Sign the petition! Stop sand mining in the Swartland. PLEASE!

The South African wine community is in a state of shock. An application for sand mining rights in the Paardeberg area of the Swartland has been approved by the Malmesbury municipality. If this is allowed to go ahead, some of the country's best wine producers will be very badly affected, if not ruined. These include Eben Sadie, the Mullineuxs, Adi Badenhorst, Vondeling, David and Nadia and Lammershoek. 

PLEASE go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/protect-the-paardeberg and sign the petition against this travesty

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017

Celebrating the Harvest at Jordan

Glorious summer brings on the grape harvest in our winelands and many farms are celebrating their success. We hear that this harvest is generally a good one, despite the drought; grapes are smaller, but the juice is very concentrated, with good sugar and acids. We were invited to Jordan with other media people this week to taste some of the juice, the newly fermenting wine and last year's bottled wine and we were very impressed

A welcoming glass of Jordan's Chameleon Rosé was appreciated by all

Gary and Kathy Jordan with Den Anker's owner Elizabeth de Visscher and manager, Réjeanne Vlietman

Gary and Kathy Jordan welcomed us and talked about what is happening on the farm. This is the worst drought for 100 years. Thankfully, Jordan drilled for water 3 years ago, but even that water has to be used sparingly or the boreholes will dry up. Harvest began on the 2nd of February, coincidentally the day on which Jan van Riebeek made the first wine in the Cape in 1659. Jordan starts later because the ±400m altitude of their vineyards meansd that they have a cooler environment than most Stellenbosch estates. This is a cooler year than we have had for some time, with temperatures about 1.5⁰C lower. They have, so far, been spared from the fires that have devastated other wine growing areas

Winemaker Sjaak Nelson's Harvest 2017 T-shirt tells it all: WTF - Wine Time Finally

As we stood in the cellar noises of wine being made were all around us. As they brought in the grapes, the crusher and destemmer were ready to work and tanks were being vented

The best bit, a chance to taste the ripe grapes, the juice and newly fermenting wines, with some of last year's wines to show what the juice can become. We could also smell some of the fermenting yeasts that are used - they are in the chemistry flasks - rather bready and complex, but they do their job so well. We tasted the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc and the unoaked 2016 Chardonnay

Kathy talks about the journey from grape to glass

Gary talks about the chemistry

Jordan shoes?

Time to taste some wine

We moved to the terrace, where tables were set for us under the trees

Happy with harvest

A view of the dam and the country beyond

A taste of the Real McCoy 2016 Riesling

and a shot of chilled Gazpacho. The food for lunch came from the Jordan Bakery

We shared platters of meat, cheese, olives and relishes

and two salads. A Bacon and broccoli with seeds

A beetroot, feta, rocket and sliced onion salad. Great on a hot day

The trees give a lot of good shade

The barman, named Talent, looked after our glasses very well

Oh, those lovely views

With coffee, a tempting selection from the bakery of small bites of their desserts: chocolate tarts, cheese cake, lemon tart, brownies, chocolate covered strawberries and apple pie

All are available at the bakery to eat there or take home

Gary brings out his rock collection of some of the different terroirs on the farm. He started his working life as a geologist

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This week's MENU. Franschhoek Summer Wines, Haskell wines with lunch at La Mouette, Tokyo Garden Sushi Menu for two, This week’s MENU recipe. Lamb shanks in red wine, MENU’s Wine of the Week. Nabygelegen Seventeen Twelve 2006 vintage

Tourists enjoying a boat ride on Hout Bay

•       Franschhoek Summer Wines
•       Haskell wines with lunch at La Mouette
•       Kyoto Garden Sushi Menu for two
•       This week’s MENU recipe. Lamb shanks in red wine
•       MENU’s Wine of the Week. Nabygelegen Seventeen Twelve 2006 vintage

We wish you all the love in the world on this Valentine’s Day

We are enjoying the most glorious summer weather while our friends in Europe tell us that it is still very cold and their landscapes are covered in snow in many places. Snow means water and that is the one thing we need, so we are a bit jealous. We are doing our best to reduce our consumption and it seems to be working. Our most recent water bill shows a consumption over 33 days of 7kl at a cost of R7.11. The little bit of water we harvest from the shower, washing machine and kitchen sink goes to keep the little bit of garden we have left hanging on by the proverbial finger nails. Pray for good winter rain

Franschhoek Summer Wines     What a lovely festival this is. It showcases the Franschhoek wines you might want to drink in the summer: their bubblies, white wines and some rosés. It was held at under marquees on the lawn at Leopard’s Leap, where the farms set up their stalls to showcase the one wine that each was allowed, appropriate to the day. 26 Franschhoek farms were represented; the wines were chilled, so were the visitors and much happiness ensued. We tasted, chatted to the farms’ representatives, had a light lunch and bought some wine to take home. White was the cooling theme and a white tented world welcomed us...

Haskell wines with lunch at La Mouette     A summer lunch with great wines which were very skilfully paired with the food. Time to start lunch and taste the wine with the food...

Kyoto Garden Sushi Menu for two     We do enjoy being guinea pigs when restaurants want to try out a new menu or idea. This week we were invited to Kyoto Gardens to sample the new Menu for 2 which they will be launching soon. There are not many authentic Japanese restaurants in Cape Town.....

