Springfield Estate releases the 1997 vintage of Méthode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon

In 1997, Abrie Bruwer, owner of Springfield in Robertson, made a vintage of his Mèthode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon. When it came time to release this wine, Abrie said it was not ready. He has been cellaring it ever since, waiting for it to mature. They even went so far as to experiment with ageing 600 bottles under the sea, corks sealed with wax, for 3 years, to see if it would speed up the maturation process. Now, after all this time, nearly twenty years, they are releasing the wine. A limited quantity is available and we were invited to taste it at a new venue in Wale Street in Cape Town. We know that South African wines can age for much more than 20 years.

This small venue is called Open Wine. It is run by an Italian, Raphael Paterniti. He explained that it is based on the Italian Vinoteque, a good wine selection, and all wines available by the glass. John Collins, Springfield's Distribution Agent and Abrie's daughter Jenna Bruwer, who handles the marketing, were there to show us the wine. There were also a few bottles of the Work of Time 2010 open for us to taste as they will be changing over to this new vintage soon

Initially, the wine is intense. Cassis on the nose first, then ripe cherries, cassis leaves, forest floor and good toasted French oak. Sweet fruit opens and finishes strongly, very concentrated and strong, with dark wood on the end of the palate as it dries

Lynne taking copious notes. We also tasted the newly released 2010 Work of Time. Perfumed, with violets and wood, cherry & cassis. Soft and silky on the palate with crisp berries and extracted long flavours of cherries and pips and nice warm alcohol. There is some grippy chalk tannin, as there should be. Ready now or to keep a while longer

The story of the wine from Springfield: "Using native yeast and berries crushed before fermentation, for the first time. This wine, with the additional extraction from the crushed berries, took much longer to mature and for the hard edges to soften. Even after two years in new French oak, and four years of further bottle maturation, it was still too closed and the tannin structure too tight to be released". After that vintage, they used whole berry maceration and the wines matured more speedily. The wine will be sold in 2 packs and boxes of six. However, they will not be releasing the wine that was aged under the sea

Some of the wine selection in Open Wine. Small snack bites and signature dishes can be provided at a charge. There is some seating in the various small rooms and, if you want to eat a different meal, food can be ordered from surrounding restaurants. They don't charge corkage, they charge "foodage"

It's an old building with some Art Deco touches in the stairwell

Raphael is proud of his bread oven

The 'menu'

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This Week's MENU. Lunch at Glenelly's new Bistro, Hemel-en-Aarde Chardonnay Celebration, 2016 Diners Club Winemaker of The Year, AirBnB, Landskroon Shiraz, Pepper Steak Pie

A Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens) in a white strelitzia in our garden

Off to the country      It has been another rollicking week in the media. It has been a very long and busy media season this year, starting in May and now continuing into December, with a flurry of end of year events. So many, too many to contemplate, stretching time to include in our diary but some just have to be given priority. So it was this last weekend. We had been invited to lunch at Glenelly's new Bistro in Stellenbosch on Friday. We had also committed to attending the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year in Franschhoek. And then we were invited to the Hemel and Aarde Valley's Celebration of Chardonnay, also on Saturday, but during the day in Voëlklip near Hermanus. Could we do it all? Was travelling those quite large distances to fit it all in even possible? Well, you know we are a little crazy, so we did it. It took careful planning, two AirBnB bookings and a mad last minute dash from Hermanus to Paarl on Saturday, so please read on... or click any of the following links to look at a story

Lunch at Glenelly's new Bistro "The Vine", with a tasting of the wines

Hemel-en-Aarde Wines Classic Chardonnay Celebration

2016 Diners Club Winemaker of The Year Awards Dinner

AirBnB in Voëlklip and Paarl

MENU Pepper Steak Pie

MENU Wine of the week - Landskroon Shiraz

Coming events

Lunch at Glenelly's new Bistro "The Vine" with a tasting of the wines      Christophe Dehosse has recently opened his Bistro at Glenelly and we were invited for lunch to see what he is doing, sample the food and taste the Glenelly wines with Cellarmaster Luke O'Cuinneagain. Glenelly is owned by Lady May-Éliane de Lencquesaing who fell in love with South Africa on a visit and subsequently bought the farm. She wanted to start from scratch and aims to make the best wines the land can produce, using only grapes grown on Glenelly. She was previously the owner and manager of the esteemed 2nd growth Wine estate Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Pauillac in Bordeaux, which was sold in 2004 to Louis Roederer. She trained in Oenology at the age of 35. She is now 91 and amazing for her age. She is one of our icons

