This Week's MENU: Wildekrans, Beaumont, Luddite, Manny's Seafood in Bot River, Benguela Cove, La Vierge, Newton Johnson, Spanakopita, Forrester Meinert FMC

A blue headed agama lizard (bloukop koggelmander) basking in the sun

  In this week’s MENU:

 Relaxing at Wildekrans

 Bottles and seafood in Botrivier

 Hemel and Aarde for lunch and a little wine tasting

 This week’s recipe: Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

 Wine of the Week: Forrester Meinert Chenin

 Coming events

To get the whole story with photographs, please click on the paragraph title, which will lead you there. At the end of each story, click on RETURN TO MENU to come back to MENU.

Relaxing at Wildekrans     We had a lovely weekend away re-discovering the Bot River valley. We were invited to come and stay at Wildekrans by owner Amanda Harlow when we met her and farm manager/viticulturist Braam Gericke last year at the Green Wine Awards. They received the Best Farming Practice Award, Leadership in Community Development and for Best Value IPW for their 2015 Sauvignon Blanc. With busy schedules and lots of overseas visitors this year, it took a while before we could take up the invitation, but we had a lovely weekend staying in their cottages Read on to see the farm

Bottles and seafood in Botrivier     As we were in Botrivier, we thought we would visit some of our wine friends in the area. We had just received an email from Beaumont telling us about their new releases and we had been meaning to visit Penny and Niels Verburg at Luddite for ages. Appointments were made during the week and off we set on Saturday morning. Lunch was to be at Manny’s 'on the plein' in Botrivier - a Portuguese restaurant with great sea food, we were told More here, with photos

Off to Hemel and Aarde for lunch and a little wine tasting     We checked out of Wildekrans on Sunday morning and had intended to visit Barton, a farm which we have wanted to visit for a long time, but we have never managed to be there at the right time. They are on the road just outside Botrivier, but we discovered that they are closed on Sundays. So off we went to visit Benguela Cove. They had invited us to their new wine release event a couple of weeks before, but we were unable to attend. So, where better to go on a Sunday morning. Then, still being early for our lunch booking at The Restaurant at Newton Johnson, we made a call at La Vierge. It was an expensive weekend, we bought wine at four farms. The lunch which followed was superb. Read on to see the places and the food

Please drive safely     When we left Wildekrans on Saturday morning, heading for the Hermanus market, we came past one of the worst traffic accidents we have ever seen. Horrendous and shocking. Please do be careful on our roads, you never know when your life may change disastrously. Courtesy and politeness may save lives, dangerous speed and impatience won’t

This week's Recipe     This makes a very large pie for a celebration dinner or party. You can halve the recipe to make a family pie. Please try to use real spinach, it gives the right flavour. You could use Swiss Chard if you like but leave out the thick stems. You will need to cook it first and drain it well then chop it very fine. The secret of this pie is the well drained spinach. If you have any filo left at the end, you can refreeze it safely.

Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

1 to 2 T extra virgin olive oil - 1 large onion - 2 garlic cloves - 825g frozen spinach (NOT creamed), defrosted and drained of all water - 3 T fresh dill, chopped - 1 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dried or a mix of both – 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice - Zest of one lemon - 350g feta, crumbled - 150g ricotta cheese - 6 eggs, lightly beaten - 1 box frozen filo pastry, defrosted - 1 cup of melted butter - salt and freshly ground black pepper - optional: nutmeg

Make sure your spinach is defrosted and well drained, press out any residual moisture, you might like to start this about an hour before you use it

Set your oven to 180 ⁰C. You will need a large round pan or dish approximately 30 cm across and 5 cm deep. Butter it well. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in some of the olive oil until soft, but not browned. Cool slightly. In a large bowl add the onion mixture and stir in the spinach, dill, oregano, lemon juice and zest. Then add the beaten eggs, and both the cheeses. Mix well so that everything is incorporated. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can add a good scraping of nutmeg which goes so well with the spinach, if you like.

