Survivor launches the new vintage at Spek & Bone, Stellenbosch

Survivor is one of the brands of the Overhex winery near Worcester and we were invited to taste the new vintage  of their wines at Bertus Basson's new wine bar and small plate restaurant, Spek & Bone (it's pronounced boorna - the Afrikaans name of his dog; means “beans”) Spek is his pet pig (translates as “bacon”). It is exciting when good wine is paired with a top chef's food, so we were delighted to accept, especially when they sent a minibus to take us there and back. It has now become de rigeur for transport to be provided when we attend events where we will need to taste the wines, thank heavens

The restaurant is right next to the iconic Oom Samie se Winkel (Uncle Sammy’s shop) in the historic town of Stellenbosch

We sat outside under the leafy canopy

Welcomed by friendly staff with a glass of Survivor Sauvignon Blanc

Bertus with Greg Landman of Country Life

Spek and Bone have their portraits on the wall

Bertus is a lovely man and is much loved by the media. Here he gets a kiss from Winnie Bowman CWM and a hug from Fiona MacDonald

Doing what Bertus does best

Inside, seating is at the counter

Good craft gins and some good wines; Cape Wine Masters' Guild and French on the menu

It is a lovely place to have lunch

The Survivor lunch menu

First, some canapés. Very unusual Mac and cheese deep fried 'Tots' with a dipping ketchup

Scrumptious crisp squid in paper cones, with divine aioli and a few chips

Discussing the wine. The 2016 Sauvignon is partly barrel fermented, with good tropical fruit and nice crispness. The grapes come from DB Rust’s farm Constantia near Malmesbury

Gerard van der Wath of Overhex International told the story of the Nguni cow (that jumped, not over the moon but out of the truck and into the vineyard), which gave the name to the wine Survivor. It escaped the abbatoir and became a pet. He told us that these wines, which all come from the Swartland, are now vinified at Darling Cellars to avoid the grapes spoiling on the long hot trip to Worcester. This improves the quality

Winemaker Ben Snyman

Taking notes as Bertus explains the lunch menu. He says that the food he serves here is the food he wants to eat, ditto the wine. It is not tapas, it good local South African food. Check it out on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SpekEnBone/

The new Survivor MCC (85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir) is made by Melanie van der Merwe who makes very good MCC under her own brand, Tanzanite. She has been working with Overhex for several years to produce this wine. Its vintage is 2011. It has spent five years on the lees in the bottle. It is yeasty, bready with apples and a hint of raspberry on the nose. Golden Delicious apples and some soft raspberry hints on the palate

Keeping the Chardonnay cool on a warm Stellenbosch day

Freshly baked and still warm sourdough bread with an olive oil mousse and an Ash cream

A cool glass of the MCC

We ate family style. A perfect steak tartare, meat fresh and tender, well chopped, not massacred, with cornichons and capers, served with freshly fried potato crisps

A leafy beetroot, feta and onion salad

The Wild Yeast Chardonnay (shouldn't that be the Wild Beast Chardonnay?) is full of citrus and ripe apples on the nose and cooked apples on the palate. It has some sweetness and goes well with food

Well received fish tacos dressed with a Yuzu dressing, avocado guacamole and crisp cabbage. A good pairing with the Chardonnay

Then came the lightly sautéed Gnocchi, lovely and buttery and well flavoured, with mushrooms and parmesan cream, topped with a crisp crumb which gave good texture

Not universally popular, but Lynne loved it: Roasted fresh yellowtail fish, topped with octopus. We had this with the Chenin Blanc; grassy and warm land aromas, with lovely full-on jujube sweeties on the palate, and a finishing hint of honey, but it is dry. Such a good food wine

The Survivor Chenin Blanc

Bertus preparing the dishes of monkey gland basted sirloin, with roasted cauliflower, served puréed and roasted. Nothing to do with monkeys or their glands, it's our traditional barbecue sauce, full of tomato, garlic, Worcester sauce, chutney and some heat. Spices up meat a treat

Ready to serve, and to pair with the Pinotage, which goes so well with spicy food. It has a very intense nose of mulberries and plums. On the palate, chalky tannins, salty licorice with raspberries. Lovely wine. The chalky tannins mean that it will last a while too. The steak was very tender but, for us, could have been much more tangy and spicy

Tired chef!

