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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Picnic at Hartenberg

We hired a bus that could seat 30 people and it only cost us approx R80 a head, return

Philip Costandius takes us through the tasting

We were a fairly noisy lot in the tasting room, as we all enjoy each other’s company and tasting wine

One long table set up under the trees on the lawn

Chardonnay and Riesling were choices we could make with our picnics

Because we were at a table they gave us picnic platters rather than baskets. Starting at the top chicken and pistachio terrine, grapes, Parma ham, two cheese, a preserve fig and a strawberry, chocolate cake, a ham and brie quiche, Caprese salad, onion jam (onions could have been cooked a bit longer) and in the middle a (half consumed) potato salad. It was delicious, there was plenty to eat and it suits the heat.

Bread, smooth snoek pate, a beetroot dip to share

We head home after a wonderful picnic .. and we bought a lot of wine to take home

Celebratory lunch at Eikendal Estate with winemaker Nico Grobler

The entrance to Eikendal

A small party of media, listening attentively

Healthy green vines with Stellenbosch mountains in the background

Winemaket Nico Grobler took us on a tractor trip through the vineyards

An early ripener

Vines planted mainly East West direction to get the benefit of our prevailing winds

School holidays - time to play among the vines

Petit Verdot which is very fruitful and bunches will have to be sacrificed to enable those left to develop

Young bush vines

Our driver, Willem van Kerwel

We are all set for a tasting with lunch

We begin with the Chardonnay, nicely chilled

We meet the Chef, Mark Radnay and he announces his menu which is designed to best match the wine flavours

Fried sweet potato gnocchi with white and green asparagus, mint and lemon butter and shavings of parmesan matched the 2012 Chardonnay

2011 and 2012 Charisma, an award winning red blend of Shiraz, Petit Verdot and Sangiovese

.. was served with Ostrich carpacchio seasoned with biltong spice, wild rocket and tomato salad and sweet potato crisps and the food picked up the umami flavours in the wine

Stuart Buchan, Eikendal’s Marketing Manager

Tender confited Pork Belly topped with apple and prune compote, on a bed of creamy mash and accompanied by glazed carrots and a really good jus went perfectly with the very soft and approachable meaty 2011 Merlot full of long cherry and umami flavours, which still needs a little time

Mature beef fillet with rosemary and thyme butter, dauphine potatoes and roasted baby beetroot was served with the 2010 and 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Raspberry Cardinal gateau with cappuccino parfait and hazelnut tuille was superb. Did it go with the 2011 Classique Bordeaux Blend? We think it needed a sweet wine.

An alternative pure chocolate dessert for a non-gluten eater

This water spout has become a landmark for Eikendal

Avontuur fillies at Kenilworth

The Peninsula Room on the 4th floor, to which our “VIP” invitation directed us

Some very tender beef in the 3rd floor canteen, the media venue

“And they are off...! down the straight to the winning post

This was a very close finish

Ferraris on show – horses with power

The balcony for watching the races

The winner enters the Circle

A familiar face in the crowd - Oscar Foulkes

How to watch the race and dine in comfort. The Pavilion room was, it appeared, for members and real VIP guests only, not the media

Flags at half mast. Winner and places on the board

One Ferrari had been infested by a swarm of bees which had to be carefully removed by a beekeeper

In the Pavilion room you watch as you eat and drink and never have to move except to place your bets and claim your winnings, if any.

Uitkyk launches their new MCC

Driven from our minibus to the event in a romantic old carriage and pair on a beautiful hot day

Journalist Greg Landman

Hang on to your hats, it’s a little bumpy... Cathy Marston and Lynne

A beautifully matched pair of greys

The historic and perfectly restored Georgian Uitkyk farmhouse

The lineup of Uitkyk wines for tasting

White wines definitely needed chilling

The interior is gracefully furnished

A very good pianist filled the house with music

Arranging the ‘picnic’ buffet

The dining room

A huge turkey was the centre point

A good spread

The foyer, about to accept guests for lunch

Ross Sleet, Marketing Director for Cape Legends, Distell's fine wine division who market Uitkyk wines, gave his welcome speech from the terrace

Dear President Mandela died that night and this old tree on the lawn fell. The start of legends. They are going to make this a memorial to him in some way.

Uitkyk winemaker Estelle Lourens tells us about the just-released Methode Cap Classique Brut

The media listen intently

Estelle Lourens reveals the Glass Memoires MCC. The (original) windows in the house all have messages scratched on their glass by long past owners and visitors