Thursday, November 07, 2019

Tasting the Veritas Award winning wines at the CTICC

We love going to the Veritas public tasting of the top winning wines, held again at the Ballroom at the Cape Town International Conference Centre. It gives one a chance to taste such good wines and some very special aged museum class wines from KWV
Douglas Swanson and Righard Theron on the De Grendel stand
They were showing their impressive Double Gold 2018 Op die Berg Chardonnay and the superb 2015 Rubaiyat red blend
Graham Beck won a Double Gold for the elegant Cuvée Clive MCC
Willem du Toit, Operations Manager at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, and Bennie Howard CWM, chatting over a glass
Henk van Niekerk showing his award winning Paul René MCCs from Robertson
Winemaker Debbie Thompson pouring the excellent Simonsig, 2015 Avec Chène Chenin blanc (Double Gold)
They also won Double Golds for their 2014 Tiara red blend and for the 2017 and 2014 Redhill Pinotage. So well done
So much to taste, so little time
At 7 pm, KWV opened four special museum class wines:
a 1930 KWV Muscadel, a 1948 Tawny Port Limited Release, a 1949 Ruby Port, a 1969 Hanepoot Jerepigo
Competition to taste them was huge, getting to the table quite difficult, but it was so worth it
You were given a very small pouring to taste, enough to share with some of the wine people trapped behind their stands
The 1930 KWV Muscatel was smoky and spicy on the nose, light Gold in colour,
sweet and heavy with spice and a sour fig ending, so intense that it was hard to rinse out of the glass
The 1948 Port was dark raisin plums with smooth chocolate on the end and still tasted young
The 1949 Port was ruby garnet in colour, richer and darker than the '48, more Christmas pudding fruit,
with long flavours and coffee wood
Francois van Zyl of Laibach shows The Ladybird organic red blend (Gold)
L'Avenir was awarded Gold for their 2016 Pinotage, always a good example of what the grape can do
Gretha Geldenhuys of Fleur du Cap with their three Gold Medal winning wines:
Laszlo Red Blend 2015, Series Privée Pinotage 2016 and Series Privée Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Georgie Prout, Marketing & Public Relations Manager at Glen Carlou
They won Golds for their Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2019, Collection Verdelho 2018, Collection Red Blend 2017
and Collection Petit Sirah 2017
Johan Bestbier of Goede Hoop wine estate in Bottelary. They were awarded a Gold for their 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon
Bennie Howard calls a halt to a great evening of tasting excellent wines and lots of chats with wine people
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 11:32 pm 0 comments

MENU's UK Adventure 13. Cornwall: Falmouth, Marazion and Mousehole

We were so enjoying our Cornish holiday, but you cannot keep us still, there was so much to see
Falmouth is close to Mevagissey so we decided to visit it and several other places in one day

The view across the bay, where there are some lovely seaside houses and private boats

We decided that, if we ever won the lottery, this house would just fit the bill! Pipe dreams

It’s on a large estuary

More seaside housing above

Looking sideways from our viewpoint, we saw the dockside of Falmouth
and didn't realise then that we would be returning later in the week

Warships at the dockside
P222, HMS Forth, is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel
Named after the River Forth, she is the first Batch 2 River-class vessel to be built
She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 13th April 2018,
following a commissioning ceremony at her home port, HMNB Portsmouth

Just behind the Falmouth Naval docks with its huge crane, is this extraordinary glass building
It's the Ships and Castles Leisure Centre on Pendennis Rise

Off down the coast past the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose
It is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall, and is the largest helicopter base in Europe
Then, on the way to Marazion, the rain came down in buckets, but it didn't seem to deter the kite surfers at all

We had timed our visit badly as the tide was very much in
and so we couldn't walk across the causeway to St Michael's Mount
So near and so far.  We could have taken a ferry, but didn't like the look of the weather coming in over the sea
Originally the Cornish counterpart of Mont St Michel in Normandy, France,
it has been home to the St Aubyn family since 1659
In 1954, Francis Cecil St Aubyn, 3rd Baron St Levan, gave most of St Michael's Mount to the National Trust,
together with a large endowment fund
The St Aubyn family retained a 999-year lease to inhabit the castle
and a licence to manage the public viewing of its historic rooms
This is managed in conjunction with the National Trust

