Thursday, September 14, 2023

Lunch at Hilda's Kitchen, Groote Post wine estate, Darling

On the way home from our Cederberg adventure, we called in at Groote Post, just outside Darling,
to taste their newly released SeaSalter Sauvignon Blanc
and also in the hope that we might be able to have some lunch there
What greeted us was the best display of Spring flowers we encountered on the trip!
We did get a taste of SeaSalter, one of our favourite Sauvignon Blancs,
which does have aromas and flavours of the sea and this year's vintage is just superb


The Groote Post winery is well worth a visit; it's about an hour from Cape Town,
a short drive from the R27 coast road, opposite Gansekraal and near Darling

The front of the gabled early 19th Century manor house

Hilda's Kitchen restaurant is in the manor house; this is a view of the entrance

The open door which leads into the restaurant

Fortunately, although we hadn't booked, Shaun McLaughlin was able to fit us into their restaurant, Hilda's Kitchen,
even though they were extremely busy and full
Thank you, Shaun and chef Debbie, your kindness is much appreciated
One lesson: Book before you come next time

The famous restaurant is named for Hildagonda Duckitt (1839-1905)
She has been described as the grande dame of Cape cuisine
She was a celebrated hostess and author of books about cooking and household management
who was born and lived in this beautiful farmhouse, which is full of artefacts from its past
Note the cedar beams in this charming dining area which accommodated a family



A sample menu

As we were having such varied choices, we ordered a bottle of Groote Post Pinot Noir Rosé to share
It's a big Rosé with lovely red berry flavours, so refreshing and is only available on the farm 

The aroma of a Sunday roast was all through the restaurant and it turned out to be Roast pork
with great crackling and apple sauce, served with baked courgettes and butternut

Lynne, who is not a fan of sweet sauces with roast meats, had her apple sauce served separately
She is converted! The crackling was perfectly crisp!

A vegetarian platter for Lolly, with sweet potato sesame seed balls,
couscous with chickpeas, roasted peppers, courgettes, fennel, fresh avo, beetroot, coleslaw  

Delicious, The Old Man's steak roll with garlic mayo and excellent hand-cut chips:
succulent medium rare fillet on a brioche bun which was too good not to eat


Hunger satisfied and a case of Sauvignon blanc in the boot, we headed for home after a wonderful weekend

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Tuesday, September 12, 2023

In MENU This Issue - CWM graduation, David & Nadia, SA Terroir Awards, Cathy Marshall Pinot, Silo brunch, Three trade tastings, Blaauwklippen Blending Comp, CWG Auction tastings



It has been said about war that it is 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror. The past few weeks have not been that bad, but life has been hectic. So many stories to edit and collate that it has been all we can do to post them on social media and now there is a bumper number of stories to put into one MENU. And we are preparing some more… We are sorry if this occupies you for too long and hope you’ll find them interesting. Click on the titles and photographs to see the complete stories


Cape Wine Masters Graduation lunch at Durbanville Hills

An invitation to attend the induction of two new Cape Wine Masters at a lunch held in the Tangram restaurant at Durbanville Hills. Tangram is a Chinese geometrical puzzle consisting of a square cut into seven pieces which can be arranged to make various other shapes. Some of the wines now bear this name. Click here to read on

David & Nadia tasting at Culture Wine Bar

A chance to taste the newly released 2022 vintage Swartland wines of David and Nadia Sadie was exciting. It was arranged at the Culture Club venue in Grub and Vine in Cape Town by Karen Visser of Great Domaines. Click here to read on

SA Terroir Awards 2023 at Lanzerac

The South African Terroir Wine Awards competition is the brainchild of Marius Labuschagne, renowned wine writer and marketer from Durbanville. It was created in 2005 to define the various terroir types of the Cape and then award specific wines as being the best examples in that terroir. The awards highlight our many different wine growing areas. Click here to read on

Tasting Catherine Marshall's Pinot noirs at her cellar

An invitation to a tasting with Catherine Marshall of her Pinot Noirs, followed by lunch, was quickly accepted. We so respect what Cathy has done in her career and really love the wines she produces. Her cellar / tasting room is on Lavinia farm, at the very top of the last hill on the Polkadraai Road, as one approaches from Stellenbosch, so there are magnificent views across toward Stellenbosch. Click here to read on

Sunday Brunch at The Granary Cafe, The Silo Hotel

The Silo building was a grain silo in the Cape Town docks. It has been adapted and hugely altered by heatherwick studio into premises for two tenants: The Silo Hotel and the Zeitz Mocaa Art Gallery.

After a fortuitous meeting at a wine tasting, we received an invitation to sample their Brunch which takes place from 11.30am to 3pm every Sunday in the hotel's Granary restaurant. Click here to read on

NT Wines and Ree Marketing trade tasting at the Pepper Club

Nicoleen Traut (NT Wines) and Riana Smit (Ree Marketing) are independent wine distributors who, between them, represent eleven farms. They are friends who work as two independents and sometimes collaborate with one another. They put on a tasting of their farms' wines at the Pepper Club. Click here to read on

40th Blaauwklippen Blending Awards

New leaves on the oaks which surround the Blaauwklippen manor house, passed as we went into the new restaurant where we would meet the five teams who were finalists this year. Two long tables held magnums of the winning wine which would be opened and served with lunch. It is always a competition to see if any of the teams recognize their own blend. The winners are announced after lunch. Click here to read on

