Brandy and Tapas at the Mount Nelson

And the day was not over for us yet. We dashed home, unpacked the car and, with five minutes to spare, arrived at the Mount Nelson hotel for a tasting of their new Winter Tapas and Brandy Menu which will be served daily from 12h00 to 23h00.  Does brandy go with food?  You can now find out for yourself. 

We assembled in the Planet bar and rather took over the area in front of the fire on this chilly, wet evening. This tasting was organised by Dr Winnie Bowman CWM, Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg, Christelle Reade-Jahn of the Brandy Foundation and Gabi Palmer Bolton, PRO for the hotel group 

Some of the people attending were not regular brandy drinkers, others are

Dr Winnie Bowman MW and Gabi Palmer explain the tasting

Christelle Reade-Jahn, CEO of the Brandy Foundation, tells us about it and the brandies we are going to taste with the food

Our first course was Snoek Fritters, served with Collison’s White Gold Pot Still. It looks unnervingly like a vodka and we are sure it gets bought as another spirit due to its lack of colour. Its notes of almonds, apricots, pineapple and hot chilli matched the spicy fritters, which had fresh chilli in them

Listening intently

Now how does this taste? Uitkyk Potstill 10 year old with Calamari in a tomato and olive sauce. The olives were a little sharp and bitter. Nice peaches, nuts, citrus and coffee notes in the brandy

We discuss the pairings

Elegant brandy glasses with the calamari taster

Gabi and Christelle waiting for the next pairing

Very hot and spicy chorizo on potato rather overwhelmed the delicate Kaapzicht Pot Still 10 year old, full of violets, lemon and wood-smoke nose with rich, smooth silk caramel toffee on the palate

Journalist Jos Baker was in fine form

Examining the photographer at a distance

The duck bitterballen (croquette) with mustard went very well with the Laborie Alambic, our current favourite Cape Brandy. Its citrus, fresh peach orchard and almond flavours are gentle and soft and silky and the savoury duck brought these out more. It is a lovely match

We all discuss brandy as the next course is served, It was Peri Peri chicken wings with Joseph Barry 19 year old Cape Pot still. Perfectly cooked but, again a little spicy for the brandy, the assembly thought. The Joseph Barry is very floral, like Versace’s Femme and has caramel, cinnamon and nuts followed by citrus sunshine and then hot toffee coffee smoke

Ah, here comes the best course of the evening, a beautiful citrus financier topped with lemon cream and a shard of white chocolate. It was served with the van Ryn 15 year old Cask Reserve, recently voted the best brandy in the world, which is herby, spicy balsamic caramel on the nose and tastes just like a very old style Cognac with nuts, apricots and coriander spice

Lots of enjoyment followed as we tasted our brandies and ate some petite fours

The line up of brandies we tasted

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

90 year celebration at Alto, Stellenbosch

How to hit the ground running? Leave Hermanus at 10 am and drive through to Alto in Stellenbosch to celebrate their 90^th anniversary as South Africa’s oldest red wine estate. Many of the most worthy media were present and most of us had to admit that this was our first visit to this lovely farm. That needs to be remedied. We think it is because it is in an area full of charismatic wine farms, but it is so worth the effort. But who knew this treasure was there;they have kept rather a low profile until now and things are changing. Alto are famous for their good value Alto Rouge blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and now Petite Verdot (the blend varies slightly each year). We tasted the 1993, 2001 and 2004 vintages and these wines have lasted. But they also produce some really exciting and delicious Shiraz and very classic Cabernets on this 193 hectare farm with, 93 of which are under vines.

We gathered round a large square table in the tasting room. This was a very civilised way to do a tasting, as everyone could interact. From L to R: Christian Eedes, Wine Magazine; Cathryn Henderson, Classic Wine; Lise Manley of Manley Communications; Ross Sleet, Marketing Director of Cape Legends; the tasting room manager, Louise Lamprecht; Winemaker Schalk van der Westhuizen; Simone Scott, Marketing Manager; Roy Davies, Vineyard Hotel GM

Alto is under the Cape Legends Portfolio and is widely available

Journalist Graham Howe getting down to tasting and and describing the wines.

