Thursday, May 26, 2022

The new Winter menu at Creation

A lovely invitation from Carolyn Martin of Creation wines to visit and taste their new winter menu
and to sample some of their new vegan dishes
had us heading off to the Hemel and Aarde valley recently on a beautiful autumn day

It costs R795 to experience the complete wine and food pairing
and you are welcome to request a vegan or vegetarian menu. Or go À la carte

A good beginning was a glass of their crisp Elation Cap Classique, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir,
classified as ‘Brut Nature’, because if contains only natural residual sugar from the grapes
Lemon, apple and blossom on the nose and apple, crisp, with fullness and a lovely tingle from the mousse
 This is on the À la Carte Menu, accompanying a starter...

... of one of the best sushi experiences we have had
A Buckwheat sushi roll, sprinkled with warm togarashi spice, and sea lettuce
With the soya, it is like a small umami flavour bomb and the buckwheat gives it crunch

Chapter 1: Resonance is served with the 2021 Creation Viognier
The vegetarian option is this lovely mixed mushroom terrine, served on a grape leaf with three pickled grapes
and a crisp gluten free Bratzeli wafer biscuit. They are Swiss and are made with a special iron,
much like a waffle iron, but the results are thinner

The viognier has lovely white peach aromas which follow through on the fruity but not sweet palate
It has richness and depth, balanced with crisp fruit and lovely minerality
it is a lovely wine to pair with rich food like both of these course options

The non-vegan dish is a guinea fowl and nut terrine packed full of flavour with a nice garlic hit
This is served with a gluten free glazed Mosbolletjie roll, made with the last of the must from the harvest, and a Bratzeli

The next dish was a rare treat for, although we live on a coast where Perlemoen (Abalone) is indigenous,
much of it, sadly, is poached, making it very expensive and difficult to source
On the À la Carte menu, it is paired with Creation’s 2020 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend
It arrives with a smoking ember on the plate, adding to the ambience
Served in its beautiful shell, topped with sea lettuce and samphire, and topped with lemon pepper pearls,
the perlemoen sits on a Kohlrabi mash
This elegant dish was utterly delicious and was complemented by the superb wine

and more atmosphere as you listen to the sea with a large alikreukel (giant periwinkle) shell to your ear

The Sauvignon Semillon blend is something we do very well in South Africa,
where our crisp Sauvignon Blancs and complex Semillons come together in pure harmony and sophistication,
echoing, but not copying, those of Bordeaux
Creation’s version is a classic, with Semillon showing well on the nose
and blending well with the Sauvignon Blanc on the palate; layers, full of crisp limes, lemon and well-integrated oak
Creation 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is lovely and dry, with fig leaf, pyrazine and granadilla aromas and flavours, crisp, zingy and fruity

Chapter 2: Passion - A vegan dish of Tofu marinated in turmeric in a dashi and mushroom broth with sesame, and cress

To add to the sensations, you are given half a ripe granadilla (aka passion fruit)
to taste alongside the lovely Creation Sauvignon Blanc

Lightly cured, steamed hake replaces the tofu; the fish is topped with tahini and sesame
on a bed of pak choy in the dashi and mushroom broth and a seared lime
Perfectly cooked fish, the dish is light as air and very satisfying; and a great match to the wine

Next we were presented with glasses of the four Chardonnays that Creation produces
and this does show how wonderful Chardonnay is in this amazing valley
The Estate is ethereal with a little smoke on the nose, and wonderful richness on the satisfying palate
The Reserve is a classic and has cooked apple & caramel on the nose and cooked apple and calvados with long flavours
Art of Chardonnay has fruit apple and lime dancing on the palate, crisp, ripe, dry, exciting
It has deservedly been the Wine of the Year in the Platter Guide
The Glen 2020 is named for their son
It has the perfume of apple blossom, with cooked apple and caramel and is well wooded
All the chardonnays go through malolactic fermentation and are barrel fermented
Creation is the place to discover what Chardonnay can become in the Hemel and Aarde

The restaurant is about to get a new exhibition of work by artist Kathy Robins which should be worth seeing
 Through a series of sculptures, works on paper, as well as installations presented throughout the Creation Wines Estate,
Re-turn invites the visitor to pause and consider the deep connections to the landscape around them

Phillip Marais, restaurant manager is always to helpful and friendly. He is organized!

