Thursday, October 27, 2016

Caroline's White Wine Review 2016

The second of Caroline Rillema's annual wine reviews, this showcases her pick of the best White Wines out there, those that have scored highly in the industry with points and awards and wines she likes and sells. It is always a tour de force of amazing wines. We always struggle to taste that many wines, but it is such a good tasting
The Table Bay Hotel is right in the middle of the V&A Waterfront. We stopped off in the shopping centre for a quick bite to eat, as we were in between two wine events
On the hotel’s terrace. Not sure why the seal is wrapped up. It was a warm and sunny day.
An appropriately named wine
John Loubser of Steenberg who was showing their Magna Carta, an exciting Constantia Sauvignon Semillon white blend made by JD Pretorius. Seen here with Gordon Newton Johnson, who was showing his 2015 Whitehall Chardonnay
Boschendal are always great at presentation and friendly presenters. This was their Grande Cuvée Brut MCC 2012
An elderly gent tasting the Charles Fox Blanc de Blanc Brut MCC 2013 watched by Melissa Nelsen, Leon Engelke and Zelda Fox
Also at the table was Melissa Nelsen showing her Genevieve Brut MCC 2012
and another good bubbly, Graham Beck Cuvée Clive 2009 presented by Elbè Nortje and Chloe Canderle
Nadia & David Sadie had their David Aristargos 2015 an interesting white blend of Chenin, Clairette Blanc, Viognier and Semillon
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
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Prescient Chardonnay Report 2016

This annual event (now in its 6th year), sponsored by Prescient, was held this year at Smith Studio, an art gallery in Church Street and there were some really good winners who were awarded the top scores. Judged by Christian Eedes, Roland Peens and James Petersen, they tasted 60 invited wines. The competition is by their invitation only. They score the wines out of 100 and any wine getting over 90 is awarded this accolade. The wines do have more of a drier French slant, rather than some the generous buttery chardonnays that are also delighting the public (there are some, most notably the Tokara). But this is to be expected, as the wines are always tasted by the same three people and obviously they would veer more towards their personal tastes, especially as the wines are invited to enter. All of them are excellent. You will find the list of top Chardonnays on the winemag.co.za web site
The function venue, Smith Studio in Church Street, was a little small and very boxed in
Graham Beck Blanc de blanc 2012 bubbles to begin
Christian Eedes’ business partner Jacqueline Lahoud begins the ceremony
Writing and listening
A very happy Wendy Appelbaum of De Morgenzon with GM and winemaker Carl van de Merwe. She was just off to New York to collect another prestigious award for their wine. The Chardonnay scored 95
Prescient Executive Director Craig Moxford said "The wines last year were very good, how can you top that?" There were several familiar wines that have been top in the competition before, some several times
James Pietersen with two members of the wine media, Malu Lambert and Jeanri Tine van Zyl
The certificates and stickers for the wine bottles
Christian Eedes made the presentations
13 wines scored 91; these are the winners with their certificates
Award ceremony over, the wines are revealed and we can taste them. Richard Kershaw had 4 wines in the top Chardonnay, this Lake District Bokkeveld Shale was the highest scoring of those, with 95 points
There were 4 wines with the top score of 95 points. Richard Kershaw’s, Miles Mossop of Tokara with their splendid wine, Boela Gerber with the Groot Constantia 2015 Chardonnay ,,,,
.... and the De Morgenzon
Sterhuis scored 94
As did the Iona and another from Richard Kershaw
The Kershaw Groenland Mountain scored 93
As did the Hartenberg 2011,
The Eikendal 2015
and one of our favourites, the De Wetshof Bateleur.
and the Delaire Graff Banghoek Reserve and, for the fourth time, the Uva Mira
Rebecca Constable of Woolworths with Bennie Stipp, Marketing Director from De Wetshof, who looks delighted
Boela Gerber of Groot Constantia chatting to Rebecca Constable
Francois Rautenbach of Singita with winemaker Andries Burger of Paul Cluver
Brad Paton of Buitenverwachting scored 90 for his Chardonnay

Rose Jordaan of Bartinney, happy with her 91 for the Hourglass

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
Posted by MENU at 5:35 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Ocean Basket's new Mediterranean menu at Camps Bay

Ocean Basket had contacted us to come and try out this new menu and what better time to go than after a three day break in Robertson area. Lynne didn't have to cook supper and the drive to Camps Bay was quick, once we had greeted the cats and unpacked our car at home
They gave us a lovely table upstairs next to the window, so we could watch the sunset
An unlabelled bottle of Chamonix' soon to be released 2015 white blend, which was a gift from the winemaker, went with us and was a great match to the sea food.
Fish traps turned into lampshades is a cool idea
Our very attentive waiter Sbu Moyo took good care of us
We ordered two starters. Lynne began with the crumbed prawns with a herb mayo. Nice and crisp, but the tartar sauce was pourable rather than a dipping sauce. Dill and parsley flavours we think?
John had the mussels in tomato sauce. When it came to the table it smelled just like Heinz tomato soup, but it tasted very good with a great kick of chilli. The mussels were big and plumptious. John enjoyed them and said that he would order them again
Main course time and Lynne ordered the Greek Mezze platter, not realising it was a starter for two. It is generous. There is tzatziki and taramasalata, olives and feta, fresh tomato wedges,cucumber slices, lovely tender baby squid and nice crispy tentacles. The dips do need some warm pita bread. Sadly, the crumbed halloumi came cold. It needs to be meltingly hot inside
John chose the salmon trout in a clam sauce. He asked for it to be just seared but, sadly, the kitchen was sticking to their policy of everything coming in a very hot pan so, by the time it reached our table, it was overcooked and dry. They also have to check that the trout has been properly deboned, This one wasn't. The sauce is good, the chips exceptionally crisp as requested
Only John had room for dessert and ordered the chocolate lava pudding. It was warm and oozed chocolate lava with a good side serving of vanilla ice cream