Now to assemble the pie. Open your box of filo and roll out the filo. Cover it with a damp but not wet tea towel to prevent it cracking. Remove one sheet and, using a pastry brush, cover it all over one side with melted butter. Lay it in the pan, buttered side up, with the edges hanging over the sides. Do another sheet but lay it at about a 50° angle across the tin so that you have full coverage, and do the same with the next sheets. Do this until you have a layer of five sheets of filo. Carefully pour the spinach mixture into the pan. Now cover the top with another five sheets of buttered filo, laid in a wheel. Then pull up all the ragged edges and lay them on top of the pie in a fairly jumbled loose mess. Take another sheet of buttered filo and rumple it up and put into the centre of the pie, so that you have lots of edges to crisp up. Dot the top of the pie with any remaining melted butter.  Put into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the filo is nice and crisp and golden on top. Serve in slices, hot or cool

Wine of the week: Forrester Meinert Chenin     

Spinach is not very good with wine, as it can taste a little metallic. However any full ripe wines like a good crisp Chenin Blanc with a little bottle age and some wood work well with this and the cheese. For special occasions we love the zesty and full elegance of the Ken Forrester FMC (Officially Forrester Meinert Chenin, but Ken refers to it as EFF..ing Marvellous Chenin) with its layers of fruit which sing on your palate. Current vintage is 2013 and it sells for R449 a bottle from the farm,  For everyday drinking, have a look at another favourite which has similarities, Ken's Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2015, R110 on the farm.

Food Fact: Do you know what this kitchen implement is for? 

Spear half an onion with it, and cut between the spokes and then across for perfectly cut onion in half the time, and no cut fingers. You can also just make slices.

We are going to be at the Pinotage and Biltong festival, which will take place over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of April on L'Avenir Estate in Stellenbosch. Book your tickets now, they are selling fast. It’s a great festival with some really good Pinotages which will be paired with Joubert and Monty's biltong.

The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships     During the month of April anyone can vote for their favourite steakhouse, via Facebook and SMS, and stand a chance to win fabulous prizes of The Wolftrap wines.

So please cast YOUR vote, and please spread the news to get the public voting like crazy, via www.facebook.com/SteakHunter and SMS 32845

7th April 2016

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.

If you like the photographs you see in our publications, please look at our Adamastor Photo website for our rate card and samples from our portfolio

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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MENU's Wine of the Week: Forrester Meinert FMC

Spinach is not very good with wine, as it can taste a little metallic. However any full ripe wines like a good crisp Chenin Blanc with a little bottle age and some wood work well with this and the cheese. For special occasions we love the zesty and full elegance of the Ken Forrester FMC (Officially Forrester Meinert Chenin, but Ken refers to it as EFF..ing Marvellous Chenin) with its layers of fruit which sing on your palate. Current vintage is 2013 and it sells for R449 a bottle from the farm,  For everyday drinking, have a look at another favourite which has similarities, Ken's Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2015, R110 on the farm

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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This week's MENU Recipe: Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

This makes a very large pie for a celebration dinner or party. You can halve the recipe to make a family pie. Please try to use real spinach, it gives the right flavour. You could use Swiss Chard if you like but leave out the thick stems. You will need to cook it first and drain it well then chop it very fine. The secret of this pie is the well drained spinach. If you have any filo left at the end, you can refreeze it safely.

Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

1 to 2 T extra virgin olive oil - 1 large onion - 2 garlic cloves - 825g frozen spinach (NOT creamed), defrosted and drained of all water - 3 T fresh dill, chopped - 1 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dried or a mix of both – 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice - Zest of one lemon - 350g feta, crumbled - 150g ricotta cheese - 6 eggs, lightly beaten - 1 box frozen filo pastry, defrosted - 1 cup of melted butter - salt and freshly ground black pepper - optional: nutmeg

Make sure your spinach is defrosted and well drained, press out any residual moisture, you might like to start this about an hour before you use it

Set your oven to 180 ⁰C. You will need a large round pan or dish approximately 30 cm across and 5 cm deep. Butter it well. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in some of the olive oil until soft, but not browned. Cool slightly. In a large bowl add the onion mixture and stir in the spinach, dill, oregano, lemon juice and zest. Then add the beaten eggs, and both the cheeses. Mix well so that everything is incorporated. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can add a good scraping of nutmeg which goes so well with the spinach, if you like.