Carolyn Martin sat with us throughout the tasting of the food and wine and explained the menu and their philosophy
They understand the need to provide plant-based food and food that caters for allergies, health and welfare
 And Chef Eleanor provides it in such adventurous and delicious ways
Carolyn's husband, JC Martin, the talented cellarmaster, was away the day we visited
It has been a long, slow harvest this year with great results promised

And the next course on the Wine and Food pairing menu Chapter 3: Innovation, goes with the Reserve Chardonnay
Pork belly topped with crisp fried noodles, on a rich celeriac purée, with pickled apple and lemon gel
picking up all the flavours of the wine so well
As Carolyn says, “Everyone needs a little magic in their lives" and courses like this do conjure it up

The skill of the sommelier! 

Time for the four much anticipated Pinot Noirs that Creation crafts
and it is a delicious tour de force of excellence
The Estate has incense wood, cherry and vanilla on the nose and mild chocolate on the palate
A classic with no faults and if we were introducing someone to Pinot Noir, we would use this one
The Reserve, from a single site, is more subtle, more reserved, hinting at things to come
Dark cherry and plum fruit; clean and long with licorice wood on the end
The Art of Chardonnay, also from a single site, has the essence of cherry, layered,
with sweet cherry fruit under some kirsch, dark toast; it is perfection
Emma's Pinot Noir (named for their daughter) has perfume, pretty red cherry and cranberry notes and is fresh
it hints at things to come

The next Chapter, 4, is entitled Charisma and is accompanied by the Reserve Pinot Noir
Perfectly pink and tender sous vide lamb on a base of delicious barley carrot and onion risotto;
a vine leaf salsa with a lamb and red wine jus and Creation olive oil
It was one of the best lamb dishes we have had anywhere. Another perfect pairing with Pinot Noir

The restaurant entrance gallery has been greened with these hanging plants

Philip the juggler removing our tasting glasses!

Chapter 5: Alchemy. Fun with Finesse,
is a cheese platter paired with the unusual Creation 2020 Viognier Roussanne,
a wine blend found more in Northern Rhône and the much-colder region of Chignin in the Savoie AOC, known as Bergeron
The Creation wine has hints of honey from the viognier and lots of ripe fruit on both the nose and layered palate:
peaches, nectarines, limes. A lovely wine to quaff and with food

Four cheeses
Anysbos goat cheese Pecorino,
Aux fromage with a blue streak,
Tafelberg hard goat cheese and Belnori soft goat cheese
accompanied by a sesame cracker and a fruit purée
We also tasted the vegan cheese platter, which had a 'cheese' that tastes rather like humus

To accompany the rich and classic Creation Cape Vintage port style wine came a Sweet Temptation dessert served in a nest. On a soil of dark chocolate and olive oil cake is a gelato made from sweet potato, and topped with a crisp Bratzeli. It is accompanied by a rich, handmade Cape Vintage chocolate Praline which goes so well with the wine

This is the vegan interpretation of the Lamb dish, with baby beetroot the hero instead of lamb

Walter Finlayson, Carolyn’s renowned father, had come to see her and John could not resist taking his portrait
 Three generations of Finlaysons have played an important role in the Cape's modern wine industry
Dr Maurice Finlayson, a pathologist originally from Inverness in Scotland, started the family wine business
when he bought Montagne farm in the Bottelary area of Stellenbosch and renamed it Hartenberg
His sons, Walter and Peter, both contributed significantly to the development of our modern wine industry
Walter took over the winemaking at Blaauwklippen in the 1970s
and was the first recipient of the prestigious Winemaker of the Year title, winning it in 1981 and again in 1982
He bought Glen Carlou near Paarl in 1988 and built it into a premium wine producer
His son David joined him in 1994
Walter sold Glen Carlou in 2003 and switched to farming Ayrshires. David bought his own farm, Edgebaston

What a wonderful meal and experience. We thoroughly recommend that you go and try it
Such great hospitality, superb wine and food and innovation has earned Creation several noteworthy awards:
GREAT WINE CAPITALS OF THE WORLD AWARDS 2021: Most Innovative Wine Estate in South Africa and Global
 WORLDS BEST VINEYARDS (WBV) AWARDS 2019: Selected as number 45 among the top 50 wineries selected
at the inaugural 2019 World’s Best Vineyards (WBV) awards
The view of autumnal vineyards and fruit trees from the terrace at Creation
which is nestled beneath the mountain that gives the valley its name, Babylon's Tower
and, below it, heaven and earth, Hemel en Aarde

