Thursday, February 13, 2020

Harvest Celebration at Jordan wine estate, Stellenbosch

We were invited to this week's Jordan Harvest Lunch for trade customers and media
A very welcome drink was their Chameleon Rosé, made from Merlot and Shiraz; beautifully cool on a hot summer’s day
So nice to see Kathy Jordan here for the harvest. Gary will be arriving from their English property soon
Next to Kathy is Jacques Steyn CWM, the MD of Jordan Wines
Robert and Cathy Badela, owners of Just Badela restaurant in Soweto, Johannesburg
When everyone had arrived, Kathy told us a little about the harvest and what we would be tasting in the cellar
Apparently the Assyrtiko vines planted last year are doing very well. Lunch would follow outside the new Tasting Room
She also told us how their Chardonnay and Pinot (noir & meunier) vines were doing at their Mousehall vineyard in East Sussex;
they have grown well but slowly - the climate is very different from Stellenbosch
They will be returning to prune them soon and it will be a few years before they get their first crop
Some just harvested Chardonnay grapes for visitors to taste
Into the spotless wine cellar
Jacques explains that we will be tasting juice from just pressed grapes, juice that has just begun fermenting
and juice that has been fermenting for a while, including some newly released 2019 wine that is about to be bottled
We really like this sort of tasting; it is extremely educational and also gives one a view
of what the harvest has been like and what it will produce
Winemaker Sjaak Nelson takes us through the juices and the wine
We began with a tasting of the new 2019 Outlier Sauvignon blanc. 60% has been in barrel. Lots of pepper and green pyrazines
on the nose, clean crisp citrus and green pepper notes on the palate; very refreshing
The yield of Jordan grapes this year will be lower because of the climate, but are of very good quality
Time to taste the juices and wine. First, a Sauvignon Blanc base wine from filtered lees showed just what we expected to see
It needs time but will be a classic Sauvignon Blanc. Then some sweet fizzy juice, just beginning to ferment. This was lovely
Pouring out some tastings of the fermenting juice
Then a Fermenting Sauvignon Blanc from the tank. 2020 grapes harvested two weeks ago. Showing beautiful flavours of grape,
citrus and green pepper. It has a residual sugar level of 170 gm/l and has just begun fermenting
grapey, with grey notes and some cherry flavours! Everyone had lots of questions for Jacques and Sjaak
The fermenting juice is very yeasty, of course, and you must not swallow or you will also start fermenting
Buckets were provided for spitting out the fermenting juice
A happy winemaker. Sjaak Nelson has been with Jordan for 20 years
They use Vin 13 and Vin 7 yeast which has a nose of sweaty feet
Some retort vessels were passed around so we could smell it
Christian Eedes, editor of Winemag.co.za, has a go
Marketing Manager Thea van der Merwe 
The different juices in various stages of fermentation. We tasted the 2020 Chenin Blanc which has Vin 7 yeast
It has sherbet on the nose, orange lolly, granadilla and real lemonade flavours in layers, and an r/s of 250. Exciting
Then some Sauvignon blanc grape juice which was racked that morning. Yeast had not yet been added
This was from the highest vineyard on the farm. It was redolent with fresh ripe figs on both the nose and the palate,
lovely flavours and very sweet juice with a residual sugar of 220, so it will ferment well
Um ... are you in the right place? Trinity Brits and Sebastian Phiri of Gorgeous George restaurant in Cape Town
And we met this year’s Interns. L to R:
Winemaker Hendrik is the only local and he is from Somerset West; he is the son of Bertus van Niekerk of Osbloed wines
and has done harvests in Oregon in the USA, Eikendal & Lourensford
Then Hugh, from Leicester in England, has done harvests there and quit his job to come and do the harvest here
Libby, sommelier and winemaker from Brno in the Czech Republic where her parents own a vineyard and a restaurant
and finally Sarah and Pete from Lancashire, who have been travelling and have worked in Oregon and then New Zealand
Winemaker Wade Roger-Lund introduced them to us
and told some funny stories of what happens during harvest and power cuts
Then it was time to head down to the Tasting Room for lunch
Two long tables set in the shade of the trees and a couple of umbrellas. It was warm but not too hot
Like the T shirt!
The menu. The food was served family style on the tables for us to share
Freshly baked vegetable focaccia and a good Cape seed loaf with a compound butter in the centre
Excellent bread and very moreish
Italian Coppa ham and Salami Napoli. The menu said biltong, but we think it must have been in a dip?
The cheeses were local Camembert, Brie, Stanford and Boerenkaas, served with dried fruit and a beetroot & orange chutney
Kathy Jordan's own black olives, tiny jars of garlic aioli, and a picante pepper spread
Didn’t see the Thai chicken paté at our end of the table
The fire-charred fresh pineapple slices in a honey and lime dressing were superb
Smoked sliced chicken on top of a 'jewelled' Tabbouleh salad with roasted nuts and a citrus dressing
And with coffee, and a pot of mint tea for Lynne, came some irresistible petit fours. Slices of pecan pie, fresh fudge,
a very good sharp lemon curd tart and an astoundingly good salted caramel tart topped with chocolate
We drank a selection of good Jordan wines, the Real McCoy Riesling, Outlier Sauvignon, Inspector Péringuey Chenin blanc
and two red wines. Just a lovely relaxing summer selection of food and wine
Customers of The Bakery restaurant were enjoying their food and wine from that restaurant’s menu on the deck
Or you can treat yourselves to a gourmet meal at top chef George Jardine at Jordan
booking is essential at this time of year. https://www.jordanwines.com/dine-with-us/
Thank you, everyone at Jordan, for a great Harvest experience
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Posted by MENU at 6:08 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Tasting wines in the Eagle's Nest, Constantia

