Big Bottle Festival, The Cape Town Club

And what a social affair this festival was. Held at The Cape Town Club in Queen Victoria Street, it is a chance to taste wines matured in big bottles from magnum size(contains 2 bottles) and upwards. You may not know that wine matures much better in a bigger bottle and of course they are very useful for parties and large dinners. The wine farms taking part had tables on both floors in all the available rooms and some of the top chefs from those wine farms were doing food to complement the wines. It was incredibly well attended so it was a little crowded and because we had a fantastic warm Spring day, it was rather hot. Air conditioning is needed. The wines were magnificent

Cathy Grier, Anne Ferreira and Sandra Engelen. Sandra has just bought the Restaurant at Chart Farm

Ken Forrester and his assistant pourer with his marvellous FMC (Forrester Meinert Chenin or, as we know it in the trade, eFFFing Marvellous Chenin)

He also had magnums of this Grenache Syrah and two vintages of The Gypsy

Julian Brewer pouring Villiera Tradition MCC bubbly

The girls on the Drappier Champagne stand with a happy customer

Nicola Jenvey, Durban journalist, and Norman McFarlane tasting Adam Mason’s  Mulderbosch Chenin blanc

Delaire Graff had magnums of their Coastal Cuvée Sauvignon blanc

Duncan Savage was getting lots of attention for his Cape Point Isleidh

A chef from Catharina’s at Steenberg with his mussel soup

Juicy mussels waiting for their soup

The crowd in the front room

Dead soldiers of Jacquart Champagne

Christa von la Chevallerie and Mark Oosthuizen having a happy afternoon

Domaine de Dieux showed both their Rose of Sharon and the award winning Claudia MCC Brut

Michelle Elford showing their double magnum of Jacques Bruère MCC

JD Pretorius on the Steenberg stand was admirably pouring the Nebbiolo from this huge heavy bottle into that tiny decanter. The wine was lively, fruity and fun, definitely a food wine

The chefs from Bombay Brasserie at the Taj hotel had a very spicy, delicious Indian lamb aushak

The Graham Beck Brut was hugely popular

In the smoking room. Sadly, the smoke was wafting into the tasting areas

A view from the first floor of the octagonal hallway

Michelle van Eeden and Thomas Webb on the Thelema/Sutherland stand

The big man Nils Verburg with his amazing Luddite Shiraz.

Natalie Opstaele with the Almenkerk 2011 Syrah

German Consul General Klaus Stoss getting a taste of the Almenkerk 2011 Syrah

That leg once had meat on it! Sebastian and Nici Beaumont with their 2013 Beaumont Chenin blanc Demi-sec

Duncan Savage, Jennifer Holmes and Luke O’Cuinnegan having fun

Time to pack up and go home. All the bottles were empty

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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New wines with lunch at Vrede en Lust, Franschhoek

 Back again to Franschhoek on Friday for a tasting of some new wines and a vertical tasting of one of Vrede and Lust's two flagship wines, The Boet Erasmus (Simonsberg-Paarl): a Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. This was followed by a light lunch in Lust restaurant. This is one of the most energy efficient green farms in the Cape. The vineyards vie for space with solar panels

The gathering started in the cellar vestibule where we were introduced to two Artisan wines; a Riesling from Elgin and a Semillon. These wines are hand made in very small quantities and only available for their wine club members.

The tasting was held in the barrel cellar, perhaps a little chilly for August

Good canapés of cheese shortbread topped with Boursin and mini heirloom tomatoes

Also very fresh tuna which was seared, kebabed and then dressed with a sweet Asian umami sauce

The wines being poured

Joint owner (with his brother Dana) Etienne Buys opened the tasting with some history of the farm and the wines. Founded in 1688 by French Huguenot Jacques de Savoye, the Buys family are the 17th owners. Etienne is the viticulturist, supervises the vineyards and oversaw the building of the very modern winery

Winemaker Susan Erasmus explained her winemaking philosophy

and talked about the wines we were about to taste. We tasted another Semillon, the Barrique 2009 (R120) very elegant, an Elgin Kogelberg 2013 Chenin Blanc (R120) full of zesty orange peel and minerality. The Casey's Ridge 2014 Pinot Noir (R175), a new addition, grown on their Elgin farm

And then we did the vertical tasting of the Boet Erasmus (R175). He was the maternal grandfather of the Buys brothers. We tasted from 2007 through to the current release the 2012. The constituent grapes have varied slightly in the quantity used through the years and we found that the blend is recognisable. We particularly liked the 2011 full of violets and perfumed fruit on the nose. Lovely soft berry fruits, soft chalky tannins with liquorice wood on the end. As the vines get more mature, so the flavours of this wine are gathering their skirts together. The 2012 is even more complex and layered

We then proceeded to lunch next door at Lust restaurant

A display of the wines in a niche

The lunch menu

Their good artisanal sourdough bread

Non-meat eaters got herb crusted salmon on sweet potato puree

Meat eaters got a hefty sirloin steak topped with a marrowbone, served with heritage carrots, a good wine jus and sweet potato puree. We drank some of the wines we had tasted in the cellar

Dessert wasn't dessert but a savour goats curd cheese patty, breaded & fried, topped with candied baby beets and dressed with walnuts and olive oil and raw beetroot slices. So wanted a slice of their chocolate cake...