We also tasted the Cabernet Sauvignon with the steak. It has pure cassis on the nose with pepper and spice notes. Full sweet cassis berries and ripe cherries with good supporting chalky tannins and a long finish make this classic Cabernet one to buy now and drink in 3 to 4 years time

Dessert was a Peppermint Crisp ice cream cone which took us all back to our childhood

And finally a good espresso with some shortbread biscuits. A tour de force of good wines and excellent food

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017

Breakfast at Bonjour, Sea Point

Sea Point veterans will remember New York Bagels who were in Regent Road for many years until they disappeared a couple of years ago. Their bagels, croissants, salads etc were legendary and we often bought lunch there when we had our shop down the road. We hear that they are still running a small outlet in Harrington Street in the city centre.

Some of the ex-Sea Point staff have opened a small café in the Total Garage shop in Sea Point and word is getting round about how good it is. They sell bagels and good bread and croissants and they also do breakfast and lunch. We decided to go and see what it is like

Yes, it is the garage shop! John often fills up there. The staff are friendly and helpful. Good at fixing punctures quickly too and the car wash can be done in a hurry

Not the most salubrious location, but it is usually packed with locals who know where to go

Plain and simple furniture, all clean and neat. Service is friendly and efficient

A goodish cup of coffee, an Americano at R16, could have been a tad stronger. We do so hate these thick cups, but we know that they are hard to chip when washed up, so we have to accept that most coffee places use them

The menu is on the wall and there is also a full-colour printed version

A good beverage selection

The 3 egg omelette ....

....stuffed full with pastrami and mild peppadews, which John enjoyed, R45

The creamy scrambled egg enjoyed by Peter, R30

Lynne ordered the classic smoked salmon bagel and asked them to hold the onion and cucumber. Good salmon, reasonably generous, good fresh bagel and lots of cream cheese. R48

The eggs came with a slice of toast each; this is the rye bread

Take-aways from the bread counter

A good selection of pastries, cakes. bread, bagels and pies. We hear that the cheese cake is excellent

Warm pies

Lynne bought two almond croissants for later and they were good, filled with nice thick almond paste. Very reasonably priced at R13.95 each. These can be found elsewhere in Sea Point for over R30. The staff is friendly and service was reasonably quick. We may be back soon for the cheese cake

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017

This Week’s MENU. Breakfast at Baked, Go Get Wine..., Groote Post Country Market, Lynne's Gazpacho, Eikendal Classique 2008 + Morgenhof LBV 1993

The classic view of Table Mountain, across Table Bay from Blaauwberg

The weather forecast says that we have a 50% chance of rain on Sunday. Pray that it happens. Meanwhile, we make the most of the clear skies and warm sunshine, as you can read below

      Breakfast at Baked on Regent

      Go Get Wine...

      Groote Post Country Market

      MENU’s Recipe this week: Lynne's Gazpacho

      MENU Wines of the Week: Eikendal Classique 2008 + Morgenhof LBV 1993

Breakfast at Baked on Regent   We write reviews of all sorts of restaurants, but we have to confess that we usually prefer to have breakfast at home. We start the day very simply with fresh fruit and green tea for Lynne and muesli and black coffee for John. He makes the breakfast every day. There is a sudden bloom of restaurants doing breakfast that people keep telling us about, so we have decided to try a few of them. This week was the turn of Baked, which is near the circle at the end of Sea Point, next to President Motors. Virtuously, we walked there and arrived just before 9 am

Go Get Wine...   Where do you buy your wine? Your local supermarket? Direct from the wine farms? On-line or specialist wine shops? We buy from all these sources. Get Wine in Salt River who sell wine in vast quantities, often discounted, is one of the places we include on our places to buy as they often do a two day special with about 28 wines, all of which you can taste. They also hold these tastings in other areas. You need to watch for them on their web site. We won't buy wine unless we have tasted it (and love it), so these tastings suit us down to the ground. We went to one held at their Salt River premises on Saturday morning. And yes, we did come home with three cases

