Shiraz and Charcuterie at Hartenberg

South African Shiraz is going through a fantastic period of growth and massive improvement. And it is being recognised here and abroad. So we love being invited to taste a great selection of them. Hartenberg hold this festival once a year and they invite local farms to showcase their impressive Shiraz. The rain of the week stopped, the sky cleared and the sun shone all afternoon as we and many other Shiraz fans milled around the terrace tasting Shiraz under the pergola and in front of the wine cellar. There were several stands selling charcuterie, good bread and some cheese as well so there was plenty of choice for lunch or something great to take home.

Gunter Schulz and Thelma du Plooy of Kleinood/Tamboerskloof

Dawie Botha of Anthonie Rupert Wines discusses his Shiraz

Steven and Kaylene Jeffery of The Charcuterie making superb sandwiches and charcuterie platters

Bee on Avocado, a study in nature!

Rust en Vrede and their second label Guardian Peak shiraz were very popular with tasters and with us

The slimmed down versions of Hennie Coetzee and Maggie Mostert, of Batonage having fun

Nils Verburg with his Luddite 2009 Shiraz ,which was incredibly popular. People kept coming back for more so Nils got through lots of bottles. Guys, you are just supposed to taste..... Some people were charging for full glasses of their wine, we think this is a good idea

Luddite empties

Nils Verburg and Andrea Mullineux

Michelle van Eeden, with Thelema and Sutherland Shiraz. Not to be confused with the Old Mutual Trophy winning Shiraz, grown in Sutherland. Someone is going to have to sort this name confusion out

Musicians kept us entertained all afternoon

Sue Baker's daughter at Wild Peacock's table with a selection of their delights

Neil Jewell and Linda Coltart, on the Bread & Wine stand

Hartenberg Shiraz range, so much variety, and some lovely flavours

Hartenberg winemakers Tamsin (Tammy) Jaftha and Patrick Ngumane

A lovely day for good Shiraz and relaxing under the trees

Ghenwa & Geza Steingaszner of Ghenwa's Lebanese Cooking Club, were serving lots of Lebanese food for lunch

Sommelier Xolani Mancotywa, recently returned from Dubai, having fun at the festival and reconnecting with lots of friends after coming third in the World Junior Sommelier Competition

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Three course lunch at Devonvale Golf Club for R130

Devonvale in the Bottelary Hills is a golf club, it has a lodge, a restaurant and it also has its own wines. We received an invitation from the owners the Provoyeurs to come and visit and taste the wines and have their very good value three course lunch for R130 (till September).  So we set out last Saturday as we were already going to Hartenberg for the Shiraz and Charcuterie festival

The Entrance to Devonvale announces the lunch in the Chez Shiraz restaurant. We think this is good value. A remarkable price now-a-days when you can pay this just for a main course at other restaurants.

The entrance to Devonvale Lodge

and the entrance to the restaurant

From the restaurant upstairs, you can watch the golfers practicing their putting while they wait for their round to start.

Their interesting wine list, which has three of their own wines to drink with lunch under the Provoyeur label. We had  glasses of the good Simonsig Chenin Blanc with our starters and a glass of the Shiraz for Lynne and the Pinotage for John with our main courses.

That day’s menu. It does change.

You can also eat off the normal a la Carte menu. We liked the look of the breakfast section.

The chef’s version of a spinach roulade was leaves of spinach wrapped around fried peppers and onions. Not quite what we know as a roulade.

and the chicken ‘terrine’ was a little free form and the chicken pieces came with mushrooms in a creamy sauce

The kingklip with a beurre blanc sauce was superb. Such fresh fish and not cooked to rubber, so even John liked it.

The good Beef sirloin was nicely smoky from searing on a chargrill with a good jus, nicely pink and it came with small roast potatoes with their skins on.

