Media introduction to the Paarl Ommiberg Festival

We were up very early to catch the bus in the Waterfront which took us to Mellasat.

Our driver, Leon, ferried us safely from the V&A Waterfront to each of the destinations we visited in Paarl and then back again

We were welcomed by owner Stephen Richardson, the new President of the Paarl Wine Route

Mellasat's range of wines

Mellasat has an interesting collection of ancient wines in the cellar. Some could be worth trying....

All the media were given nice straw hats, which we wore all day. We were very thankful for them in the heat

Lance Nash of Black Pearl Winery and Emma Borg of Painted Wolf joined us to tell us what they will be doing at the Ommiberg festival. Check out the programme here 

We all enjoyed a glass of Cathedral Cellars MCC 2009 

while listening to the programme

Lance Nash, Stephen Richardson, Annelize Stroebel, Paarl Councillor Thys Smit and Emma Borg

Then a canapé breakfast buffet was served...

....before we went into the cellar with Stephen to taste the new wines which have just gone into barrel to ferment. First were two different barrels of the unusual white pinotage they make, then a wild yeast chardonnay. If you attend the festival, you too will be able to taste these wines from this farm and many others, together with a zwiebelküchen (onion tart). This is an old German tradition called “Federweiss”. This is free and will go on as long as the stock of onion tart lasts.

Emma Borg, PRO Charmaine Baird and Annelize Stroebel

Stephen shows us the barrels of new wine

and then, using a wine thief, pours us all a small portion to taste. As you can see the wine is cloudy with yeast. Do not swallow this fermenting wine or you will burp for hours afterwards. Taste and spit and see if you can determine what it will become when it has finished the process

Then it was back on the bus and the groups of media were split up and sent to different wine farms. Our destination, together with Maryna Strachan and PR person Charmaine Baird, was Rhebokskloof, owned by the Laker Family

where we were welcomed by Anton du Toit, their Marketing and Sales Manager, and Rochelle Kotzé, who runs Public Relations and Marketing at Paarl Media

Rhebokskloof caters for lots of functions and this long room is used for corporate blending experiences - our next activity

We split into two teams, Maryna and Charmaine Baird vs the two Fords. Our instruction was to take the 4 different Shirazes and make a friendly and easy drinking blend of them. A wine similar to this will be made by the winemaker and be on sale at the festival.

Rhebokskloof's new label is just acid etched onto their bottles, with a paper label on the back

We take this seriously and got down to blending. We all made two blends, Maryna and Charmaine, working together. John and I love doing this so much we decided to work separately and make our own two blends.

Then the six blends were judged by the winemaker Rolanie  Lotz and Consulting wine maker Francois Naude. They liked two blends which were very different and the winning blend was made by Maryna and Charmaine. Well done

Lots of tasting and discussing went on

While we waited with bated breath. If you want to do this with a group, your wine club or as a corporate function, please contact the farm

Then it was on to Red Table restaurant at Nederburg,

where we all gathered for lunch on the terrace. They really need to try harder

and refreshed ourselves with a delicious bottle or two of Nederburg’s The Anchorman 2012 Chenin Blanc

The lovely manor house in dappled shade

and back on the bus to go to the enormous winemaking facilities of KWV in the centre of Paarl. 

These old casks have always a been a feature of the cellar

but now are overtaken by a forest of huge stainless steel tanks containing millions of litres of wine

The Mentors’ winemaker Izelle van Blerk tells us about the harvest and the many places the grapes are coming in from. You can see the trucks queuing in the background.

This is where the grapes are downloaded into the crushers

Inside it is damp and cool and smells wonderfully of fresh grape juice and yeast

Each tank has its vital information slip

Cathedral cellars indeed

We tasted several of the young fermenting wines here too, guided by winemaker Kobus van der Merwe

Gathered round a barrel

Grapes being tipped into the cellars

These grapes are a very fine Cabernet Franc destined for The Mentors range which were given a very careful and gentle de-stemming and then hand triage was done on the separate berries. With such specialised treatment as this, you know they will be able to produce a very fine wine.

