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Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Lunch at The Restaurant, Newton Johnson Estate, Hemel en Aarde Valley

Following our stay at Wildekrans Lodge, we all dispersed and went for lunch in the area before heading home. We had booked a table at Newton Johnson for 1pm and were given a great table with the best view

The restaurant filled up nicely. There was a family birthday party for an 89 year old Mum and behind us some international wine people tasting at the table before having some lunch, amongst others

We had a lot of wine over the weekend and were looking for something easy to drink with our lunch choices, which are always varied. What better than Newton Johnson's Felicité Rosé made from Pinot Noir; light and fruity, such a good wine to share over a Sunday lunch

Talented young Chef Rickey Broekhoven has worked with both Eric Bulpitt and George Jardine and you will always get some good bread and something interesting to spread on it. The soft sourdough bread had a good crust and the whipped lard was scattered with baby pickled pine cones!

The menu is small and concise, but there is something for every taste

Lynne chose the Duck crème caramel, a rich and creamy smooth duck pate resembling foie gras in richness, topped with dark caramelised onions, thyme and crisp toasted ciabatta. It was superb and John was a bit envious

He chose the Pork Croquettes, with house made sauerkraut, mustard and an apple puree. More the size of bitter ballen and with lots of shredded pork inside the crisp breadcrumb coating

Chef Ricky at the pass dressing some of the fish with butterbeans

John chose the Chalmar sirloin, well seared on the open fire, but perfectly medium rare and pink in the middle and very tender. It was dressed with seared onions, a creamed onion soubise sauce and roasted celeriac and topped off with a good meat jus. We had never had roasted celeriac before; it will be added to our repertoire once we can find some of this lovely root for sale

Yes we did order the irresistible hand cut fries with roast garlic aioli and yes, we did have to take them home in a doggie bag as our eyes were too big for our stomachs

Lynne had the perfectly Pan seared Kabeljou fish, crisp, nutty and golden on one side and moist on the other, with Parmentier cubed potatoes, freshly picked broad beans from the cover crop in the vineyards, rochers of tart lemon cream and mint, with foraged dune cabbage and a good jus beneath. So enjoyable, so complete

All we could manage next was a double espresso each before heading home. It is a beautiful green valley at the moment with the broad beans between the young vines. We had such good service from our waitress Anne Davison

The bill

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Sommeliers Selection 2017 Cape Town tasting

We were recently at the Sommeliers’ Selection announcements in Stellenbosch, this week we had a chance to taste them all at The Stack in Gardens. And what a popular tasting it was with members of the restaurant and hotel fraternity, the wine trade and media. You can see the 2017 Sommeliers Selection here: . http://www.thesommeliersselection.co.za/2017/06/the-sommeliers-selection2017.html

Caroline Rillema is one of our most successful specialist wine merchants, with shops (Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar) in Strand Street in Cape Town and in Tokai. Her White Wine Review will be held at the Table Bay Hotel on the 19th of October. http://www.carolineswine.com Book now at Computicket. Sharing the table was Arco Laarman

She was showing her Celestina Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon 2016, complex and delicious with a hint of Semillon's mutton fat on the clean palate, a real food wine. Arco was showing his 2016 Cluster Chardonnay, made from cool climate Elgin grapes, so full of green apple and limes, very elegant on the nose, and tropical with guava and pineapple on the palate

It always turns into a social evening; with good wines to taste, the chat flows

Beer is also on the Sommeliers’ Selection List, shown by Bruce Collins from Stellenbrau in Stellenbosch. John tastedthe Eike Stout, dark and creamy, lighter than Guinness, but delicious with a hint of licorice

John Loubser of Silverthorn and his Jewel Box Brut MCC with Jacqueline Lahoud of Winemag.co.za. We are always happy to mention that John's Mèthode Cap Classique wines are some of our favourites, so lean, elegant and carefully made

Monica and Henk van Niekerk of Paul René wines in Robertson were showing their MCC which is very French in character

Two of the Art of Creation wines we were privileged to taste recently when we visited Creation in the Hemel and Aarde - the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay

Having a busy time were Trevor Kidd of The Drinks Company and Rianie Strydom of Haskell Vineyards

We spent far too much time tasting the white wines and, as it became darker and chillier, we ventured inside and upstairs to sample more of the wines

A good way for Sommeliers and wine makers to end the evening, on the terrace with some good wine

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Friday, October 06, 2017

This Week's MENU. Creation pairing menu, Karibu, Longridge, Michelangelo Awards, CWG Auction, brandy pud, Longridge Emily

Wheat fields near Caledon, Western Cape

Life’s a buzz, especially right now. Lynne has been saying that she doesn’t know when she will need to cook again, we are out so often; John says he longs for a home-cooked meal. This weekend will be a longish one, with our wine club in a favourite region. Next week, we'll tell you of lunch with a favourite winemaker, the rebirth of an iconic restaurant, Sommeliers' best wines and another great restaurant, so read this week’s stories and come back next week...

We have been producing MENU for many years, in which we have written about many interesting things. You can find them all in the Blog Archive in the right hand column of our blog page and in the Previous MENUs page on our website. Entering a word in the “Search this Blog” window on the blog site should bring up everything we have ever written which relates

A Creation feast of flavours and tastes and textures

When we last visited Creation, Carolyn and Jean Claude Martin said we must come again to do their special pairing menu The Story of Creation. And spending the long weekend in the Hemel and Aarde weekend was the perfect opportunity. It truly was a marvellous, if rather challenging experience, the wines are paired with cleverly created dishes, some small, some bigger that highlight these special wines - R360 for 7 courses with 8 wines. If you do not have the stamina to attempt this you can do the smaller pairings.....

At Karibu Restaurant in the V&A Waterfront with Jenny Morris

Last week, Jenny invited us to come and sample the menu at Karibu. And sample we did with a massive 10 course tasting menu, all paired with the correct wines, and the courses just grew and grew in size. If you have visitors to the Cape who are curious as to what traditional South African food is like, send them to Karibu. And no they will not have to have a 10 course menu, unless they chose to. A large restaurant with seats outside on the front terrace with great views....

In the vineyards at Longridge

An Invitation to visit Longridge in Stellenbosch last week, so that they could show us methods of Biodynamic farming, pruning of the vines and give us a wonderful wine tasting and light lunch. We were instructed to wear comfortable clothes and suitable shoes for a walk through the vines. And bless them, they provided a shuttle from the Waterfront. Longridge is in the Helderberg ward of Stellenbosch. It was an early start, so we welcomed the coffee, tea and rusks on arrival....

Michelangelo Awards 2017 We were invited by Lorraine Immelman, owner and CEO of the Awards, to attend the Awards ceremony last Friday. It was held at the Cape Sun in Strand Street which has recently been refurbished. The Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards was established in 1997 as the only international wine competition in South Africa. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary. The competition is unique in South Africa in that all judges are hand-picked wine experts, representing all seven continents around the globe. The banqueting room was filled to bursting with tables; we estimate 44 tables with 10 people at each, which made for a very large audience....

2017 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction This was held at Spier again this year and we had to get there before 9am, which meant an early start for two quite tired media people; it has been a busy week. But the excitement on arrival is palpable...

This Week’s MENU Recipe. Old Cape Brandy Pudding

We had this dessert at Karibu restaurant, and realised that you just don't see this lovely traditional old Cape pudding very often, Malva pudding yes, but not this, which we prefer

250g chopped dates - 175ml boiling water - 5ml bicarbonate of soda - 1 egg - 175ml caster sugar - 1 pinch of salt - 15ml butter - 75ml cake flour - 15ml baking powder - 250ml chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix the chopped dates, boiling water and bicarb and leave them to soak for about 15 minutes while you start the rest of the recipe. Beat the butter and caster sugar together well, you can do this in a food processor. Add the egg and mix until creamy. Sift the dry ingredients and fold into the egg and sugar mixture alternately with the dates, using the food processor with metal blade. Remove the blade and stir in the chopped nuts

Transfer the mixture to a prepared 25cm pie dish and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes.