A Celebration of Chardonnay from the Hemel and Aarde Valley      South African Chardonnay has been though ups and downs in popularity and quality over the last 20 years and, thankfully, now seems to be firmly entrenched as one of our best producing noble varieties, as long as wood is used judiciously. But is it better grown in some areas of the Cape than others? We were invited to this Celebration last weekend and certainly is does shine in the Hemel and Aarde Valley with quality, great purity of fruit and finesse. Regardless of which part of the valley it is grown in, it thrives and produces great wines if handled correctly and this the valley is doing

Diners Club 2016 Winemaker of the Year Awards      Diners Club is the sponsor of this prestigious annual event and each year they set the categories of wine to be entered for the Young Winemaker of the Year and the Winemaker of the Year. This year, they asked for a red blend from the Young Winemaker of the year (under 30 years of age) and a Chenin for the Winemaker of the Year. The gala dinner and awards ceremony was held, again, at La Residence in Franschhoek. It was a sparkling evening full of anticipation, joy and celebration

AirBnB in Voëlklip and then a mad dash to Paarl and our overnight accommodation there      Lynne didn't want John to have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive to Voëlklip for the Celebration of Chardonnay at 10 am and then have to drive to Franschhoek, so we booked a tiny room in Voëlklip for Friday night. The drive there after lunch in Ida's Valley was lovely, we stopped off at the magnificent Woolworths Waterstone Mall in Somerset West and bought some picnic snacks. Then, to avoid the Friday night traffic, we drove along the coastal route to Hermanus, passing Gordon's Bay, Rooi Els, Pringle Bay, Bot River and onwards. Hardly any traffic and such a lovely road. And a simple picnic by the sea for supper. OK, the wind was blowing, so we did sit in the car, admiring the surfing and the view before an early night

You can never time the end of an event, especially if it is enjoyable, they continue and it is very hard to drag oneself away. We meant to leave the Celebration of Chardonnay at 3, after lunch; we finally hit the road at 3.30. We had booked another AirBnB in Paarl, which was affordable at R580 for the night. There was nothing in Franschhoek under R2 500 a night, so on our pensioners budget, Paarl was the best option. But the drive there is long and winding and takes you around the woefully empty Theewaterskloof Dam near Villiersdorp and, following the trail the elephants took centuries ago, up and over the magnificent mountain pass to Franschhoek. We were very stressed when we arrived in Paarl at 5.35 and had 10 minutes to shower and change (it was Black Tie formal) and then get back in the car to return to Franschhoek for the event at 6. We arrived there at 6.15

Wine of the week - Landskroon Shiraz      We have had some really amazing wines this week, not all of them are still available and some are rather pricy. This is one that impressed us a lot - we buy it and keep it for a couple of years as it improves wonderfully and is very reasonable. While we are enjoying the 2010 from our cellar, the current vintage is 2014. From the farm R62 a bottle. It is friendly, soft and spicy, full of good sweet, dark berries and goes so well with this week's recipe

The MENU Recipe of the Week: Pepper Steak Pie      Something traditional this week. This is our choice of pie flavour when we are out and about and need a quick lunch “on the hoof”. But Lynne decided to see if she could make a large one for supper during the week. Serves 4

1 kg beef steak, cubed - 1 T plain flour - 1 t flaked salt - 1 t ground black pepper - 1 large onion, chopped - 1 peeled carrot, chopped into 1/2 cm dice - 1T coconut or canola oil for frying - 3 T brandy - 1 cup red wine - 1 cup of good beef stock - Freshly ground black pepper to taste - 1 t fresh thyme leaves - a roll of flaky pastry - 1 egg yolk

Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and toss the meat in it to cover well. Brown the meat in the oil, then set aside. Add the onion and a little more oil if necessary and cook slowly with a little salt until it is beginning to caramelise. Put back the beef with any juices and deglaze the pan with the brandy, then add the wine stock, the carrot, seasoning and thyme. Add some black pepper, about a teaspoon, cook, simmer covered on the top of the stove for half an hour and then add more to your taste, some might like it more peppery than others. Turn your oven on to 220⁰C. Roll out the cold pastry into a circle. Spoon filling into a 20 to 22cm deep pie dish, grease or butter the rim. Cover the pie with the pastry. Cut a cross in the centre to let the steam escape, use a pie funnel if you have one. Crimp the edges of the pastry on the edge and decorate the top if you want to. Lightly whip the egg yolk and brush the pastry with it. Put into the oven to bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden and cooked through. Serve with creamy mash or cauli mash and lots of fresh vegetables. And a good robust red wine. The Landskroon Shiraz, for example

In MENU next week: Keermont new releases, Cap Classique Association public tasting, Springfield Lost Vintage, Woolworths Wine Event, Wine Concepts Champagne, Jordan Summer Festival and more

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28th November 2016

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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 these newsletters and our blogs are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually 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 electronic 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, please click here to send us a message.

AirBnB in Voëlklip and a Mad dash to Paarl and our overnight accommodation

Lynne didn't want John to have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive to Voëlklip for 10 am and then have to drive to Franschhoek, so we booked a tiny room in Voëlklip for Friday night. The drive there after lunch in Ida's Valley was lovely, we stopped off at the magnificent Woolworths Waterstone Mall in Somerset West and bought some picnic snacks. Then, to avoid the Friday night traffic, we drove along the coastal route to Hermanus, passing Gordon's Bay, Rooi Els, Pringle Bay, Bot River and onwards. Hardly any traffic and such a lovely road. And a simple picnic by the sea for supper

OK, the wind was blowing, so we sat in the car, admiring the surfing and the view before an early night

You can never time the end of events, if they are enjoyable, they continue and it is very hard to drag oneself away. We wanted to leave the Celebration of Chardonnay at 3, after lunch; we finally hit the road at 3.30. We had booked another AirBnB in Paarl, which was affordable at R580 for the night

There was nothing in Franschhoek under R2 500 a night, so on our pensioners' budget, Paarl was the best option. But the drive there is long and winding and takes you around the woefully empty Theewaterskloof Dam near Villiersdorp and, following the trail the elephants took centuries ago, up and over the magnificent mountain pass to Franschhoek. It seemed even longer because the car's air conditioning decided to become defunct and it was a hot day

We were very stressed when we arrived in Paarl at 5.35 and had 10 minutes to shower and change (it was Black Tie formal) and then get back in the car to return to Franschhoek for the event at 6. We arrived there at 6.15

The comfortable sitting room which led to our bedroom

under the eaves 

in this 18th Century House

Next morning, off down the road to the Spur for their R30 breakfast

always well prepared and amazing value

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MENU Recipe of the Week - Pepper Steak Pie

Something traditional this week. This is our choice of pie flavour when we are out and about and need a quick lunch “on the hoof”. But Lynne decided to see if she could make a large one for supper during the week. Serves 4

1 kg beef steak, cubed - 1 T plain flour - 1 t flaked salt - 1 t ground black pepper - 1 large onion, chopped - 1 peeled carrot, chopped into 1/2 cm dice - 1T coconut or canola oil for frying - 3 T brandy - 1 cup red wine - 1 cup of good beef stock - Freshly ground black pepper to taste - 1 t fresh thyme leaves - a roll of flaky pastry - 1 egg yolk

Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and toss the meat in it to cover well. Brown the meat in the oil, then set aside. Add the onion and a little more oil if necessary and cook slowly with a little salt until it is beginning to caramelise. Put back the beef with any juices and deglaze the pan with the brandy, then add the wine stock, the carrot, seasoning and thyme. (Add some black pepper, about a teaspoon, cook, simmer covered on the top of the stove for half an hour and then add more to your taste, some might like it more peppery than others). Turn your oven on to 220⁰C. Roll out the cold pastry into a circle. Spoon filling into a 20 to 22cm deep pie dish, grease or butter the rim. Cover the pie with the pastry. Cut a cross in the centre to let the steam escape, use a pie funnel if you have one. Crimp the edges of the pastry on the edge and decorate the top if you want to. Lightly whip the egg yolk and brush the pastry with it. Put into the oven to bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden and cooked through. Serve with creamy mash or cauli mash and lots of fresh vegetables. And a good robust red wine. The Landskroon Shiraz, for example

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MENU's Wine of the week - Landskroon Shiraz

We have had some really amazing wines this week, not all of them are still available and some are rather pricy. This is one that impressed us a lot - we buy it and keep it for a couple of years as it improves wonderfully and is very reasonably priced

While we are enjoying the 2010 from our cellar, the current vintage is 2014. From the farm R62 a bottle. It is friendly, soft and spicy, full of good sweet, dark berries and goes so well with this week's recipe

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

2016 Diners Club Winemaker of The Year Awards Dinner at La Residence, Franschhoek

Diners Club is the sponsor of this prestigious annual event and, each year, they set the categories of wine to be entered for the Young Winemaker of the Year and the Winemaker of the year. This year they asked for a red blend from the Young Wine Maker of the year (under 30 years of age) and a Chenin for the Winemaker of the Year. The gala dinner and awards ceremony was held again at La Residence in Franschhoek. It was a sparkling evening full of anticipation, joy and celebration

A golden plate of small canapés

We were welcomed with a glass of Colmant Brut Reserve MCC from Franschhoek

A band played soft music on the terrace

We take our seats in the long gallery

Jean-Pierre Rossouw, publisher of the Platter Wine Guide (owned by Diners Club) was the MC for the evening. He welcomed everyone and explained how the awards ceremony would proceed. This is the 36th year of the competition and the 16th year for the Young Winemaker of the year competition. It is a tradition to pair the winning wines with the food being served and, this year, the starter would be served with the red wine from the winner of the Young Winemaker Award and the main course with the Winemaker of the Year's Chenin. The Award wines are on sale now

The prizes are very generous indeed: The winning Winemaker receives R50 000, while the Young Winemaker receives R25 000. Both winemakers are awarded two return business class tickets on Delta Airlines to any wine producing region in the USA

There was a lovely moment when Lesego Chauke-Motshwane, Managing Director, Diners Club South Africa took the stage in her sparkling gown as they played the song Diamonds in the Sky. She took over her role only one month ago from Ebrahim Matthews. Diners has very strong links with the wine industry, as they sponsor many awards. She then announced that Philip Viljoen, the Young Winemaker of the Year 2015, would hand over the award to the 2016 winner

Head of Diners Club Card division told us who the finalists for Young Winemaker were and which wines they entered: Tamarin Turck-Nel, 2014 Cederberg Shiraz; Murray Barlow from Rustenberg in Stellenbosch: 2013 Rustenberg Buzzard Kloof Syrah, 2014 Rustenberg Buzzard Kloof Syrah and 2015 Rustenberg RM Nicholson red blend; Louis van der Riet from Calitzdorp: 2013 De Krans Cape Vintage Reserve; Petri de Beer: 2015 Credo Limited Release Grenache, from Welmoed Cellar, Stellenbosch

And the winner is: Murray Barlow with his Rustenberg RM Nicholson red blend of Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet sauvignon. Murray was Young Winemaker of the Year in 2013 and was a finalist last year

Last year's winner, Philip Viljoen of Bon Courage, hands Murray the trophy to very loud applause