Now to assemble the pie. Open your box of filo and roll out the filo. Cover it with a damp but not wet tea towel to prevent it cracking. Remove one sheet and, using a pastry brush, cover it all over one side with melted butter. Lay it in the pan, buttered side up, with the edges hanging over the sides. Do another sheet but lay it at about a 50° angle across the tin so that you have full coverage, and do the same with the next sheets. Do this until you have a layer of five sheets of filo. Carefully pour the spinach mixture into the pan. Now cover the top with another five sheets of buttered filo, laid in a wheel. Then pull up all the ragged edges and lay them on top of the pie in a fairly jumbled loose mess. Take another sheet of buttered filo and rumple it up and put into the centre of the pie, so that you have lots of edges to crisp up. Dot the top of the pie with any remaining melted butter.  Put into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the filo is nice and crisp and golden on top. Serve in slices, hot or cool

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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Greek Spanakopita Easter pie

Tasting in Walker Bay and Hemel en Aarde; lunch at Newton Johnson

The tasting room at Benguela Cove is on the edge of the Botrivier lagoon. Construction of a new very large conference centre and hotel is taking place next to this

Inside, a warm welcome from Leandre Muller, the manager of the tasting room

She took us through all their newly released wines

Some of the new wines with their newly redesigned labels

The current range of wines. We started with Matilda's Secret 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Its in the tropical style, with lots of granadilla, racy acidity and a grapefruit end. R70. Then the magic 2015 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blend. This was made for them by Johann Fourie who is also Chief winemaker at KWV and Diners Club winemaker of the year 2015. Herbal and green pyroxene notes on the elegant nose, the lovely mutton fat mouth feel of a crisp satisfying classic white blend using Semillon. The perfect wine for seafood, crayfish, prawns, scallops and rich sauces. R140. A case came home with us. The Benguela Cove Sauvignon blanc is full of green peppers and herbs, green melon on the palate, clean and crisp with a long finish. The Benguela Cove Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 months on new oak, has vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate, plums and cassis and needs 5 years. The 2014 Merlot is classic with cherries, pears in red wine; soft and fruity, no bitterness or greenness and has great potential. The 2014 Shiraz is spicy and peppery with salty liquorice and cherries, warmth from 14.5% alcohol, a lovely mouth feel and chalky tannins on the end. We finished with the Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, which has mango, litchi and roses on the nose, is light and honeyed with some acidity, but It could do with a bit more for contrast and punch. A good tasting

Then as it was only 11h15, we headed for La Vierge in the Hemel and Aarde Valley to taste their wines which, we had heard, are improving under the guidance of winemaker Gerhard Smith

Lunch menu, not very inspiring, but the views are superb

The tasting lounge

Wines available for tasting. You can taste 6 wines for R30, which is deducted if you buy wine. We shared the tasting, as we often do, not to save money but to save wine and our livers

The restaurant

We began with the Sauvignon Blanc, tropical and warm with some semillon added. High acidity and more of a chenin character. Then the 2015 Jezebelle wooded Chardonnay, apples, caramel, long flavours, nice wine. The Pinot Noir, called Seduction, has plums and perfume on the nose, soft earthy fruit, dark wood. Anthelia Shiraz: smoky bacon, vanilla from US oak and soft deep fruit. Satyricon 2012 is a wild and sexy blend of Italian grapes Sangiovese, Barbera, Nebbiolo. The still chalky tannins indicate that it needs more time

And then the Nymphomane 2014, R115, a classic Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec that delighted us. The Cab Franc leads the nose and this wine has everything to offer that it should, but in the future. Definitely one to buy and mature for several years. We risked a case to hide in the back of our cellar