Enjoying a coffee before taking the transport back to town

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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A Vintage day at the 330th Anniversary of Boschendal

Vines were first planted in the Cape in 1655 by Jan van Riebeek. Boschendal in the Franschhoek valley was established thirty years later in 1685. They invited us to join them in commemorating 330 years of wine at Boschendal last week. There was a special gala dinner on Wednesday 12th of August, we were invited, with other media, to a celebration lunch on Thursday 13th of August.

We don't mind dressing up for an event but when you get an invitation to a 330 year anniversary lunch and the invitation says "Dress: Vintage" we did have a few anxious moments wondering what we were going to wear. Especially as we were being collected at 10h45 from the Waterfront. To wear Jacobean dress? Would we fit in the bus? To go as peasant farmers of one of the periods since wine was planted in the Cape? We certainly didn't have anything suitable in our cupboards. Lynne slept on the problem and came up with the solution. We have our own vintages and so we dressed accordingly. It was a marvellous celebration.

If you want to help them celebrate you can join them on Heritage Day on the 24th of September when they willl be having an Ox roast and for the small sum of R285 pp and R85 for children under 13 you can go and enjoy a feast. To quote them " Expect platters heaped with seasonal produce, great wine including some new Boschendal releases, and an upbeat atmosphere enhanced by the live music of ‘Slow Jack’." Booking is essential. www.boschendal.com/events/view/farm-feast-ox-roast

The historic manor house

The ladies in their vintage gear
Marguerite Nel, Samantha Linsell, JeanriTine van Zyl, Lynne Jarché Ford.
Lynne is Vintage 1947

We had some great Boschendal MCC bubbly before we embarked aboard the bus and when we arrived

Someone said Lynne looked like an air hostess, another The Queen! Hmm

John’s camera is a 1938 Agfa, given to his mother by his father as an engagement present

Three elegant ladies. Marguerite Nel, Lynne and JeanriTine van Zyl

Chatting to an old friend about his new job at Boschendal, Executive Chef Christiaan Campbell

The wine vintage

Old oaks

Our favourite Boschendal wine rep Kathy van Niekerk with the bus

A quick tour of the wine cellar by red winemaker Richard Duckitt

Where we were joined by the white wine maker Lizelle Gerber and new assistant winemaker Tammy Jaftha

It’s an impressive barrel collection

drawing off samples from the barrels using a "wine thief" . They were much enjoyed, there is lots of concentration and life in these wines to come

Richard Duckitt tells us about what we are sampling

They use mainly (expensive!) French barrels

One of the friendly farm horses

The newly planted kitchen garden for Chef Christiaan Campbell’s needs.

Lots of raised beds, arbours, with lots of different vegetables and herbs and some fruit, everything a chef could desire

Megan McCarthy, the horticulturist who is in charge of the garden answering some of our many questions

Spring plantings are springing up. This should look superb in a few weeks

Rows of different lettuces

An interesting method of raising beds, which have easy access

The restaurant overlooks the kitchen garden

More bubbly on the terrace, which looks a great place to spend a summer lunchtime

The pretty Celebration Brut bottles of the 1685 MCC, it is a clean and crisp

Many bottles were poured

The sommelier and his colleagues who were all wonderfully attentive and anticipated the guests’ every need

Canapés of smoked salmon, salmon caviar and cream cheese on a crisp cracker

Sometimes, we have to be at these wonderful events

Winemaker Lizelle Gerber impressing with some Sabrage on the MCC bubbly

The lunch menu

Welcomed by Jacques Roux, Marketing Director of Douglas Green Bellingham, who produce and distribute the Boschendal wines

Chef Christiaan Campbell explains the menu

The starter of freshwater crayfish (never enough!) with dumplings of light gnocchi, dressed with a superbly made seafood bisque sauce and a few peas. Liked the contrast of the nice crisp and tangy addition of zesty compressed apples. This was served with both the Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2014 and their Elgin 2014 Sauvignon Blanc. Both matched well but the Chardonnay won for us

Winemaker Richard Duckitt talked about the wines we were served with lunch

A garden salad with roasted pear with a fennel dressing

The witty main course, speared with a rib, was served “family style”, so we could help ourselves. However, this enormously generous family sized portion was served to every two guests! Succulent, slow cooked rib of beef in a master stock marinade topped with gremolata, salt baked celeriac (love it), roasted vegetables and oh, so crisp potato wedges. On the left, some tiny lilly pilly fruits (Australian cherry) which were pickled and added a great contrast to the rich meal. Doggie bags were called for. We drank the Boschendal Grand Reserve 2013 and the Grand Selection 2013, both lovely fruit filled wines with elegance

Dessert was a small “white chocolate” sponge, with fresh & dehydrated guava, a guava sorbet, aged Cape gooseberries, white chocolate worms , sprinkled with roasted almond flakes. The star wine was the fabulous 2013 Vin D'Or, absolute nectar and honey, perfect with any dessert

New DGB Marketing Director Greg Castle makes the final speech of this great occasion and thanks us for coming

A happy chef !

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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