizelle Gerber of Boschendal is soon to join Nederburg as Cellarmaster
Kathy van Niekerk and Lizelle Gerber
Why are Grandwill and Gaynor Johnson the only people sitting down? ...
... They are having their caricature done by talented Peter Mascher!
We really enjoyed these two French Quarter wines from Old Road Wines. The 2016 white is a blend of Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and Semillon; a very modern wine in South Africa as we head for warmer temperatures and these Southern Rhône grape varietals are so successful. Full, round and fruity, but with depth and so good with food. R150/R156. The 2015 red is Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, a deep dark composition of good fruit and enjoyment
On the Old Road Wines table, where they bill themselves as The Quirky Ones. Works for us!
Wayne Morris, Vergelegen National Sales Manager and Marese Swanepoel
we will be seeing Wayne Morris on the farm soon
Richard Duckitt, Bellingham winemaker, with his lovely wines
It was a dash to get round all the stands as there were so many excellent wines to sample
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 3:32 pm 0 comments

Monday, July 22, 2019

This Week’s MENU. Tops at Spar Wine Show. A weekend in the Riebeeck Valley, Meerhof Cabernet, Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

A misty winter morning landscape in the Riebeeck Valley

We are not young, physically, and we sometimes regret the loss of agility which we had in our youth. But there are compensations. We have learned many lessons which help us to avoid some of the pitfalls which life throws across our path, not that we always take note. But we do believe that age is an attitude and we have just had a weekend away which told us that we are right. We are members of a wine club. It is, possibly, the oldest extant wine club in Cape Town, and some of our members can remember its earliest days, when it was Men Only, and the dress code was jackets and ties. Fortunately, time has moved on from there; several of our members are women and we no longer insist, or even wear, ties. Each year Lynne organises a weekend away to one of our wine producing areas. We all love good wine and food and we all have a spirit of adventure. Above all, we love to get out and have fun. This week, we share our latest adventure with you and encourage you to visit places like those we have visited and enjoy them…

 But first ...
An invitation to attend the Annual Tops at Spar Wine Festival, held at the GrandWest Casino in Goodwood, was tempting. We set out at 4 to get there for the opening on Thursday and, sadly, the Cape Town traffic had us crawling very slowly and we only got there at just before 6. The 650 metres from Strand Street to the flyover took us more than half an hour due to gridlock. It is a daunting challenge to get to any event that requires central city and motorway driving nowadays to get out of town in the late afternoon and early evening…
A Riebeeck Valley weekend
Once a year, Lynne organises a trip for our wine club to a different wine district. The criteria are always the same. The accommodation must all be together, couples and singles want their own rooms en suite but it must not be too costly. This sadly cuts out several wine areas where the accommodation is sparse. There must be good wine farms and restaurants in the area and the hotel needs to offer us a good breakfast. We have been to Wellington, Robertson, Botrivier and Paarl in recent years and this year we were headed to Riebeek West and Riebeek Kasteel...
An icy morning mist kissed the whole valley on Saturday morning as we headed to our first wine tasting appointment at Allesverloren (tr. All is lost). Behind the far mountain is the Tulbagh valley, another wine area we want to visit. Amanda was waiting for us and had chairs and a table arranged in a horseshoe on the tasting room terrace…
We met Meerhof Cellarmaster Jaco Brand at the Tops at Spar wine show last week and he invited us to bring our wine club to the farm for a tasting while we were in the Riebeek area. One of the inducements was that the farm, besides having very good wines, has the best views in the valley. Meerhof was bought by Koos van Rensburg and his son Erik four years ago…
Wine farms close early on Saturdays in the Riebeek valley, so we had not made any appointments for the afternoon. We had made a booking for lunch at Bayleaf and Thyme which is in the main square in Riebeek Kasteel, but were a bit late from our superb tasting at Meerhof, which went on till nearly 2. But we phoned and the restaurant was fine with our coming late. It was actually too warm to sit at the table they had kept for us on the sunny porch, so we headed under shade…
5. Pulpit Rock
Sunday morning dawned sunny but icy cold. After breakfast we all checked out of the hotel and some of us headed to Pulpit Rock winery, which IS open on Sundays although not many people were there that day. It is just a very short distance down the road out of Riebeek West in the direction of Morreesburg with seating outside on the terrace and inside. They also have a restaurant below, but it was not open on Sunday…

made by Cellarmaster Jaco Brand. This classic Cabernet blew us away with its quality and fruit. Cassis fruit with some spice on the nose. 50/50 French and American oak has been used which adds complexity. It is a beautiful, cassis driven wine, layered with good black currant berry fruit, lovely soft tannins, and the fruit returns for a long end. We bought six immediately
One to watch, we think it is good enough to win major awards, a bargain at R95 on the farm. Do go and taste if you are in the area

This traditional Hungarian dish is just right for the cold days of winter when you want something that is uncomplicated and delicious. If you can find Hungarian paprika, that would be superb. But if it is not readily available, use a good, reputable local paprika…



PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information

Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

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 our website and ancillary works are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are often 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 email of this 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
Posted by MENU at 6:41 pm 0 comments

Friday, July 19, 2019

On the MENU this week. Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

This traditional Hungarian dish is just right for the cold days of winter when you want something that is uncomplicated and delicious. If you can find Hungarian paprika, that would be superb. But if it is not readily available, use a good, reputable local paprika
2 large onions, sliced – 2 cloves of garlic, crushed – 2 tablespoons olive oil - 1 large red pepper, sliced – 2 tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped - a free range chicken, jointed  or 4 chicken thighs & 4 chicken drumsticks - 2 tablespoon sweet paprika - 250 ml of good chicken stock - yolks of 2 eggs - 2 tablespoons of plain flour - 250 ml Smetana, Crème Fraiche or thick sour cream – salt and pepper

Fry the onions and garlic in the oil until just beginning to colour, add the chicken pieces, red pepper and paprika and seal the chicken pieces. Add the tomatoes, then simmer gently for 5 minutes to reduce the mixture. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir the flour and the egg yolks into the sour cream and add to the dish; season and simmer until the chicken is tender and the sauce is creamy and thick. Serve with rice or, more traditionally, ribbon noodles. If you want to add a little heat, add half a tablespoon of hot paprika (or a little cayenne pepper) as well
Posted by MENU at 12:50 am 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)