The view from the terrace

And then, suddenly, it was time to race up the hill to Newton Johnson for lunch, cooked by talented chef Eric Bulpitt, where they gave us a table with a view

It is an open kitchen, but not very easy to see from the restaurant

Atmosphere

Guests consulting the chef about the lunch menu

Chef preparing Lynne’s Kabeljou for the sous vide bath

The menu is concise and looks simple, but has something for everyone. We chose the 2 course option and ordered glasses of Newton Johnson wine

First you get the home baked bread. Wicked fritters, whipped lard, very nutty health loaf, glazed rolls and homemade butter filled with some honey - an idea to copy at home. It's a course on its own and comes free of charge

Starter of soft smoked salmon trout, done in the kitchen, with superb deep fried spiced cauliflower - it tasted as if it had been barbequed, really delicious. Cauliflower also came raw and as a puree and there was homemade grainy mustard for an added kick, also given by the mini nasturtium leaves and the green olive oil. Lynne drank a glass of the Newton Johnson Chardonnay with this

Friends at another table had the Soup and Sandwich which one of their children enjoyed

John’s starter was the Chalmar beef tartare, nice cubes of chopped tender beef, with all the required flavours mixed in, topped with potato crisps, and served with pureed and pickled turnip. Sadly, the picture has disappeared

Lynne's main course of Sous Vide butter poached Kabeljou (AKA Kob), a meaty white fish that can grow very large. They warn you that, when it is cooked, it will be slightly translucent and much softer than usual. It was amazing, one of the best fish dishes she has ever eaten and she was not deterred by the soft flesh. It was topped by a thick lemon Hollandaise sauce, perfect foil for the rich fish. and came with rather woody, slightly bitter radishes, and cauliflower greens. She still had her glass of Newton Johnson Southend Chardonnay. You do get a good large pouring

John's main course was tender Pork fillet in a lentil casserole, wonderful deep flavours, reminiscent of cassoulet, served with pommes puree and a Mint salsa verde. He had this with a glass of the Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir

We finished lunch with double espresso and the view of the autumnal vineyards below

The bill

Chef Eric and his wife Celeste coming for a quick chat after lunch

There is always wildlife and good fynbos to see on the hill above the winery. This is a bloukop koggelmander, or blue headed agama lizard

And a baby basking on a hot rock

A lovely day, great wines were tasted and great food was eaten. You do need to book if you want to eat at The Restaurant at Newton Johnson

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A day of tasting in Bot River: Beaumont, Luddite & Manny's Portuguese prawns

As we were in Botrivier, we thought we would visit some of our wine friends in the area. We had just received an email from Beaumont, telling us about their new releases, and we had been meaning to visit Penny and Niels Verburg on Luddite for ages. Appointments were made during the week and off we set on Saturday morning. Lunch was to be at Manny's 'on the plein' in Botrivier - a Portuguese restaurant with great sea food, we were told.

We hadn’t visited the Hermanus market at Hermanuspietersfontein for a few years, so we drove through after breakfast. It has shrunk a lot, but there is still humour about. A vernacular Afrikaans sign which translated says "Smile Madam, our tents are full of happiness "

People arriving for the market. It now has mostly food to eat there, with a small selection of products to take home, like cheese and honey

Seating in the wine cellar and plates ready for food

The morning was chilly, so perhaps people stayed at home Those there seemed to be enjoying the day

Kids playing on the slide and in the sandpit

Perhaps you are getting a bit big for this? We left and headed for Beaumont in Botrivier

where we met our friends, Peter and Michele, who joined us for the wine tasting, ably led by Beaumont's Lynne, who was on duty in the tasting room

Really enjoying the newly bottled 2015 Unwooded Chenin Blanc, full of apple and pineapple flavours, R90 from the farm. Then the Hope Marguerite 2014, R240, their flagship wooded Chenin, made from old vines. It needs time to open up in the glass or in your cellar but, when it does, it’s full of golden fruit layers, smoky oak and very elegant. The 2015 we were allowed to taste, smells of warm linen, it's fresh with lime and apple notes, as good as it ever could be. The wood is holding it, but not over commanding. It has been a great harvest; the wines are going to be sensational, we hear

