Chenin Blanc could be the wine that defines South
African wines worldwide and seeing the huge advances in quality, style,
sophistication and good marketing of the winners this year, it is possible to
believe that this might happen soon. IF
ONLY we had government support to promote SA wines overseas. Standard Bank are the involved sponsors of
these awards and do a very good job to see that their support goes not just
into the awards but into the community.
Each of the top 10 wines were awarded R20,000 with the proviso that this
money is used in their local community for upliftment. And there are some very good initiatives.
The Awards were followed by an excellent lunch
produced by Exec Chef Christaan Campbell who gave us 5 courses, each perfectly
matched to two of the winning wines.
Arriving on a really stormy day
We assembled in the Lounge
Drinking some bubblies made from
Chenin Blanc and standing next to a lovely roaring fire
Canapes came around. These were small
choux buns filled with a butternut puree
General Manager of Delaire Graff Johann Laubser chatting to Christine Rudman and Lacea Smit of Spier
Another tray of delicious canapés.
These delicious deep fried rosti balls were stuffed surprisingly with lovely
smoked trout
The crowd swells
These were the Bubblies we were
drinking, all made from Chenin blanc by the Methode Cap Classique
Another very interesting canapé. A firm cone stuffed with beef tartare and
topped with sour cream Some found this a
little difficult to eat
Journalist Norman McFarlane with David
Sonnenberg, owner of Diemersfontein
Executive Chef Christiaan Campbell
with Ilse Distin, DGR Restaurant Reservations Manager
Shanté Hutton in her snood with Mike
Bampfield Duggan
Chairman of the Chenin Blanc
Association, Ken Forrester opens proceedings
We are all awaiting the names of the
top 10 Chenins
Winnie Bowman CWM with Mark Norrish, Ultra Liquors Wine selector
A table full of winners and media
These were the interesting
accompaniments to bread: a thick
Mushroom paté, fresh labneh cheese,
flake salt and black pepper and beef dripping with, possibly, a truffle aroma
Christian Eedes announces the awards
The mainstay of the Chenin Blanc
Association, the person who quietly and with great assurance makes things
happen, Ina Smith
All the award winners in a group shot
The very interesting menu could then
be handed out because it contains the list of the winners; two of each were
served with the five courses
A cold smoky umami broth containing
balls of very fresh raw tuna, a pineapple mousse and herbs. This perfectly picked up the nuances of the
two supporting wines even if the cold broth was not universally
appreciated. We had tasted the
Perdeberg this week, before the awards and we knew when we did that this was an
award winning wine. It performs far, far
above its class.
With the glasses required for every
course, our tables became quite crowded. Most people only sip the wines but you do
want to return to them later, to see how they have opened up or how they go with
different dishes
A perfectly cooked piece of rare and
tender quail on a bed of creamy millet accompanied by a quenelle topped with
toasted almond. We almost never see millet these days so this was refreshing
and has inspired some of us to find some.
The next course was of
cured oysters served with fresh de-skinned peas and broad beans, with pea shoots
and flowers in an oyster broth
Lynne’s alternative was a beautiful
thick slice of smoked salmon served in a similar way
Simonsig wine maker Hannes Meyer
Our table companions were Reinhilde
and her husband winemaker Christaan Visser, both of Villiera
Craig Polkinghorne Head of Business
Banking at Standard Bank told us what the winners were going to do with their
awards to improve their local community.
Many were contributing to the Pebbles Project which works with children
affected by alcohol. Others were supporting local schools and crèches and
renovating workers restrooms, supporting local schools with container
classrooms, computers, printers, buses and trucks to get kids and supplies to
school, after school homework and other projects and Villiera are supporting a
school leavers project to make sure they get trained and get jobs. The money is obviously being used wisely and
carefully
Johan van Wyk, Western Cape Provincial Director at Standard Bank Group
Ken Forrester thanking the sponsors, Standard Bank
We don’t have a photograph of the main
course of Happy hog pork belly and neck served with apple, pear and parsley but
of special note were the small compressed green apple balls which added so much
perfume and flavour to the dish and cut through the lovely rich pork so well
And finally dessert . And cleverly, because we did not have any
sweeter Chenins, Christiaan served a
savoury ‘dessert’. A Huguenot cheese
brulée with salted pecan nuts and flavours of minneola oranges as a purée dotted
on the plate
The Chef and the Organiser! Both
talented people
Although the weather was awful and we
were hit with a huge storm during lunch the views were superb
Sunlight and rain hitting the mountain
and vineyards of Thelema across the valley
And as we left, the sun came out, highlighting the new spring bud break on the
vines. A lovely event
The Top 10 wines are listed below,
followed by the cellar door price and an extract from the panel’s tasting
report:
·
Bellingham The Old
Orchard's 2013 (R95) – “Rich and
ripe”;
·
Kleine Zalze Family
Reserve 2013
(R141) – “Very stylish”;
·
KWV The Mentors
2012 (R160) – “Concentrated and
pure”;
·
Perdeberg The Dry
Land Collection Barrel Fermented 2013 (R73) “A powerful but well balanced wine”;
·
Remhoogte
Honeybunch Reserve 2013 (R150) – “A good line of acidity ensures balance”;
·
Rijk’s Cellars
Private Cellar 2009 (R130) – “A blockbuster”;
·
Simonsig Chenin
Avec Chêne 2010
(R110) – “Really well executed”;
·
Spier Woolworths
Private Collection 2013 (Woolworths price: R109.95) – “Totally seductive”;
·
Stellenrust 2014 (R44) – “Really
flavourful”; and
·
Villiera
Traditional Barrel Fermented 2014 (R94.50) – “Shows real finesse and balance
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014