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Blackout Chinese supper at He Sheng, Sea Point

The power cuts have made life rather difficult again, especially as winter is on its way
Lynne had plans on Friday night to make a Cheese soufflé,
but the load shedding was going to be between 6 and 8.30, so no chance of that happening
We want to try and support our local restaurants who are still recovering from the lockdown shutdowns,
so decided to eat out
He Sheng is a genuine Chinese restaurant in Sea Point and we made a booking
We were the first customers to arrive at 6.30 and were told by Madame that it was dinner by candlelight
- no problems there - and that she was serving NO stir fries, just soup, dim sum and salad
Well, we like all of those, so we sat down and waited to see the menu
She can be a little abrupt with clients; she is Chinese and takes no nonsense.  But she looked pleased to see us

Aided by a head torch, we scanned the menu
and managed to take a picture of this Chinese good luck charm on the pillar next to our table

First course: a huge bowl each of won ton soup
We did add some soy which was on the table and the dumplings were very good

Second course, the seaweed salad which we love
There was a cucumber salad and a mushroom salad as well, but we don't like those, so this was a great idea

We were given a bottle of Alexandra McFarlane's Monday's Child Chenin Blanc by her father, Norman,
and this was the perfect accompaniment to our Chinese meal,
full of zesty crispness and lime and granadilla fruit
We took our own glasses (we don't like thick, shatterproof glasses) and paid R50 corkage

Next 10 dim sum pork and leek dumplings to share; they are always good
There are also pork and prawn dumplings on the menu, but we like ours with a little more prawn that they have here

and, finally, a plate of mixed meat with egg noodles
A little bland for our taste - probably catering for local tastes,
but we added soy and a tiny drip of the fiery chilli sauce on the table
The food is not blue, the colour is affected by the candlelight and the head torch we brought. 

The bill, we added R40 service charge and went home very full and satisfied
Our favourite dish here has always been the Fried Aubergine with chilli, so next time, when there are no power cuts

The photographs were taken with a Huawei P10 by available light and an LED head torch

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Wednesday, May 11, 2022

In MENU This Week - Regent St Party, Greek Fisherman, Gordon's Bay, Elgin Cool Wines



Dragon Boat practice in the V&A Waterfront

We are waiting for the winter rains but, in terms of stories to tell, it’s pouring. We are so used to inactivity, that all this buzz is a little unsettling; nevertheless, we love it. This week’s stories are around a street party in our main street on Freedom Day and the Elgin Cool Wines Festival. And we have a few stories banked for next week. We hope you’ll enjoy them all. Click on each full story’s headline, photograph or “Read on…” to open

If you think you might have missed something interesting, go to the Archive in the column on the right of our blog page and you’ll find everything we’ve published since 2010 and, please, check the advertising. That’s what pays us!

Freedom Day Street party in Regent Street, Sea Point

Sea Point came alive on our Freedom Day public holiday. Regent Road was closed off from Church Road down to Solomons Road. And it was such fun. Perhaps not for people trying to get home at 6, who had to divert to Kloof Road or Beach Road, but residents came out in droves, both during the day and until 9 at night. We decided to go at 6 and see "what was occurring". We started at the Church Street end. Read on…

Meze Supper at the Greek Fisherman, Sea Point

We feel the loss of La Mouette, the fine dining restaurant that used to occupy the lovely heritage Sea Point building on Regent Road, but are glad to see that The Greek Fisherman, which was in the Waterfront, has now moved here. The upstairs is now a separate bar. We were shown, initially, to a table next to the fountain, but moved before our food arrived, as it was dripping on us a little. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 1. Lothian

We looked back at our records and we have been visiting Elgin for their Cool Wine Festival since 2014! It is the perfect time for a wine festival, autumn is upon us and there are lovely glowing colours in the trees in this cool wine area. The programme for this year included 9 wine farms and we planned to visit at least two days. You cannot do them justice if you rush at it. So we drove up that morning to arrive at our first stop, Lothian, at 10h30. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 2. Paul Cluver