A small banana tart with vanilla ice-cream had rather leathery pastry but tasted very good

The duo of chocolate with a berry sauce. The smaller triangular piece was a good rich chocolate. The larger piece showed more evidence of cocoa powder

Book before you go, this Sunday might be popular

And you can park your golf cart near the entrance

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Old Mutual Trophy public tasting at the CTICC

At last a chance to taste the winning wines (and several others) that we have heard about over the last few weeks. The judges are right, South African wine continues to improve and reach higher and higher standards. There were some knockout examples. At a large tasting like this we aim to taste as many trophy wines as possible and then fit in others. We find that this competition really does seem to drive quality, progress and innovation in the industry.

The fairly controversial wine that won the Trophy for the Best Shiraz and the best red wine overall Mount Sutherland Syrah from the Sneeuwberg mountains was very interesting. We didn’t find it to be an in your face fruit bomb, it is much more restrained, elegant and tight with some tannins but you can see the potential and why it scored 96 points. Saronsberg also scored 96 points and a gold medal for their elegant and structured Provenance Shiraz 2012 and this is ready to be enjoyed now.

The Chardonnays we tasted were exemplary, especially Trophy winner and best white wine on Show Mulderbosch 2013, Richness and freshness is what winemaker Adam Mason says he want – he has got it Museum Class trophy winner Chamonix Reserve 2008 really charmed us with it crisp acidity holding onto the lovely layers of golden fruit. And gold medallist Iona 2013 might just have to be put into our cellar soon. The Discovery of the Show Baleia Bay is there already.

We could cover pages with recommendations for many, many more of these wines. Ifyou see a wine with one of these awards and you can afford it buy a bottle to try and then buy some more if you like it. One you won’t be able to find is the KWV 1930 LBV Muscadel which won a gold medal in the museum class. What an extraordinary wine and how fortunate we were to get some in our glass, so thick and syrupy, so balsamic and yet still a joy to taste. Why do we ignore, neglect and not appreciate our superb sweet wines? They are one of the best jewels in our wine varietals

A good crowd gathers at the beginning of the evening

De Kranz makes excellent ports and they bear many awards, including this year’s Tony Mossop Old Mutual Trophy for the best Cape Port for their Cape Vintage Reserve 2011. The 2010 was the last of this style of wine to carry (legally) the appellation Port. After that, descriptions like Cape Vintage Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage etc. may be used, as long as we don't say "Port", even though the palate tells you that  that's what they are!

Boets Nel looking deservedly proud of the Trophy

Boets Nel chatting to Christian Eedes, Publisher and editor of Wine Magazine on line

Elsie Pells, Cape Wine Master, on the Bon Courage stand

Abrie Beeslaar’s lovely ladies with his 2012 Pinotage

Brendan Butler, winemaker at Nitida, having fun tasting - for a change

Winemaker Werner Muller with the superb Iona 96 point Gold Medal Chardonnay

Kyle Zulch, winemaker with Daniël de Waal at Super Single Vineyards. Their Mount Sutherland Shiraz won two trophies: Best Red wine Overall and Best Shiraz

Zia du Toit from Ormonde and their Ondine 2013 Sauvignon Blanc and Mark Norrish of Ultra Liquors with his Secret Cellar sauvignon blanc and also the trophy winning best MCC, the Table Bay Blanc de Blanc NV

Ollo Parker of Altydgedacht and his lovely ladies with their trophy for the superbly floral Weisser Riesling 2013

Tariro Masayiti and Hildegard Witbooi of Springfontein with their 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. Incidentally, several of the Nederburg award winning wines this year were made by Tariro when he was white wine maker there.

John enjoying a taste of the De Wetshof MCC with Marketing Manager Bennie Stipp. We are very fond of this wine

The Convention Centre on a crisp, still winter’s evening

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Main Ingredient's MENU - Morgenhof, Kyoto Garden, GF&W Show, Port Awards, Steakhouse champs, Nutty Banting bread

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Cormorants flying home ahead of a cold front

In this week’s MENU:

 The Tradition of Morgenhof

 KWV Classic Wines go with Japanese

 Good Food and Wine Show at the CTICC

 Any Port in this storm?