Groote Post Country Market   

We have friends here from the Netherlands and took them to this lovely country market on Sunday. It is held on the last Sunday of every month and we had a great time. The market is full of things to buy, things to eat and things to admire. There are lots of food trucks and of course you can taste and buy the excellent Groote Post wines to enjoy with your lunch or take home with you

MENU’s Recipe this week: Lynne's Gazpacho

We are huge fans of cold soups in summer, as they are a light, delicious and refreshing start to a dinner. They can be made in advance, are very healthy and people love them. This week, as all the vegetables in the recipe are at their seasonal best, Lynne made this the day before our dinner party to let the flavours meld together beautifully. You can remove the seeds, but we like the thicker texture they add and the lycopenes. She does not use raw onion in her version as we find it a bit indigestible, nor does she use the more common two slices of stale bread to thicken the soup, as this is a low carb version. They are optional and you are welcome to add them if you like. (Soak the bread in water till soft, squeeze out the water and liquidize it with the vegetables) You can substitute the teaspoon of sugar with Xylitol, but be cautious. One ingredient you do need is Spanish Sherry vinegar, but you can substitute herb or red wine vinegar. Serves 6

2 red peppers - 1 ½ kilos of ripe red tomatoes - 1 small cucumber - 2 large cloves of garlic - 2 T Spanish Sherry vinegar - 3 T fruity extra virgin olive oil - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 1 t sugar - garnish with chopped chives and fresh basil leaves

Put the peppers under a grill and char the skin till it is blackening all over. Put into a plastic bag, seal and allow to cool. This separates the skin from the peppers. Then remove all the charred skin using kitchen paper towels. Remove the stalks and the seeds, chop roughly and set aside. Using a small paring knife, cut a cross in the top of each of the tomatoes. Put them in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 4 to 5 minutes, then remove and put into iced water to cool quickly. When they are cool, remove and peel - the skin will come off easily. Core them, chop roughly and add to your liquidizer or put into a deep bowl and blitz them with your stick blender. Peel the cucumber, roughly chop and add to the tomatoes, with the peppers, and the garlic.  Add the olive oil, and one tablespoon of the sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Continue to liquidise to emulsify the oil with the vegetables. This would be where you add the bread. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding more vinegar and more seasoning. If the soup is too thick, add a little tomato juice or iced water. Only if necessary and it is too acidic, (depends on the tomatoes) add a spoonful of sugar. Put into the fridge overnight. Serve icy cool, topped with the chopped chives and one or two basil leaves. You can put bowls of finely chopped tomato, red pepper and cucumber on the table for people to add to the Gazpacho if you like more texture.

Reminder 1 T - 1 Tablespoon 1t - 1 teaspoon

MENU Wines of the Week: Eikendal Classique 2008 + Morgenhof LBV 1993    We served the Eikendal Classique '08 with a grilled picanha steak to a Dutch friend who brought it to us a few years ago. It was a very elegant blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% each Merlot and Cabernet Franc, made by Nico Grobler. The latter is a grape that does very well in the shadow of the Helderberg. 

It had sweet, ripe cassis and a touch of black cherry, with a delicious earthy, minerality; bone dry with very gentle, silky tannin. It had an especially good cork, which could have helped the wine to age for several more years, a rare example in a South African wine. Platter gave it 4½ stars in 2012 and the same to the current 2014 vintage in the 2017 edition.

And an honourable mention to Morgenhof LBV Port 1993, legendary winemaker Jean Daneel’s first attempt at Port. We served this with a good selection of cheeses, fresh figs and grapes. Crusted and full of dark berries and chocolate, with spice and elegant age, it was so enjoyable and at its peak

28th February 2017

PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information

Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

If you like the photographs you see in our publications, please look at our Adamastor Photo website for our rate card and samples from our portfolio

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.

