Hemel-en-Aarde Wines Classic Chardonnay Celebration

South African Chardonnay has been through ups and downs in popularity and quality over the last 20 years and, thankfully, now seems to be firmly entrenched as one of our best producing noble varieties, as long as wood is used judiciously. But is it better grown in some areas of the Cape than others? We were invited to this Celebration last weekend and certainly it does shine in the Hemel and Aarde Valley with quality, great purity of fruit and finesse. Regardless of which part of the valley it is grown in, it thrives and produces great wines if handled correctly and this the valley is doing

In need of a large venue, the Hemel-en-Aarde Wine Growers’ Association found one outside the valley in Voëlklip, a five star luxury property with plenty of space and a lovely site, The Thatch House. It is midway between Voëlklip at the end of Hermanus and Stanford, on the lagoon

There were two levels for the tasting. You could come along and picnic on the lawn and do an informal tasting of wine on the terrace, or you could do what we did, the formal guided tasting inside the hall, followed by lunch outside around the pool

Tables and chairs or blankets and cushions were provided. as well as umbrellas

The views from the lawn are lovely

A brisk wind, good for sailing, calmed down later in the day. The jetty got a little wet

Winemakers making sure their wines were on their stations for the informal tasting and picnic

Canapés on arrival for the guided tasting were pork and cape gooseberry sticks...

... and pear and blue cheese slices

Claudia 2010 MCC from Domaine des Dieux was the welcome bubbly

Nice generous glasses poured by Megan Parnell of Domaine des Dieux. Lynne chatting to Gordon Newton Johnson

We take our places for the guided tasting.  All the wines are from  the 2015 vintage, which is turning out to be a really great one, especially for white wines and Chardonnay.  It is difficult to express how good the tasting was without going into overdrive on adjectives. These wines will win awards and international recognition, some have already.  Seldom have we been privileged to taste such a great bouquet of clarity, quality and finessed Chardonnays from one area and been so impressed. Our average score for the 12 wines was 17.5 and there was one 19 and five 18s.  Hemel en Aarde surely can count itself as one of South Africa's major Chardonnay producing areas

The wines from the three wards: Hemel en Aarde Valley, Upper Hemel en Aarde Valley and Hemel en Aarde Ridge are incredibly good and are beginning to win major local and international awards. Several of the winemakers are members of the Cape Winemakers Guild

This is a list of scores awarded by Tim James MW, one of Britain's leading wine writers and judges on international wines, and Wine correspondent for the Observer

add @@@ from below here This was a box of one Chardonnay from each the 10 farms participating which was on a silent auction. Every bottle was signed by the winemaker. the proceeds of the auction will go to the Ellen Gordon Community school

Dieter Odendaal, Sales and marketing manager of Creation, starts the tasting

Chairman of the Hemel-en-Aarde Wine Growers’ Association, Peter Clarke, said: “The valley has the finest grapes, water, great soil, climate and big characters. It is wonderful the results the winemakers have been achieving. We must celebrate the achievements of the others as that brings us strength". He has great enjoyment interacting with them

Dr Winnie Bowman CWM said: "It is an exciting journey for Chardonnay, especially in 2015 which is a great vintage. South African Chardonnays are winning Trophies or high awards in international competitions, making sure SA wines are recognised in the wine world. 79 entries for Chardonnay in Platter this year 17 got 5 stars, four are from the valley. Kevin Grant from Ataraxia says that, formerly, Chardonnay was avoided. ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) was the buzz word, but now it stands for Absolutely Brilliant Chardonnay.

Anthony Hamilton Russell told us that this is the first time the valley has sat down together and tasted all the chardonnays. The three appellations have real and positive differences which are highly desirable and show expression of place

Gordon Newton Johnson introduced his Chardonnay

The packed hall

Four winemakers from the valley waiting to pour their wines: Emul Ross of Hamilton Russell, Reino Thiart of Bottega Family Wines, Gordon Newton Johnson and Hannes Storm

The tasting finished, we moved to the outside terrace for lunch

Natalie Opstaele of Almenkerk chats with Anne Wessels of Restless River

One the verandah, all the wines were available to taste. These ladies were showing the Bouchard Finlayson 2014 Missionvale Chardonnay

Nathalia Ventura with the Storm Chardonnay

The busy outside tables and the picnickers

Kevin Grant was abroad on business but his Ataraxia Chardonnay showed very well. This was a barrel sample of the unreleased 2016, hence the inexpensive screw top bottle

Extra food available for the picnickers

"I love my Granny!"

