Sunday
broke fair and fine and off we went to the Biltong and Pinotage Festival at L'Avenir, sponsored by Joubert and Monty Biltong. Lots of the South African Pinotages
from top producers could be tasted and many farms brought along a couple of
other wines. There were two wineries to each stand and they shared a biltong
pairing
You received a card on entry and, each time you
tasted the main pinotage, or the biltong pairing, the card was stamped to show
you had done that. But many extra wines could be tasted free. We had a lot of
fun
L’Avenir has huge lawns and the stands were set up
on them
There were a few food offerings, but not terribly
inspiring. This stand had Belgian Waffles
Two food trucks, one serving Pizza and the other
hotdogs or hamburgers ,beef wraps, sausage rolls and chips
We decided to begin with white wines or bubbly and
enjoyed the Beyerskloof Chenin white Pinotage blend the most
Chatting with the staff about the wine
The group was great, we would invite them to any
festival or function we attended. They played a laid back selection of great
music and tailored it to fit the locale. Sting's Illegal Alien was amusingly
adapted to "I'm a refugee in Franschhoek"!
They even played a good Irish jig and a few of us
could not be constrained and tried out a few steps a la Riverdance. Well ....
nearly
Pierre Wahl and his wife from Rijks in Tulbagh had a lovely
selection to try. This sort of quality wine made the festival so worthwhile
There were shade tents and a fair amount of places
to sit, or on the lawn
We wanted something lighter for lunch, so went
across the road to Morgenhof
John ordered his favourite, the sesame chicken
salad. This is the huge main course portion; you can order it as a starter, which he should have done
Anne ordered the Tapas plate with a huge selection
of interesting bites
Lynne had the smoked salmon salad with chips, topped
with a caper mayonnaise
It is lovely under the shaded pergola of vines. They
are fresh and green in the summer, but autumn is upon us
Back to taste more Pinotage. We started on the Anura
stand
Then to Altydgedacht
A sandpit for the children
Enjoying Mummy's company while she works on the Remhoogte
stand
You were given a toothpick with a couple of pieces
of biltong for each Pinotage you tasted. It is good biltong, but not all the
flavours match the wine. And there was lots of discussion at the festival about
flavoured biltong, especially lemon and herb or red pepper flavours. The salami
style thin sausage has a very intense and salty taste. We saw that many people
did not do pairings, but collected their different biltongs in a paper bag to
eat later. We eventually did the same as there is only so much biltong you want
to eat in one afternoon. We do see it as a good way for Joubert and Monty to
introduce people to their different biltong flavours. More biltong could be
sliced and bought to take home.
Shadows lengthen and the afternoon wears on
Marketing Manager Barend Barnard of L’Avenir with
adoring fans
Lewellyn of Chamonix
The wines on offer at Rhebokskloof. Winemaker
Francois Naude has been involved with making their Pinotage and was their first
winemaker at L’Avenir; they are both outstanding
No one can resist Retrievers and they love the
attention, such good natured dogs
and very social dogs
Beyers Truter with friends
We were introduced to Beyers' new beer, Pinotale
which is made for Beyerskloof by Red Sky Brewers We really enjoyed it
Barend with Zelda Furstenburg, Sales Manager of
Lanzerac, enjoying their Pinotage
No one was in a hurry to go home, it was so laid
back
©
John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