We taste the Sir Lowry’s Pass Malbec from the tank. Dark purple in colour, deep and fruity with some sharp acids, all good characteristics at this stage.. Also a Darling pinotage which had that rusty nail character present in many pinotages.

There is still wine aging in this huge cask! 1997 Cathedral Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon

Norman McFarlane sees if he can move it. Norman, there is weight lifting and then there is this...

Another huge cask still in use for a Dry Hanepoot from 1999

Our final stop was the lovely Laborie 

with its Harvest restaurant, where we had some of their great MCC and some great snacks while we heard more about the coming festival

Several of us finally needed to sit down

KWV Marketing manager Jeff Gradwell with Anel Grobler and Kalinka Lombard

Jeff Gradwell with Matthew Gordon, Executive Chef of Harvest, the very good restaurant on Laborie

Muggins left the Nikon's battery on its charger, so all these photographs were taken on his Nokia Lumia 920
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Constantia Fresh - fun with great wine and food

Constantia Fresh took place on Saturday at Buitenverwachting and was a marvellous festival of good wines and some lovely food. Tickets cost R400 and for that you could taste all the wines available and eat the food of five chefs. It was hugely popular; there were 950 tickets available and they sold out. We saw people being turned away, so if you want to come next year, buy your tickets in advance. With added guests and media we estimate there were at least 1000 people attending and it never seemed crowded. The festival was spread out on the lawns and there was seating available or you could just sit on the lawn. They also added an antique fair as another facet. 

This festival has taken place at Buitenverwachting for the past few years and has evolved from being a purely Constantia wine festival to now showing wines from all over the Western Cape, and it seems, even some from abroad.  To quote from their web page: “ With the main aim of presenting and discovering fine wines, Constantia Fresh 2014 will bring the finest South African wine producers to showcase wines exhibiting that all important character, freshness.” Read more on  http://www.constantiafresh.com/

The chefs, who really did cook up a storm, included Peter Tempelhoff of The Greenhouse at the Cellars Hohenort, Christian Harbeck of Raith Gourmet High Constantia, Bertus Basson of Overture Restaurant, Edgar Osojnik of Buitenverwachting Restaurant and Brad Ball of Steenberg’s Bistro Sixteen82.

The long queue to collect tickets. The event started at 3 in the afternoon

There was also a small antique fair on the surrounding lawns

We always like to start with a bubbly and this was Jacquart Champagne

Nathalie Opstaele of Almenkerk in Elgin, looking very pretty and summery, pouring wine on their stand

It was a lovely summery late afternoon;  the tables were well protected by umbrellas and there was lots of wine of offer

We also enjoyed a rye bread open sandwich topped with sauerkraut and pickles, then a thick slice of ham and finally a slice of Emmenthal cheese. This was popped under a grill and went superbly with Sauvignons Blancs.   It was from Raith Gourmet deli.

Emy Matthews, tasting room manager at Winter's Drift

A bearded Sebastian Beaumont tells us about his harvest plans. Many winemakers grow respectable beards during harvest

Michelle Stewart, Clive Torr and Caryn Formby having a fun afternoon

Executive Chef Peter Tempelhoff of The Greenhouse restaurant at the Cellars Hohenort

His chefs preparing the spicy tortillas...

...which you could top with a lovely spicy tomato salsa

Lots of seating on chairs and also on hay bales, which did cause a problem for some people after the event including Lynne, who has a nasty allergic rash on her back from hay bale mites

Dave Nel on the Klein Constantia tasting table

Relaxing on the lawn with supper. The food was served in good sized portions and there were five different stations, each with a different chef’s food to try, so no one went hungry

There was also a Lakeside craft beer stand, but you did have to pay for a pint, the only additional charge of the festival

Chicken braaied and smoked in a Big Green Egg by chef Bertus Basson

This went on top of smoky Asian sauced noodles and topped with a good salad

Chef Brad Ball from Steenberg’s BistroSixteen82 valiantly cooked 155 kilos of Porchetta, Italian style rolled pork filled with herbs and garlic roasted on a spit.  This was served on a bun with salad. Here he is slicing yet another one