Chocolate anyone?

Creation wine being poured into the sensible glasses provided for the picnic. Stems don’t work on the lawn

Anne Wessels from Restless River showing their wine

Newton Johnson, poured for guests

Roberto Bottega from Whalehaven had their 1996 and 2016 Chardonnays to taste

The guided tasting and lunch wines

Good friends of ours, Dr Peter Roos and Michele Guttler were also having a great time

Our lunch menu. The food was made by Chefs Madre and Tullishe and paired with Chardonnay

Gordon Newton Johnson produced a huge rabbit out of his hat, a 5 litre jeroboam of Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2012, here being enjoyed by Deon Oliver and Kara Miller

Winemakers Gordon and Nadia Newton Johnson 

and that bottle, which was shared around all the tables, much enjoyed and yes, it was finished

The starter of mushrooms in aspic jelly and Banting seed crackers

John got the Banting crackers with cheese and olives instead

The main course of Geelbek (Cape Salmon). Never has Lynne enjoyed Cape Salmon this much, it was so moist and tender, it can be dry and rather gamey. It was in an absolutely superb saffron seafood sauce. The dish was topped with three arancini rice balls

Dessert was that "dropped on the floor" (their description) crème brulée with hazelnut brittle and berries. It was a bit curdled but tasted fine. Obviously difficult to transport? Ah deconstruction, when will it end?

Enjoying the day were Peter Finlayson of Bouchard Finlayson, Johnnie and Dr Winnie Bowman

We don't think anyone jumped in the pool. We left at 3.30. to reach our overnight destination in Paarl, shower and change and arrive at the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year function in Franschhoek at 6. It's a long way away. We were only 15 minutes late

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Lunch at Glenelly's new Bistro "The Vine" with a tasting of the wines

Christophe Dehosse has recently opened his Bistro at Glenelly and we were invited for lunch to see what he is doing, sample the food and taste the Glenelly wines with Cellarmaster Luke O'Cuinneagain. Glenelly is owned by Lady May-Éliane de Lencquesaing who fell in love with South Africa on a visit and subsequently bought the farm. She wanted to start from scratch and aims to make the best wines the land can produce, using only grapes grown on Glenelly. She was previously the owner and manager of the esteemed 2nd growth Wine estate Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Pauillac in Bordeaux, which was sold in 2004 to Louis Roederer. She trained in Oenology at the age of 35. She is now 91 and amazing for her age. She is one of our icons

Some canapés: Really well made salmon trout gravadlax, tiny cornichon, a duck liver mousse, some Parma ham and some savoury cannelés of Bordeaux topped with olive pesto (these are made with a batter enriched with rum and vanilla. They also appeared later as dessert, soaked in syrup)

The Glenelly tasting room

The front of the bar is made from beautiful grey granite taken from the farm. It is soon to be in-filled with black granite to make it more visible.

Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts talking to Luke. The tasting room has wonderful views of Ida's Valley

The amusing Glenelly logo depicts owner Lady May-Éliane de Lencquesaing astride a rhino, clutching one of the most precious glasses from her extensive and valuable collection. This will soon be on display in the Glass Collection museum on the farm. Arthur explained that the rider depicts elegance and moving forward with balance. The glass is rare and the rhino is African - Glenelly

Admiring the view. The farm nestles into the valley which is at the foothills of the Simonsberg mountains. They are lucky enough to have vines with many different aspects. And they are beautifully maintained by viticulturist Heinrich Louw

When Lady May bought the farm, it only grew fruit. Now it has 60 hectares of vines. She began planting the grapes in 2003 and the first wines were made in 2008

Chatting with Chef Christophe Dehosse and Arthur de Lencquesaing, one of Lady May's grandsons, who is now responsible for marketing. His brother Nicolas is responsible for Sales