A green and peaceful Eyrie. We visited Eagle’s Nest in Constantia this week on a beautiful summer morning. It is high on the Constantiaberg, next door to Constantia Glen on the way up to Constantia Nek. We had not been for a few years and, in the interim, talented wine maker Stuart Botha has departed for Tokara and Duran Cornhill has taken over as winemaker. A graduate of Stellenbosch University, he has worked at top international producers in Bordeaux and New Zealand. Duran started his career in the valley as the assistant winemaker of Klein Constantia, This will be his third vintage at  Eagle’s Nest and his wines are now for sale in retail outlets and in the tasting room. We were impressed. Martin Meinert has been consulting since 2001
The farm has been owned since 1984 by the Mylrea family. In 2000 the farm suffered a devastating forest fire and they lost all of the natural fynbos vegetation and protea plantings, as well as approximately 95% of their forest. They then decided to plant grapes and focus on wine. They have also invested in extensive replanting of the natural fynbos. They have very steep East, West and North facing slopes and it is the steepest commercially farmed land in the Cape region, if not in all of South Africa. Constantia is only 10.5 km from the coast and benefits so much from the sea breezes which help to cool the vineyards, and allow for slow, steady growth and ripening
We sat on the shaded terrace, just outside of the tasting room, and had a lovely view of tall, tall trees above us, with the wind whispering through them, beautiful birdsong, and it was rather Zen, so peaceful and green. They have much more seating than when we last visited and room for many people, who come and picnic on the lawn as well. They do platters and you can see the menu here. Sadly, they don’t give prices, so you will have to phone the farm. Also, they say PLEASE NOTE ALL PLATTERS & EXTRAS NEED TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY  EAGLE’S' NEST WINES, naturally. Wine tastings cost R75 per person
Some specials on the black board
A view of the garden and the shaded seating with the pine trees behind
The view from the garden of the tasting room and terrace
The singing pines. If you are a birder, this is a place to visit. We think that we saw an eagle and we heard unfamiliar birdsong (to us!) which the staff could not identify either. They are very involved in the preservation of the rare Verreaux's eagle on the adjacent Table Mountain National Park
A woman of many talents and lots of knowledge of the  Eagle’s Nest wines; Shirley Vephile was charming and guided us seamlessly through our tasting of their five current wines. She managed to answer all our difficult questions. Sadly, the winemaker was not available to talk to us; we were told that he was harvesting. The harvest has begun in Constantia, as we discovered when we visited Buitenverwachting and tasted with cellarmaster Brad Paton last week. We shared a tasting, as we'd come to taste, not to drink!
The current wine list, with prices. They do sell the wines by the glass for enjoyment on the farm
Three of the wines are available in Magnums (double bottles) always useful for dinner parties or celebrations
We began with the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc. Eagle’s Nest does not grow Sauvignon Blanc, unlike many Constantia farms. It is one of the iconic Constantia varietals. The grapes are bought in from Darling and Durbanville and show all those great regional characteristics. Grassy green pepper pyrazines, a hint of salty minerality, floral with granadilla and guava notes on the nose. Smooth & warm on the palate with lots of granadilla and pineapple flavours, a good sugar acid balance too. Unwooded, the wine ends with good green pepper flavours. R115
We were very impressed with the 2018 Viognier; it is right up there with some of the very best in South Africa. Not heady and blousy, as some are, but elegant and refined with the perfume of jasmine, nectarine and apple. Lovely rounded palate, with lots of white peach and nectarine in layers. It has spent 6 months in older French oak barrels which have left just a hint on the end palate. Quite a sexy wine. R185. This is a 4.5 star wine in the Platter Guide
The 2017 Little Eagle Red is a blend of 75% Shiraz and 25% Cabernet Franc. We were told that it is their entry level red. It used to be a Bordeaux Blend, but Duran has changed to this warmer blend. Rich and complex on the nose, with spice, pepper and meaty notes. Soft on the palate initially with salty licorice and spice, then chalky tannins appear. Long, rich berry flavours and warm at 14% alcohol. While it is still quite young, this wine has all the components to develop into something very interesting. So it might be worth putting some away for drinking in three or four years. There is a hint of wood on the end. Good value at R125
The 2015 Merlot has had 8% Cabernet Franc added to it. It spends 18 months in French oak barrels; 40% new, the rest in second and third fill. Classic cherry merlot with incense wood on the nose. Richness, berry fruit and spicy wood and then the cherries arrive, filling one’s palate with deliciousness! It still has good acidity and needs some time to open up; decanting will be useful. Balsam, herbs, especially thyme, and chalk on the end palate. R185. This is a 4.5 star wine in the current Platter Guide
The final wine was the 2015 Shiraz, priced at R285. When it was launched, it was the first screw-topped wine we sold at more than R100 per bottle, but that was 15 years ago. Spice and dark Morello cherries on the nose, then in come blackcurrant, blueberries and a savoury hint of smoky bacon from the wood - the wine spends 20 months in 40% new French oak. Round, with intense fruit on the palate, it shows better on the palate than on the nose. Juicy berry fruit, licorice, black pepper, turmeric, dark oak and some salty minerality, with white pepper appearing on the end. This is deservedly a 4.5 star wine in the Platter Guide and was one of the Top 12 SA Shirazes in competition
Thank you Eagle’s Nest and, especially, Shirley Vephile who gave us such kind hospitality and attention
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All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 11:38 pm 1 comments