The superb rolls of crisp crackling pork “porchetta” just off the spit. It was our dish of the day

Sharon and Gavin Patterson of Sumaridge having one of them for supper

AMBITION!  This unlikely pair had us all in stitches

Yet another use for corks

Girls having fun. Annli Basedahl and Chantel Ball of Buitenverwachting's tasting room. Buitenverwachting served two beautiful and fresh white wines

As evening wore on, the crowd thinned, but the party continued until about 9pm

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

140220 Main Ingredient's MENU - Bosman Family Vineyards, Durbanville Feast of the Grape, Fish curry

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In this week’s MENU:

 Bosman Family Vineyards

 Durbanville Feast of the Grape

 Fish curry

This week’s Product menu - We carry a small range of Oriental pastes like Tamarind, Sambal Olek and Tom Yum. These make cooking very easy when you want to be adventurous. We also stock Shao Xing rice wine, Mirin (sweet Japanese rice vinegar) and black rice if you are a keen Asian cook. Lynne has used Tamarind in this week’s recipe below.

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.

Bosman Family Vineyards      It is not often that we get to see experimental vines being grown, so it was with great interest that we accepted an invitation to go to see these vineyards in Hemel and Aarde valley where they grow different varieties of grapes and several different clones of each. Click here to read about these vines and to see the photographs of the day

Durbanville Feast of the Grape      This superb wine festival will be held on one farm only this year, so head for D'Aria Farm on the 1st and 2nd of March. We will be there on Sunday 2nd and hope to see lots of you. After all, it is only half an hour from town and you can join in the celebration of the harvest. You will be able to sample lots of wines and good foods. Click here for their link to the festival showing you how you can book.

On Tuesday, we attended the Media launch of the festival and had a wonderful time helping to pick grapes, as the Durbanville Wine Valley is making a special wine which contains grapes from each of the 12 farms involved. Click here to read about this and our great day out.

Fish curry

If you are like us, you might find that in very hot weather (and it has been awfully hot in Cape Town this week) a curry helps to cool you down. This week’s recipe is a very quick fish curry. You make the sauce and then you put in the fish for the last four minutes and serve with rice. It could not be simpler in this hot weather when none of us want to be slaving over a hot stove. Lynne did a very silly thing on Sunday and roasted a chicken for supper. We won’t do that again in a heat wave when the temperature was in the 40’s. You can also use prawns or other seafood in this curry, but fish is the best, as it takes on so much flavour from the sauce. You can make it as hot as you care for by adjusting the amount of fresh chilli. Because of the Tamarind, it makes a sour and savoury curry. We used hake, but kingklip, monk fish or any of your favourites will work well.

1 kg of firm white fish – 2 t turmeric powder 2 onions, sliced – 2 cloves of garlic, crushed – 1 T peanut or canola oil – salt - 2 t turmeric powder– 1 t cumin power – 2 to 3 T Indian curry paste  – 1 tin of coconut milk - ½ litre fish stock - 2 red chillies, sliced – 1 or 2 T tamarind paste – 2 t fish sauce

Cut the fish into bite sized cubes and rub with 2 t of turmeric powder. Put into the fridge until you are ready to serve supper.

Chop the onions into half moon slices, chop the garlic finely and fry them both gently with a little salt in oil till soft and sticky but not brown. Add two teaspoons of turmeric and one of cumin. Add 2 tablespoons of your favourite Indian curry paste (do not use Thai or Malaysian). Fry for a minute to develop the spices, then pour on the coconut milk and half a litre of good fish stock. Add the chillies and a tablespoon of sour tamarind paste and two teaspoons of fish sauce. Add vegetables at this point, if you are want them. Beans, mange tout and red peppers add volume, vitamins and colour. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. This should be quite hot and also sour so, if it is not, add more tamarind paste. The fish sauce will add the salt. When you are ready to eat, add the fish pieces to the hot curry sauce and simmer until just cooked and serve with fluffy steamed basmati rice.  Lovely with sweet mango chutney.

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. 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 Wednesday evenings. She trained with Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here

20th February 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.

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

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.

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. We own our mailing software and keep our mailing list strictly confidential. 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.