This week’s MENU recipe. Lamb shanks in red wine

Lamb has become so expensive that we now reserve it for only special meals and the recipe needs to be good. We love Lamb shanks and sometime we find these more reasonably priced than other premium cuts of meat. Long slow cooking while we are working is something Lynne appreciates and this recipe was very good. We hope you like it. Do use a robust red wine. The quality of the wine will reflect in the dish

2 T oil or coconut oil - 4 whole lamb shanks - salt & freshly ground pepper - 3 carrots, sliced - 1 large onion, sliced - 2 T seasoned flour - 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped - 2 bay leaves - 3 or 4 small sprigs of rosemary - 600 ml red wine - 2 cups good lamb or beef stock - 1 tablespoon soft brown sugar -

Preheat your oven to 160⁰C

Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper. In a large oven proof casserole, brown the lamb shanks on all sides in the oil; remove from the pan and put aside and keep warm

In the same casserole, put in the carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaves and rosemary. Stir and cook slowly until nicely coloured. Add the seasoned flour and stir into the vegetables so it absorbs the fats and juices. Then pour in the red wine, beef stock, and brown sugar and bring to a low boil, stirring all the time to deglaze the pan. Put the lamb shanks back into the casserole and top up with water; they should be submerged.

Cover the casserole with its lid and put into the oven and cook for 2½ to 3 hours until very tender. Check every hour to see that they are not drying out. Top up with more water and wine if they are looking too dry. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the lamb and vegetables to a serving dish. Reduce the sauce if it is a bit thin. It is great if served with mashed potatoes and peas. If you have leftovers, it makes a very good shepherd's pie topped with the left over mash

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Nabygelegen Seventeen Twelve 2006 vintage

This is the robust wine we used in the Lamb Shank recipe and there was enough left over to have two glasses with it. We are so pleased we have more because it was superb. It is a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot

We would not have expected an 11 year old wine still to be so fresh and full of ripe berry fruit. It has held everything, the fruit, the acid, the wood and the chalky tannin all melding together to make a very enjoyable wine. You can still buy it from the farm, the current release is 2014. Well done James McKenzie. http://www.nabygelegen.co.za/our-wines/

14th February 2017
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

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. This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.

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Haskell Vineyards media tasting of Syrahs with lunch at La Mouette

We were invited to a pairing of Haskell wines with lunch at La Mouette. A summer lunch with great wines, which were very skilfully paired with the food

La Mouette (the Seagull) on a sunny midday. It is on Regent Road in Sea Point

We were taken upstairs for this event. We began with a glass of their Dombeya range’s excellent Chardonnay; buttery citrus, with depth and long fruit

Canapés served were a tuna tartare on a rye taco and the famous La Mouette Truffle croquette

PRO Nicolette Waterford and Greg Landman having a quick hug and gossip

A happy Dr Winnie Bowman CWM

Time to start lunch and taste the wine with the food

Writer Malu Lambert with Winnie Bowman

Haskell CEO Grant Dodd tells us about the Haskell wines to be paired with lunch

The menu

La Mouette is owned by Chef Henry Vigar and his wife Mari. Henry explained the menu. We have great respect for them. You may not know that they were the highest earners for StreetSmart SA www.streetsmartsa.org.za last year. How do they do it? Yes, they are very popular and have very generous customers who do not mind them adding R5 to every bill. But Lynne learned from Mari that she very generously adds another R5 to each donation. Well done!

Art on the wall - some old restaurant order slips!

The first wine is the Anvil 2015 Chardonnay. All Haskell wines served were single vineyard varietals. Full on the nose, with minerality and butter, elegantly full on the palate, citrus clean with wet stone minerality and a dry finish. Made to last and it will. French Burgundy in style, some malolactic character and 50% new oak

Service which was efficient and quick, begins

Winemaker Rianie Strydom tells us about the wine

Scribes tasting and writing

First course to pair with the Anvil were two Fontina filled raviolis with a tomato truffle dressing and crisp parmesan crumb. The creaminess of the rich Fontina cheese which made the wine taste richer and creamier and the crisp stony taste & texture of the parmesan crumbs made the pairing work so well

Three Shirazes followed. With the second course the Haskell Hades 2014. The rocky vineyard is hell to farm on, hence the name, but produces very rewarding wines. Wine is all about structure and flavour said Len Evans, the famous Australian wine maker. It has a blockbuster nose, spicy with mulberries, white pepper and a slight lactic note. On the palate it's a kick of spicy fruit and acid with cheeky tannins. Mulberries, plums and Rhubarb with Masala spices, long flavours ending in ground black pepper and coffee

Hades was paired with a Chalmar sirloin, tender and pink to perfection with crisp coated bone marrow, a creamy cauliflower puree, confit red onions

and a café au lait sauce

with a dusting of black pepper

We all had lots of catching up to do after the long summer break

Caught by surprise. Philip van Zyl Editor of the John Platter Guide.

Rianie talking to Christine Rudman and Wade Bales

Discussing the finer points? Richard Holmes, Chris von Ulmenstein and Fiona McDonald

The fourth wine was the Haskell Pillars 2013 Syrah, herbal on the nose and palate, with hot spices and lovely rich red berry fruit.  This was paired with a roasted loin of lamb with a rich aubergine puree, salsa verde that so echoed the herbs in the wine, good supporting potato gnocchi and house-made ricotta. Here is broadcaster Guy MacDonald enjoying the pairing. We were also given the 2007 to taste. Identifiably the same wine, but it was richer and deeper on the nose, redolent with spices, it powered down in the glass over time

The final wine was the Haskell Aeon 2013 Syrah, full of stony minerality and incense wood on the nose, rather cellar like too. Minty, with rich soft plum sweetness, the layers 'ping' on the palate as they develop. Chef Henri really depicted the wine on the plate of the last course. Roasted plums with a plum puree, a filo crisp and a port reduction with an Aged Dalewood Superlatif Brie. They sang in chorus together

Alan Mullins of Woolworths chats to Haskell winemaker Rianie Strydom

Clifford Roberts enjoying a last wine

Christian Eedes of winemag.co.za asking some questions

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