 Shiraz and Charcuterie Festival

 Angala Packages

 The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships

 Old Mutual Trophy public tasting

 Nutty Banting bread

This week’s Product menu – Winter is with us and we all want something warm. The Portuguese live with a similar climate to ours (apart from the North-West corner of Portugal) and their cuisine is very popular here. We are told that June 10^th will be National Portuguese Day. We have written about South African Ports lower down, but the warm spices of the Iberian peninsula will also help to spice up the spirit. We are investigating some interesting chilli products but can offer you a great idea. Smoked Paprika is a wonderful spice to use in many Portuguese and Spanish recipes. Try it with stir fried prawns... See them here.

If you can find it in the supermarket, we don't usually stock it, just the products you would struggle to find.... Check our online shop to see more details and prices.

The Tradition of Morgenhof       It has been a while since we visited this beautiful farm in Stellenbosch and it was delightful to be asked to come for lunch and taste their new vintages last Thursday. Owner Madame Anne Cointreau was there to welcome us and, despite it being another chilly grey day, the fires were lit and we had a good tasting followed by an excellent lunch. She was at pains to tell us that she is NOT trying to produce French style wines here in South Africa but, working with viticulturist Pieter Haasbroek (who has been there since 1998) and winemaker Andries de Klerk (since 2012), they are trying to express the best their dry land terroir can give them. It certainly shows in the wines. Morgenhof has always produced excellent Chenin blanc from really old bush vines and the vintage we tasted, 2011, was full of lovely tropical fruits with the richness nicely balanced by good acidity. Their reds do need time, as they have both structure and elegance and we enjoyed drinking them with food very much, particularly the Cabernet Franc, which is drinking beautifully and is a lovely food pairing wine. Which led us on to a great lunch prepared by chef Thys Esterhuizen. MORE.....

KWV Classic Wines go with Japanese     at Kyoto Garden restaurant, off Kloof Nek Road last Thursday, where KWV presented their Classic range to the media and we ate our second multi-course meal of the day. Luckily, the beautiful food at Kyoto Gardens is light and has barely any carbohydrates, so we managed. Yes, we did crumble at the four pieces of Wild Alaskan King Crab sushi. The wines are aimed at the middle market and sell very well, as they are competitively priced at R40/42 for the whites and R57 for reds - KWV Cellar Door prices. MORE.....

Good Food and Wine Show at the CTICC     We spent the morning at this exhibition and were amazed to see the absence of the large food conglomerates and supermarkets, the increased presence of small, good producers and so much charcuterie. We tasted lots of it, all good apart from some really dodgy looking red hot dogs and frankfurters which we saw being sold. We avoided all the sinful pastries and confectionery and spent some time and some money in the wine area. We were delighted to find that Baleia Bay, whose Chardonnay won the trophy for the Discovery of the Show last week at the Old mutual Trophy Awards, had a stand. We tasted and immediately bought a case. It is very lean and crisp and entirely to our taste. We also tasted their Pinot Noir and so another case was purchased. This has to wait a while but is full of red berries and elegance. We enjoyed the show this year. MORE.....

Any Port in this storm?     Yes, there was - at the Third Annual Port Awards, held at Muratie on Tuesday. We drove there at the start of a big storm and it was lovely to sit near the wood burning stove in the cellar and taste... first, lots of different wines made from Port varietals, and then some beautiful award-winning ports. Everyone was hoping the famous Muratie Lamb shanks would be on the menu and we were delighted that they were. If you want to see the full list of the Cappa Port & Wine Awards click on this link. Some of the wines and ports were available during lunch and we particularly enjoyed the Boplaas Portuguese Connection 2012, which you will find on sale in Woolworths. Axehill’s Distinta was also a great food match. Both were in the top 10 table wines. We drank some of Peter Bayly’s Cape Vintage 2004 port which got a gold medal in the museum class and it was so smooth and full of Christmas fruit. We are off to the Calitzdorp Port Festival soon and will write up the ports and wines in more detail then. We love good Port and encourage all of you to try it, if you have not had the opportunity. In blind tasted international competitions, many of our best Ports have proved to be a very good match for the European equivalent!  MORE.....

The Shiraz and Charcuterie Festival is being held on Hartenberg this Saturday; we hope to see lots of you there. What else are you going to do in bad weather? Not sit at home feeling miserable, but drinking great Shirazes and eating wonderful charcuterie, surely.