Cape Winemakers Guild 2023 VIP Tasting at the Westin

The 2023 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild auction will take place over two days, Friday 6th of October and Saturday 7th October, at the Lord Charles Hotel, Somerset West and on line, hosted by auctioneers Strauss & Co. Click here for details

Before the evening Public tasting of this year's auction wines, a VIP tasting of the wines, presented by the winemakers, was held in the ballroom at the Westin Hotel, next to the CTICC. The wines in this year auction are really spectacular; we were so impressed. There will be one more VIP tasting just before the Auction and the wines will be available for tasting early on the days of the auction. We have written about a random selection here. Click here to read on

Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Showcase


A public tasting of wines selected for this year’s Auction, presented by the winemakers. There was a long queue of enthusiasts wanting to taste the wines, which reflected the crush inside. The venue was somewhat smaller than might have been ideal. Click here to read on

Morvino trade wine tasting at the Mount Nelson

To the Morvino Trade tasting, to taste just a representative selection, as there are so many good wines represented. We so enjoyed Rianie Strydom's 2022 Rosé made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault. It has a superb nose that draws you in to the lovely excitement of red berry fruit. Click here to read on

John Collins trade wine tasting at Auslese

John Collins Boutique Wine Collection had its trade tasting at Auslese, the events venue of chef Harald Bresselschmidt's restaurant, Aubergine, in Gardens. Click here to read on

Next issue: Clanwilliam flowers, Cederberg, Hilda's Kitchen at Groote Post



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Monday, September 11, 2023

Floral Clanwilliam

Every year we make a trip up the West Coast to see the Spring flowers which put on such a show
- one of our floral kingdoms greatest sights
We decided to go to the annual Clanwilliam Wild Flower show, which is indoors in a local church
and planned the weekend accordingly
http://clanwilliamwildflowershow.co.za/
Why? Well, the weather this year has been wet, icy and very unpredictable;
Spring has been very late arriving and spring flowers only come out in full sun
Our feeling was that we might see flowers along the way on the N7, but if we didn't, the hall would enchant
Driving to Clanwilliam takes about 3½ hours and the weather was windy with lots of scudding clouds,
so we didn't see much

This is the sensational view from the top of the Piekenierskloof Pass
The Swartland below is normally dry brown land but, this year, is a patchwork of such beautiful different greens
from wheat and yellows from the canola fields

The very traditional Clanwilliam Harvest church, the venue for the exhibition

Spring daisies

We took two good friends with us who are enthusiastic gardeners, like Lynne

It was the second last day of the show, but the hall was still impressive with floral displays from different areas, veld, mountain, semi-desert etc.

The plants taken for the exhibition are all returned to their terroir at the end of the show

There was an amazing display of proteas

and individual flowers with their names and locations; many are rare finds

Knersvlakte is a region of hilly terrain covered with quartz gravel in Namaqualand
in the north-west corner of the Western Cape Province. It has many dry land plants and succulents

Such a variety of flora and bulbs

The Cederberg mountain area, where we had planned to spend the night,
once was a verdant mountainous area where ancient  Clanwilliam cedar trees (Widdringtonia wallichii) grew
Sadly, most of them were chopped down by early settlers to provide wood for building
There is a programme to try to replant them in the wild
One initiative that is interesting is where they have taken seeds and enrobed them in a growing medium
and these are being dropped in the wilderness areas from drones to see if they will grow again
We hope it succeeds for the future generations

Beautiful flowers from bulbous plant and local orchids

Iridiceae, the Iris genus: Moraea Speciosa (bloutulp)

Gladiolus carinatus (Blou afrikaner). These are some of our most beautiful wild flowers

The sun was out when we exited the show,
so we headed off to the local Ramskop Wild Flower Carden near the Clanwilliam Dam,
which has a reasonable entry fee of R30 for pensioners

The spring flowers were all out. 
Kokerboom trees, Aloidendron dichotomum

An enormous Australian Gum tree which was planted for shade
You often see double rows of them as they bordered old wagon roads to give the travellers relief from the harsh sun

Mauve vygies (mesembryanthemum) brighten up the garden with the golden and white daisies 

This ancient Kokerboom is prevented from falling over by a large rock

"This part of the Garden was officially opened by Lady Catherine, Countess of Clanwilliam on 30th August 1991"

A rich mix of the floral kingdom leads down to the recently enlarged Clanwilliam dam

Fruits of the ysterbos, Phylica oleaefolia

Wilde dagga, Leonotis leonurus. Sunbirds love gathering nectar from the flowers

A field of bulbs still waiting to flower, many are Watsonia borbonica

Wild Dimorphotheca sinuata, also indigenous and also now found in gardens world wide

A yellow version of Dimorphotheca sinuata

This area has had serious droughts for years when the dam was dry
and the improvement of making the dam bigger hopefully will help to keep the town alive

Daisies growing in a stream, with some tiny frogs at their base

and a small dam, we could hear the frogs

Wind making lovely patterns on the water

And a pleasure boat doing the same

We saw quite few new houses on the side of the dam

A male malachite sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) in a protea tree

feeding on wild dagga

Carpobrotus edulis, known as Sour Fig (Suurvy) one of our indigenous plants, now grown around the world
Its seed pods are full of a sour, sticky centre and jam is made from them
The leaves are used for many medicinal uses

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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