We begin the wine tasting with Luke. We tasted the unoaked 2012 Chardonnay, full of lees and melons, with long crisp flavours of lime and butter. "It is just beginning to drink well now," says Luke "and it ages well, as do most South African white wines". Glenelly are putting more and more wines away to ages including white wines. They find the Asian markets focus on texture more than on aromatics. The barrel fermented 2014 Chardonnay which is 100% malolactic fermented has clean rich golden fruit, a whiff of smoke and a silky buttery mouth feel with crisp limes and lemons, some warmth and a long ending of butter

Arthur talked to us while we tasted the reds. First was the 2014 Glass Collection Syrah, a spicy deep and rich wine that needs a lot of time for the fruit and the chalky tannins to soften. The 2014 Merlot has molasses, dark toasted wood, black cherries on the nose and palate. long cherry flavours, some maraschino too also needs several years./ The Glass Collection 2014 Cabernet Franc has nice savoury umami and smoke on the nose, with minerality, perfume and prunes.. Its acids are softer and the long flavours and soft tannins make this accessible. The 2014 Glenelly Cabernet Sauvignon came next and is classic filled with cassis berries and leaves. On the palate is has a very good cassis base, long and elegant with chalky softness and dark toasted end

Then the 2011 Glenelly Reserve - an old school claret in style. It is a blend of 36% Syrah 34% Cabernet 20% Merlot and 10% Petite Verdot. They used 35% new French oak. Incense wood, umami and cinnamon with some cooked berries and rhubarb on the complex ethereal layered nose. Soft fruit on the plate then structure takes over. Fruit acids and grippy tannins and a very attractive long finish. It is made to last and be a great wine

Then came the Lady May 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon. It is so sophisticated with a red velvet nose with superb cassis, cherries, milk chocolate and coffee mocha wood, some herbs and green leaves with violets on the end. 85% Cabernet 10% Petite Verdot 5% Merlot.. It begins soft as silk then the inbuilt cheek gripping tannins and long chalky mouth feel take over, as they should on a wine made to last. Sour sweet cherries and cassis. This wine has legs and will travel far. "They are seeking the best expression the wines can show on this farm" says Arthur

The line up of wines we tasted

Time for lunch. The restaurant is below the tasting room and has good outdoor seating and great views

We had lots of questions for Arthur

Chef Christophe comes to tell us about lunch - he was giving us a selection of starters from the menu, so we could try some of the different dishes, a main course and a selection of desserts.. Lunch was served family style, except for the main course.

The current menu. This will change according to seasonal availability of the best produce

Franschhoek Trout gravadlax with baby beetroot and a sweet dill dressing

Fresh seasonal white asparagus with a lemon dressing, a tomato, herb and onion salad and a parmesan crisp

Tuna tartare on a crisp vegetable salad, samphire and a lemon and soya dressing

We loved the duck and pistachio galantine served with fig chutney, cornichon pickles and golden buttery toasted brioche,  The starters were accompanied by the two Chardonnays

The main course was perfectly medium rare fillet steak, baby carrots & fennel, and mushrooms with a creamy mashed potato and a really good wine jus. Alongside the fillet was a sweetbread which sadly many did not eat. It is a challenging ingredient even for us. The main course was accompanied by the Lady May 2008 Reserve - a lovely wine, so suited to food, especially red meat with a good jus

Then for the dessert selection. First a warm oozy chocolate biscuit served with wine poached pears and Chantilly cream. Several people fought over this dessert it was so good

A cheese platter for those who prefer a savoury ending to lunch. All artisanal South African cheeses. Yes that frilly stuff IS cheese, not raw cauliflower, and rather nice medium soft cheese. The wine served with dessert was the 2010 Shiraz

Cannelé doused with fynbos honey and accompanied by caramelised pineapple (lovely) and rooibos tea ice cream (great if you enjoy rooibos). Most people didn't know what cannelé were, so those of us who did ate them all. They are light and buttery with a batter consistency and they take syrup on board excellently.

A trio of really good ice cream and sorbet. The red berry sorbet was simply divine

PRO Posey Hazell, who organised the day, with some magnificent pink roses from Glenelly's garden. A most enjoyable day. We hope to return soon to see the Glass Collection and bring friends to dine in the restaurant. Christophe is still involved in his Joostenberg restaurant, he has a very good chef in charge there running it

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016