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MENU’s Recipe this week: Lynne's Gazpacho

We are huge fans of cold soups in summer, as they are a light, delicious and refreshing start to a dinner. They can be made in advance, are very healthy and people love them. This week, as all the vegetables in the recipe are at their seasonal best, Lynne made this the day before our dinner party to let the flavours meld together beautifully. You can remove the seeds, but we like the thicker texture they add and the lycopenes. She does not use raw onion in her version as we find it a bit indigestible, nor does she use the more common two slices of stale bread to thicken the soup, as this is a low carb version. They are optional and you are welcome to add them if you like. (Soak the bread in water till soft, squeeze out the water and liquidize it with the vegetables) You can substitute the teaspoon of sugar with Xylitol, but be cautious. One ingredient you do need is Spanish Sherry vinegar, but you can substitute herb or red wine vinegar. Serves 6

2 red peppers - 1 ½ kilos of ripe red tomatoes - 1 small cucumber - 2 large cloves of garlic - 2 T Spanish Sherry vinegar - 3 T fruity extra virgin olive oil - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 1 t sugar - garnish with chopped chives and fresh basil leaves

Put the peppers under a grill and char the skin till it is blackening all over. Put into a plastic bag, seal and allow to cool. This separates the skin from the peppers. Then remove all the charred skin using kitchen paper towels. Remove the stalks and the seeds, chop roughly and set aside. Using a small paring knife, cut a cross in the top of each of the tomatoes. Put them in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 4 to 5 minutes, then remove and put into iced water to cool quickly. When they are cool, remove and peel - the skin will come off easily. Core them, chop roughly and add to your liquidizer or put into a deep bowl and blitz them with your stick blender. Peel the cucumber, roughly chop and add to the tomatoes, with the peppers, and the garlic.  Add the olive oil, and one tablespoon of the sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Continue to liquidise to emulsify the oil with the vegetables. This would be where you add the bread. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding more vinegar and more seasoning. If the soup is too thick, add a little tomato juice or iced water. Only if necessary and it is too acidic, (depends on the tomatoes) add a spoonful of sugar. Put into the fridge overnight. Serve icy cool, topped with the chopped chives and one or two basil leaves. You can put bowls of finely chopped tomato, red pepper and cucumber on the table for people to add to the Gazpacho if you like more texture.

Reminder 1 T - 1 Tablespoon 1t - 1 teaspoon

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MENU Wines of the Week: Eikendal Classique 2008 + Morgenhof LBV 1993

We served the Eikendal Classique '08 with a grilled picanha steak to a Dutch friend who brought it to us a few years ago. It was a very elegant blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% each Merlot and Cabernet Franc, made by Nico Grobler. The latter is a grape that does very well in the shadow of the Helderberg. It had sweet, ripe cassis and a touch of black cherry, with a delicious earthy, minerality; bone dry with very gentle, silky tannin. It had an especially good cork, which could have helped the wine to age for several more years, a rare example in a South African wine. Platter gave it 4½ stars in 2012 and the same to the current 2014 vintage in the 2017 edition

And an honourable mention to Morgenhof LBV 1993, legendary winemaker Jean Daneel’s first attempt at "Port"

We served it with a good selection of cheeses, fresh figs and grapes. Crusted and full of ripe dark cherry fruit and a hint of milk chocolate, with spice and elegant age, it was so enjoyable and at its peak. Platter only wrote about it in 2008 We served it with cheese at the end of a dinner party  

This wine was first mentioned in Platter in 1998 and they didn't score it. They should have, we would give it four and a half stars. Up to then, from 1995 to 1997, only the vintages up to 1992 (labelled "Ruby Port") were mentioned. The 1994 earned 3½ stars in the 2000 edition. The earlier vintages were made by Denzel van Vuuren with assistance from Pietie Theron of the KWV from Pinotage, Merlot and Tinta barocca

The entry from Platter 1998 says:

"Port '93  Jean Daneel’s first attempt at Port; Pinotage, Tinta barocca. Lovely 3.5 years in 300 litre barrels. To be labelled Late Bottled Vintage. Full-flavoured, can age profitably, but very drinkable now. 75gm/l sugar, 17.6% alcohol. 95 all tinta" (© Creda Press 1998)

Both of these wines were fine examples of good South African wines' ability to mature well over a long period

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017