He was delighted with the award

The new generation is taking over. This talented young man was born into a family with a long history of winemaking, with the Barlows having owned Rustenberg in Stellenbosch since 1941. Growing up amongst the vineyards and in the cellar, Murray's passion for the farm and wine grew and he decided to pursue his studies with a view to joining the family business. After completing his undergraduate studies at Rhodes University, Murray completed the 2009 and 2010 vintages at Rustenberg before reading his Masters in Oenology at the University of Adelaide in Australia, where he graduated Cum Laude in 2011. He is now Cellar Master at Rustenberg and is still under 30

Murray spoke about the wine and the competition. We found the wine to be superb. It is full of expensive fresh oak incense notes with cassis and cherries in layers, cassis leaves and black pepper and chilli on the end. Sweet and sour fruit in abundance with mulberries, cherries and cassis. Lots of room to age and grow and it goes very well with food

The menu

The starter of tender Springbok Carpaccio with a smoked forest mushroom mousse, wild mushrooms, boysenberries, dried porcini mushroom and walnut crumble. They were, we think, trying to replicate their interpretation of the wine on the plate. Rather too generous with the cress salad and not enough springbok was the consensus on the table!

Time for the Winemaker of the year Award. Lesego Chauke-Motshwane with Johan Fourie, last year's winner, about to award the Trophy. The finalists were: Lizelle Gerber for 2016 Boschendal Rachelsfontein Chenin Blanc from Franschhoek; Pierre Wahl for 2014 Rijk's Private Cellar Chenin Blanc from Tulbagh; Jasper Raats for 2014 Longridge Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch; Jacques Erasmus for 2016 Spier Ideology Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch; and Tertius Boshoff for 2015 Stellenrust 51 Barrel Fermented Old Bushvine Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch

And the winner is Pierre Wahl, for his 2014 Rijk's Private Cellar Chenin Blanc. Pierre was born in Port Elizabeth and then lived in Gauteng. He studied wine at Elsenberg College, and was the youngest in his class to take cellar technology. After graduating in 1995 he joined Neil Joubert in Paarl and in 1998 went to Moreson in Franschhoek where he gained much of his wine making experience and had a chance to travel the world of wine. In 2002 he took a leap of faith and went to work for Rijks Private Cellar in the then little recognised area of Tulbagh, which is now known as a quality wine area. Pierre has won many wine awards and has done a lot of consulting in the Tulbagh area. He went off to Northern Rhône in France for a harvest in 2007. Rijk's cellar is known for its world class, award winning Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and Shiraz

It was a very popular award, Pierre was given a standing ovation. This very humble winemaker spoke of his delight at winning and about his wines. The winning wine, his 2014 Rijk's Private Cellar Chenin Blanc, is a very worthy winner. It is a quite spectacular rendition of what South Africa can do with Chenin Blanc. It is barrel fermented. We found honeyed, buttery smoke on the nose and tongue tingling, luscious ripe fruit on the palate. Honey and lime, ripe lemons, winter melon, toasted muffins, and long flavours with a toasty end, the perfect food wine too. We loved it when we tasted it on the farm with Pierre earlier this year, when we found it rich and elegant and we are not at all surprised that it won

We drank the wine with our main course

This terrine was served as the vegetarian option

We had Pan seared, very fresh Franschhoek Trout, with a lovely lemongrass infused sweetcorn puree, asparagus spears, a chilli tuille, a coconut and lime sauce and rather strangely half a peach. It was a nice peach, but peach does not pair well with fish. With the wine yes

Diners Club MD Lesego Chauke-Motshwane with Young Winemaker of the year Murray Barlow and his wine. An autographed bottle was awarded to the best social media exponent of the evening

Beaming Young Winemaker of the Year, Murray Barlow, with Pierre Wahl, the Winemaker of the Year, and their trophies. Both are delighted with their prizes and are planning their trips to the USA wine areas

With dessert, a Dark Chocolate Delice with salted peanut caramel and a beetroot and Honeycomb ice cream, we had the unctuous, honey sweet Nederburg 2010 Noble Late Harvest Edelkeur

And then it was time to dance the night away. Ludwig Maske from La Cotte Wines in Franschhoek

Linda Coltart and Chef Margot Janse were enjoying themselves, as were we. Then it was time for carriages and our B&B in Paarl

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