Angala Packages      You may remember that we stayed at this wonderful Guest House in April. They have some super packages at the moment and we think you should investigate Click on http://www.angala.co.za/packages

The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships 2014     The final five steakhouses for 2014 (in alphabetical order) are: HQ (Cape Town). Fahrenheit (Edenvale), Johannesburg. The Godfather (Centurion), Pretoria (Finalist in 2013). The Local Grill (Parktown North), Johannesburg (2013 Champion). Theo’s (Mouille Point), Cape Town.

In the next few weeks the Final Five will be visited by a select group of South Africa’s food experts and chefs to select this year’s winner, and the 2014 Steakhouse Champion will be announced on 24th June at The Local Grill in Parktown North, Johannesburg (the inaugural 2013 Champion Steakhouse). Follow on their website www.steakhunter.co.za where you can also win a prize for predicting the winner.

The Old Mutual Trophy public tastings     Last week, we attended the Awards ceremony and reported on it. There are many wonderful wines to be found among the winners. Tomorrow, Friday, D Day, 6th of June, Capetonians will have an opportunity to taste the best of them at the CTICC and our many Johannesburg readers will be able to share the experience at Sandton Convention Centre, Bill Gallagher Rooms on Thursday, 12th June. Click here for more information and to book.

This week’s Recipe...

...is a wheat free ‘loaf’ recipe which was in last week’s Sunday Times and is so easy to make and so good to eat, that we thought we should reprint this in case you missed it. It makes a small rich loaf, but you could double up the quantities should you need more. It does keep, if wrapped in cling film and put in the fridge. Lynne might experiment with adding some mixed seeds to this to make a more complex and toothsome loaf next time.

Nutty Banting bread

2 ½ cups almond flour – ½ tsp salt ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda – 3 extra large eggs – 15 ml runny honey – ½ tsp apple cider vinegar

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl mix the honey with the eggs and vinegar. Stir into the dry ingredients. Oil a small loaf pan or line it with buttered baking paper (this has quite a cakey consistency) and bake at 160°C for 45 to 55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Turn out, and cool.

Buying from us On Line    We have a lot of fun putting MENU together each week and, of course, doing the things we write about, but making it possible for you to enjoy rare and wonderful gourmet foods is what drives our business and drives the wheels that enable us to produce MENU possible. We stock a good range of ingredients and delicious ready-made gourmet foods. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our on line shop. We can send your requirements to you anywhere in South Africa. Please do not pay until we have confirmed availability and invoiced you, then you pay and then we deliver or post. When you make an eft payment, make sure that it says who you are. Use the form on the website to email us your order. Click here to see our OnLine Shop.

Food and wine (and a few other) events for you to enjoy

There is a huge and rapidly growing variety of interesting things to occupy your leisure time here in the Western Cape. There are so many interesting things to do in our world of food and wine that we have made separate list for each month for which we have information. To see what’s happening in our world of food and wine (and a few other cultural events), visit our Events Calendar. All the events are listed in date order and we already have a large number of exciting events to entertain you right through the year. Events outside the Western Cape are listed here.

Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more about wine. Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here and here and the CWA courses here. Karen Glanfield has taken over the UnWined wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here

Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here. Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has cooking classes in Fish Hoek and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see more details here. Emma Freddi runs the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her home in Constantia. Brett Nussey’s Stir Crazy courses are now being run from Dish Food and Social’s premises in Main Road Observatory (opposite Groote Schuur hospital). Lynn Angel runs the Kitchen Angel cooking school and does private dinners at her home. She holds hands-on cooking classes for small groups on Monday and Thursday evenings and she has decided to introduce LCHF (Banting classes). The Kitchen Confidence classes, which focus on essential cooking skills and methods, have been expanded and are now taught over 2 evenings. She continues to host private dining and culinary team building events at her home. She trained with Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here

5th June 2014

Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we can send it to you! Check our online shop for details and prices.

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

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Our Adamastor & Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch-flavoured Afrikaans.

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. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

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