Go and try some of the Mediterranean additions to the menu for yourself.
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
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Monday, October 24, 2016

Robertson Wine on the River 2016

Two days of the Robertson Wine on the River Festival
We and many of our fellow media colleagues really favour this festival. Held on the banks of the Breede River in the middle of vineyards, they put up lots of marquees and you get to sample the wares of the Robertson valley over three day. We went on Saturday and Sunday and had a marvellous time, although Saturday was perhaps a bit young and rather crowded for us. Sunday is calmer and more relaxed. We like bumping into many of our readers and like to see lots of you enjoying yourself at these festivals
Building bricks of wine
A warm Saturday at the entrance
Places to sit and enjoy the wines and the river
Clever dad. But who's got the baby?
Springfield is always one of the most popular stands with their great range of wines
Klein Constantia tasting room manager Alan Wickstrom and his wife. A busman's holiday? But they had fun
I think he wants some more....
Colyn Truter was kept busy opening bottles and talking to the customers on the Arendsig stand
Paul René Bubbly is very French in character and was very popular too
They will be hosting an event on the 5th of November that sounds fun
There is always a big crowd on Saturday
This lovely young lady was as captivated as we were with the wines on the Quando stand. We took a case of Rosé and their white Chenin Viognier blend home, such great summer drinking and very reasonably priced
Charmaine Delgado of De Wetshof had several of their impressive Chardonnays to taste
A happy and very busy Bernhard Hess of Mimosa Lodge in Montagu, serving tastes of their wines on their stand. The sushi and prawns they were serving were probably the most popular food options and they sold out on both days
His wife Fida had the heavy task of coping with all those food orders which she manages with such organisation
Come in number 345
When they see John's camera, everyone wants a photo taken. Old friends Goolam and Denise Essop and a friend
This is what we are all here for, good wine and lunch on the side of the river
Trips by tractor through the vineyards
Angela Fourie, PRO from Durbanville Valley, celebrating with Beatrix Galloway,Wine Route Manager for the Robertson Wine Valley 
King of the jungle? Falling to bits with moth eaten lion. Not sure this is roadworthy. A sad reminder of John’s time with the Volvo rally crew in the 70s
We began Sunday in the tent for a guided tasting of the MCC's of the valley
led by Henk van Niekerk of Paul René. Nice backdrop! and great bubblies. We tasted the Paul René Blanc de Blanc and Brut Rosé, Villon Blanc de Blanc from Viljoensdrift, Philip Jonker’s The Ring Blanc de Blanc from Weltevrede, Jacques Breuer 2010 Blanc de Blanc Brut Reserve from Bon Courage and the Graham Beck Brut Rosé
His bright and funny son had us amused as we tasted
Smile for the camera Mummy! He has it off pat
Spring vines and fynbos across the river
Walking on water, no, fishing and crossing the weir
Riverside rushes
Holiday homes on the side of the Breede River at Viljoensdrift, what a lovely place to come and chill.
Chatting during the tasting
An affair to remember
One tasting followed another and we stayed for the next one, which was Pinot Noirs and Merlots from the Valley. These are the first four, Pinots
The tastings are very popular and a lot of fun
Newald Marais of Kranskop (he was the winemaker at Nederburg for several years) took us through the 8 red wines
The tractor tour crossing the weir. Yes it does look weird
Sunday was a cloudy but warm day
Reflecting on Pinot
The four Merlots we tasted
The river does look very full this year, but they are worried about the drought continuing
More family orientated on Sunday with more space
Time for some lunch and some of that sushi. We copped the very last order
Old mates Johan de Wet and Takuan von Arnim with Christiane von Arnim, enjoying the festival
Time for some Biltong with Dave and Claudé Regester
lunch - Sushi and a pesto chicken wrap
Where did you get that hat?
Nice one!
Girls having fun. Gera de Wet and Christiane von Arnim
Lynne with a grateful fan
Hmm. No she doesn't, she's a very early riser and hard worker
It’s Bonita Malherbe, who used to run the festival when she worked for Robertson Wine Valley. Now, as Marketing manager at Van Loveren, she is constantly busy. Here she was trying to raise money for charity and she managed to raise the most money on the day
I'm saying nothing
Messy people, there are plenty of bins and yes, all the bottles are recycled, we saw a huge tractor load going off site the following day
Pool party above the weir
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
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