These were the wines we tasted. The Ariane 2014 (R180) is a Cabernet led Bordeaux blend. It is perfumed with mulberries and cassis and soft wood, silky on the palate with some salty liquorice on the end. We also tasted the 2012 Mourvedre, which has wildness on the nose, savoury and dark with lots of wood. The 2013 Mourvedre is exciting. It has more smoke and vanilla and notes of marzipan, it is full of soft, juicy fruit that gets the juices flowing and is a definite food wine for red meats. Lynne could not resist buying a case and a bottle each of the Ariane, Hope Marguerite and Shiraz Mourvedre. The Vitruvian 2012 is newly released. It's a blend of 42% Mourvedre, 34% Shiraz, 12% of both Pinotage and Cabernet Franc. Roses, cassis and cigar box; soft and chalky tannins with good fruit, but tight. Will be perfect in 6 to 8 years time. We also tasted the Goutte D'or NLH chenin, which is sweet with honey notes

Then we were off round the corner and up the hill to Luddite. We have known the Verburgs for many years, and their wines, but this was the first time we had been to the farm. This is the entrance to the tasting room and the winery

Lovely views looking across Beaumont and Wildekrans to the Babylonstoren

The cellar is below the tasting room

Penny was there to take us through their wines. Niels was playing cricket

A wine barrel floor pattern. The dogs stay outside

More great views from the picture windows

Great packaging. They recently won the award for the best label for the Saboteur red blend

Logs for winter fires and decor

Good paintings too

Their mission statement on every bottle. We found that the 2014 Chenin had slight notes of wet dog and smoky wood and, once it has opened up, has lovely layers of zesty fruit. Needs decanting. It’s from 60 year old bush vines, whole bunch fermented in old barrels and treated like a red wine. No added yeast and sulphur only at the end. Matured in 5th fill barrels. R250

Saboteur was Penny's idea, not associated with Luddite. It's a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet and Mourvedre. They used to put the cabernet into Niels' Cape Winemakers Guild blend and feed the Mourvedre to the guinea fowl, but now, after 10 years, the vines have come into their own, so they blend the two and use new oak and yeast. The first sold out immediately. It's their Julius Malema wine with a red beret, in your face and a 5 star Platter wine. Not closed with a cork, but in a cider bottle topped with a crown cap. Distributed by David Clark. It shows the expensive wood, bruléed sweet and sour fruit, almost cola like with lots of depth and different flavours appearing, like spice, pepper and liquorice. It has a lovely light mouth feel and changes as it opens up. R230

The award

We also tasted their 2011 Shiraz. They are changing from cork to Diam, as they have had too many problems with bad corks. It is a full-on wine, with fruit, alcohol and wood to the fore. Incense and violets on the nose, sweet, savoury and balsamic mulberries and dark plums on the palate, with pepper, bruléed wood at the end, a lovely wine, to mature for 5 to 7 years

Their price list, but some are sold out

Then it was time for lunch in the Plein in Botrivier. The hotel is across the way from Manny’s

The autumn weather was pleasant enough for us to sit out on the terrace

Manny, the owner and chef, is quite a character

The menu is on a blackboard and we were concerned to see that most things were sold out. Manny said not to worry, he could find us some prawns and calamari

The bar and the inside of the restaurant

We did have a bit of a misunderstanding, as Manny thought we were waiting for Penny to join us, so lunch took a very long time to arrive. We comforted ourselves with some of the Luddite wines Penny had opened for the tasting and then given to us. Prawns Calamari and Rice platter

Note the peri peri sauce on the table.

Or you could have Prawns, Calamari and VERY crispy chips. This is how they should be done. Bravo Manny. The price came to R625 with service for four plates. They do not have a licence and don’t charge corkage

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