You can see the sea getting rough on the other side as the small boats arrive

The gulls love the fresh weather

Oh, those narrow Cornish lanes
Like green tunnels for some of the way, as the trees grow over much of the road and intertwine in the middle
No road markings you say? That is because they are all mostly just one car's width;
they have regular passing places (this is one on the right-hand side),
but you do rather hope not to meet too many locals who take these lanes at a fast race track pace
The driver needs to literally keep on his toes all the time, especially when you have blind bends
Not for the faint hearted or novice drivers. But they are very pretty and very ancient
This is especially so in Spring, when the hedgerows are covered in primroses, wild violets and daffodils
and a myriad other spring flowers. The woods are full of bluebells too

and then to Mousehole (pronounced Mowz’l). The origins of its modern name, 'Mousehole', are unknown,
although it is suggested that it was derived from the Cornish word Moeshayle, meaning “young woman's brook”,
while others maintain it as simply being a reference to the original tiny harbour, or to a nearby sea cave,
which resembled a mouse hole
The building in the middle, with the windowed gallery, was previously a wonderful little hotel called The Lobster Pot
John and his family had several marvellous holidays there

The harbour at Mousehole

To get out of the rain, we decided that a cup of tea and a scone were called for
John knew of a favourite restaurant, but they had changed hands and image
Suddenly, we were transported back to wartime days at the Four Teas Café
and had to look at our Ration Books to see what we could order

Good old Coleman's Mustard

Marmite  'soldiers' for dipping in your boiled egg for tea would have been a luxury in rationing
Many British children are brought up with this for their tea, before their bath and bed at 6 in the evening

A coffee for John, green tea for Lynne and warm scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam

The outside of the café

Heading back to the car

Long mooring ropes, as there is quite a tide rise and fall

Another narrow lane and green tunnel



Next: The Eden Project and Charlestown in Cornwall

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All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 10:08 pm 0 comments

Michelangelo Awards tasting at the Cullinan Hotel

An invitation to attend a private tasting of the Michelangelo trophy winners held this week at the Cullinan Hotel in town
and we were given a warm welcome and a glass of MCC
Hoopenberg's Integer MCC a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir
SO great to see and chat to Theo and Berinda Basson of Ormonde while sampling their winning wines
The Trophy for the best wine in the Museum Class to the Ormonde Theodore Eksteen 2007. It is a blend of 65% Shiraz, 35% Grenache. Huge concentration of aroma and flavour, lots of fruit and spice notes and a little wildness from the Grenache
and a very worthy winner. Sadly, only 60 bottles left in their vinoteque
25 Degrees South Distillery from Magaliesberg won the 2019 BARKER & QUIN RUM TROPHY for their Pathfinder Rum. They were showing their gin (?)

Winning wines from La Vierge in the Hemel en Aarde valley. The Nymphomane is a favourite of ours
Groot Constantia's wonderful Grande Constance dessert wine
Groot Constantia Chardonnay 2018. This impressive wine won the Chardonnay Trophy
and the Top Scoring Wine Grand Prix Award – in other words the best wine on show
Co-owner of the Michelangelo awards, Mynard Slabbert, told the story of the Awards in great detail
Lazanou was a pioneer of organic wine farming in South Africa and they were the first certified organic wines
which we sold at Main Ingredient. Still excellent
Mariëtte wines from Stofberg Family Vineyards in Breedekloof
Winning spirits. The Oude Molen brandies from Elgin
How great to see an old friend, Roger Jørgensen. Roger is the person whom we think makes the best gin
and he has mentored many good local gin producers. He does it the correct way
There are some real cowboys out there using smoke and mirrors to produce white spirit they call gin
He now lives in Kenya but still makes gin here
He won the Barker and Quin Trophy for his Procera African Juniper Gin. He uses Juniper Procera (aka the pencil tree) from Kenya
where it is indigenous and the juniper berries come fresh from the tree. The gin is classic and full of juniper and other flavours
He also uses lots of acacia honey which loses its sweetness during the distillation process, but the flavour remains
There are definite umami flavours of salty liquorice. Lynne loved it
The chunky recycled glass bottle is also made locally and makes a lovely reusable water flask when empty 
and his certificate being presented by co-owner of the Michelangelo awards, Mynard Slabbert
Johline Barnardt of van Loveren with the certificate for the Christina Mèthode Cap Classique Brut NV,
a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which won the AFRICAN CELLAR SUPPLIERS MÈTHODE CAP CLASSIQUE TROPHY
A worthy winner
Posted by MENU at 3:41 pm 0 comments
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