Tasting the Alto Rouge 1993, which showed notes of ginger, aged wood and elegance on the nose and then sweet and sour fruit with long soft flavours, Lynne concluded this was probably better with food now than quaffing

Winemaker Schalk van der Westhuizen has been with Alto since 2000 and made his first vintage in 2001. There have only ever been four winemakers on Alto and all are legends: Mannie Malan, then Pieter du Toit, who handed over to his son Hempies du Toit (who now farms down the road on his own farm, Annandale) and then Schalk. Many of the vineyards have had to be replanted over the last 25 years to get rid of leaf roll virus. Schalk says harvest is always late on Alto and it is difficult to wait. He is still waiting for his Sauvignon Blanc vineyards

Three vintages of Alto Rouge 1993, 2001 & 2004. Some even need more time! And they do show the same Alto characteristics. And on the right the Alto Cabernet 2001 which had a slight balsamic nose with cooked fruit aromas, but the wine on the palate gave so much more than expected. And it was unexpectedly lovely and fresh with a good mouthfeel

Some snacks were served beforehand. These are roosterkoek, bread filled with cheese and ham and toasted on an open fire

These were succulent barbecued chicken pieces with a good hot peri peri basting sauce

These are the wines we tasted. Shiraz 2001 which was so rich and full of fruit on the nose and is a beautifully elegant food wine with long flavours and nice warmth from spice and alcohol. Lynne’s highest scoring wine for a long time at 19/20. The 2004 Shiraz was full of Chanel No.5 on the nose and full of sweet spicy warm fruit, a good quaffer. The 2004 Cabernet was shy and not overtly attractive on the nose, but has beautiful fruit and is a lovely wine to drink. Lynne wrote “BUY if we can find”. If you have some, you are very fortunate. Drink it soon. 18½/20. The MPHS is their flagship wine and the letters stand for the initials of all the winemakers. It is a blend of 67% Cab Franc, 43 Cab Sauvignon and is only bottled when the quality is there. It is made in limited quantities and is available at R750 a bottle. We tasted the 2007, which has a classic cassis and green herbal notes on the nose and has lots of depth and layers but is still very, very young. The 2012 is still in barrel

Tasting Room manager Louise Lamprecht with the wines

Then it was time for us to move through to the impressive barrel cellar for lunch

Here we could continue to drink the same vintages with our meal – always a valuable exercise, to see if they do actually go better with food

Ross Sleet talks to us about the wines and the food

The Menu

Lunch was a serve yourself buffet, prepared by redpeppercatering, and had some lovely healthy options like this Rocket and oven roasted vegetable salad

Roasted baby potatoes with mushrooms and, in the background soft pork belly, topped with sensationally crisp crackling and a dish of Beef fillet to be accompanied by a mushroom and pepper sauce.

Lynne’s scrumptious Banting plate, sans potatoes...

Tasting room manager Louise Lamprecht kept us well supplied with wine all through lunch

The weather outside was not playing ball and in fact the heavens opened as we left

A view of damp winter vines on the hills of Stellenbosch. In good weather there are lovely views from Alto. Do go and see them

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Olive Tree House, Hemel en Aarde, Hermanus

Next, it was time to head back towards Cape Town. On the way, Annette Ashley had invited us to stay for the night at Olive Tree Country House in Hermanus, which is owned by her family. This large house, available for hire, is on the banks of the Onrus river and is situated on Glen Fruin estate, just behind the Hemel and Aarde Village on the R43. This makes it perfectly situated for visits to the wine country of the Hemel and Aarde valley behind it or to the seaside resorts all along the coastline from Stamford to the Bot River estuary. If you are interested, contact Michael Fox on 084 720 4050

The entrance and the large garage attached

This is a large, very spacious, house with 5 bedrooms, perfect for the summer and it has a large pool on the front terrace. There are two bathrooms, one en suite, and a cloakroom in the entrance hall.

The entrance hall

The dining room. Almost all the public rooms open out onto the garden

The large kitchen, which leads directly off the garage and the main hall

It has a large breakfast bar and leads also onto the dining room

The main bedroom ...

... has its own en suite bathroom

with a shower and a bath

A twin bedded room

We had the main bedroom for the night

Another double bedroom

and a twin with brass beds

The house has access to the river frontage walk

The Onrus river has a ford! It was in full flood after the recent rains

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014