Our second farm visit was to Paul Cluver, where we had made an appointment. There were people tasting wine on the lawn in front of the restaurant and a ticket stand for people wanting to buy festival tickets. It was not very busy when we arrived, but it did fill up. Most of the people in the tasting room were not visiting the festival and had come to taste the premium Cluver wines for which there is a charge. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 3. Elgin Railway Market

We decided to pay a quick visit to the Elgin Railway Market, which is in an old apple warehouse at the Elgin railway station, built by Italian prisoners of war during World War 2. It is just outside the entrance to Oak Valley estate, and we were greeted with the sight of the historic train which had brought people from Cape Town, a 3 hour trip – only one hour by car. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 4. Oak Valley

Ancient oaks at Oak Valley welcome you at the entrance. It was a very popular venue on both days of the festival. We were greeted by beautiful autumnal shades and lots of space for picnicking under the trees. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 5. Almenkerk

Sunday morning and, after a huge breakfast at our accommodation in Gordon’s Bay, it was time to head for Elgin for our second day at the Elgin Cool Wines Festival. It is harvest time in the valley for the apples and pears that they grow so successfully, as well as the grapes. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 6. Iona

Iona is on top of a hill, on the opposite side of the valley from Almenkerk and has some of the highest vineyards. Walking past the Manor House where a special lunch you had to book for was taking place, we went to the area in front of the tasting room and enjoyed the sunshine. Four wines to taste at the festival. We began with the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, with a nose full of grass, fig leaves and green pepper. Read on…

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 7. Paul Wallace

We love finishing the Elgin Cool Wine and other festivals at Paul Wallace Wines. It belongs to our friends Paul and Nicky Wallace. Nicky has recently been ill, so we wanted to see how she and Paul were doing. It is always one of the most popular wine farms to visit. And it was good to see their son Bobby, assistant winemaker at Iona, who was helping out. Read on…

Big Skies Guest House, Gordon's Bay

We were invited to the Elgin Cool Wines festival to write about it this last weekend, so accommodation was a priority for us. Sadly our tickets arrived just the day before, when all the affordable accommodation in Elgin had been taken. So, thinking laterally, Lynne looked at Gordon's Bay, just 15 minutes down Sir Lowry’s Pass and found Big Skies, which is only two roads from the sea front. Read on…

Fish and Chips at Trawlers, Gordon's Bay

Gordon's Bay is a quiet town out of season. This was taken at 7 o'clock on a Saturday evening, so the season is definitely over. We wanted some good fish and chips for supper and we knew that Trawlers is a good place to get them. It is a legend and has been serving good seafood for years. Sadly, we were their last customers. Their only seating is on their verandah or on the chilly open air seats and tables. Read on...

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Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 7. Paul Wallace

We love finishing the Elgin Cool Wine and other festivals at Paul Wallace Wines
It belongs to our friends Paul and Nicky Wallace
Nicky has recently been ill, so we wanted to see how she and Paul were doing
It is always one of the most popular wine farms to visit
and it was good to see their son Bobby, assistant winemaker at Iona, who was helping out

Lots of folk enjoying the afternoon and sampling the wines on this outdoor stand or inside the tasting room
We had a lovely glass of the Paul Wallace Chardonnay, so ripe and layered in flavour and quality,
and so good to enjoy in the sunshine

and we met new Sea Point friends Amos and Lerato, to whom we had chatted at Iona

Paul was very busy selling cases of his excellent wines

and it was good to see Nicky on the mend. She organised the festival this year and it is a lot of work

They had a good food truck with lots of choices at reasonable prices and Lynne was feeling a bit peckish,
so she had the sliced rump steak roll. Good value and great flavours

Good music too 

Black dogs are a Wallace trademark. The Black Dog Malbec was named for Jake, the late Rottweiler
This is Angus the labrador, the new generation and he loves people

Black Dog is a ripe and ready Malbec with dark berry fruit, licorice and good wood
that just amazes each year and improves with age

The Little Flirt Sauvignon Blanc has many of the lovely Elgin characteristics;
fig leaf, freshness, zingy apple and granadilla flavours

We sat on the stoep enjoying the wine and the camaraderie,
after which it was time to head home after a great weekend
Elgin is only one hour from the city and is a wonderful place to take a break and enjoy the wines,
the scenery and the wonderful hospitality

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