Thursday, February 06, 2020

This Week’s MENU. Meze lunch at Mykonos, Buitenverwachting, Tzatziki, Buitenverwachting HusseysVlei Sauvignon

The Cape water lily, Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea, is South Africa's most commonly grown indigenous water lily. This is in our koi pond

The harvest is active, more in the warmer areas than in cooler climes. Some warm areas have finished picking some varietals, others have picked for the bubbly, but are still a week or two from picking for the still wines. With all that activity, it has been very quiet on the PR front, but we can report on an interesting, new (to us) restaurant and one of our favourite, and one of the country's oldest, wine estates
In the 17 years since we started writing about our activities, we have published thousands of photographs

A portfolio of the best of these is building on a new website: https://JohnDuncanFord.youpic.com/
Have a look. We hope you’ll enjoy them
Vegetarian friends told us that they have been going to Mykonos in Camp Bay and how enjoyable the food was there, so we decided to meet them there for lunch last Saturday. Apparently it started as a take away, as they did not have serving staff, but that has changed and the staff are lovely and helpful and certainly have got the Hoppa! and other Greek phrases going. It is behind the PicknPay centre, right next to CodFather on the corner of Camps Bay Drive and The Drive. There is parking available in the area, in the centre in front, but definitely not on Beach Road!  Read on…
We discovered that it had been three years since we last visited Buitenverwachting in Constantia, so an invitation from Cellarmaster Brad Paton to come and taste some of his wines with him was gratefully accepted. And very much appreciated, as he is in the middle of what looks like a successful harvest. The farm Buitenverwachting (it means beyond expectation) originally formed part of the Constantia Estate, which was founded 1679 by Simon van der Stel, the first Governor of the new Dutch Cape colony. Buitenverwachting as a separate entity dates back to 1769. It is owned by the Mueller family and Lars Maack, son of Mrs Christine Mueller, is joint owner & the Managing Director.  Read on…
Tzatziki is easy to make and goes well with Greek food like souvlaki or with pita bread on a meze platter. Dill is traditional in Greece but not always easy to find here. Read on…
Hussey's Vlei Sauvignon Blanc has long been a favourite of ours; from a single vineyard, it is intense, with green peppers on the nose, and flinty. Crisp and beautiful, it charms. Cool at first, then intense clean flavours of green peppers appear with elderflower. 4½ stars in Platter, 93 points for the 2018. R180 from the cellar door



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Posted by MENU at 8:55 pm 0 comments

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Buitenverwachting HusseysVlei Sauvignon Blanc 2019

HusseysVlei Sauvignon Blanc has long been a favourite of ours;
from a single vineyard it is intense, with green peppers on the nose, and flinty


Crisp and beautiful, it charms. Cool at first, then intense clean flavours of green peppers appear with elderflower
It is unwooded, but has a hint of gun smoke, from the terroir
4½ stars in Platter, 93 points for the 2018. R180 from the cellar door
Posted by MENU at 5:53 pm 0 comments
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