SYRUP:

375ml white sugar - 300ml water - 5ml butter - 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - 125ml brandy

Boil the sugar and water and add the vanilla extract and butter. Allow the syrup to cool and add the brandy. Pour the syrup over the hot pudding as soon as it has been removed from the oven.

Serve hot with whipped cream or real vanilla ice cream. You can add another splash or two of brandy if you like. You can flambé it for a spectacular entry

MENU's Wine of the Week. The Emily

At Longridge this week we tasted this rather unusual wine, which we liked a lot. Called The Emily and named after Emily Hobhouse http://zar.co.za/hobhouse.htm a British woman who became one of our local heroines during the Boer War

It is an unwooded Chardonnay, blended with a small amount of lightly wooded Pinot Noir from the Elgin valley. Toasty apples on the nose, nice layers of apple and plum fruit, refreshing with long flavours. A wine for quaffing and a good food wine too. Cellarmaster Jasper Raats told us this is one of their best sellers here and abroad. According to their US importer it sells like liquid crack! R70 on the farm

6th October 2017

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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.

Menu's Wine of the Week. The Emily

At Longridge this week, we tasted this rather unusual wine, which we liked a lot. Called The Emily and named after Emily Hobhouse http://zar.co.za/hobhouse.htm a British woman who became one of our local heroines during the Boer War

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This Week’s MENU Recipe. Old Cape Brandy Pudding

We had this dessert at Karibu restaurant, and realised that you just don't see this lovely traditional old Cape pudding very often; Malva pudding yes, but not this, which we prefer

250 g chopped dates - 175 ml boiling water - 5 ml bicarbonate of soda - 1 egg - 175 ml caster sugar - 1 pinch of salt - 15 ml butter - 75 ml cake flour - 15 ml baking powder - 250 ml chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix the chopped dates, boiling water and bicarb and leave them to soak for about 15 minutes while you start the rest of the recipe. Beat the butter and caster sugar together well , you can do this in a food processor. Add the egg and mix until creamy. Sift the dry ingredients and fold into the egg and sugar mixture alternately with the dates, using the food processor with metal blade. Remove the blade and stir in the chopped nuts

Transfer the mixture to a prepared 25 cm pie dish and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes

SYRUP:

375ml white sugar - 300ml water - 5ml butter - 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - 125ml brandy

Boil the sugar and water and add the vanilla extract and butter. Allow the syrup to cool and add the brandy. Pour the syrup over the hot pudding as soon as it has been removed from the oven

Serve hot with whipped cream or real vanilla ice cream. You can add another splash or two of brandy if you like. You can flambé it for a spectacular entry

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The 2017 Cape Winemakers' Guild Auction at Spier, Stellenbosch

This was held at Spier again this year and we had to get there before 9am, which meant an early start for two quite tired media people; it had been a busy week. But the excitement on arrival is palpable

We registered and then went through to the lounge where tables were groaning with 'breakfast' items. John fancied this yogurt, fresh fruit and muesli. Lynne had a coffee

Then we went into the next room where all the wines were open for tasting and we met some of the lovely Elsenburg students who were serving them

They are our future in the wine industry and are an interesting bunch; we love getting to know them. They did know a lot about the wines they were pouring, too

We reprised some of the wines we had tasted before and then went back into the main room for a glass of bubbly and to chat to some of the winemakers and wine farm owners who were on tenterhooks and were either terribly laid back or pretending all was fine. It must be a nervous business putting your wine on the line

Pierre Wahl of Rijk’s in Tulbagh with Nick van Huyssteen of Saronsberg and his son

Time to move into the auditorium for the beginning of the auction. We grabbed a front row seat as we wanted to be able to come and go easily

Laid back at the back were R to L Roland Peens, Niels Verburg, Sebastian Beaumont, Gordon Newton Johnson, Pierre Wahl, Jacques Borman and Angela Lloyd

First, the Auctioneer Henré Hablutzel of Hofmeyr Mills Auctioneers has to read out the Auction Terms and Conditions to the assembled crowd of buyers. It is his 20th year and he does a magnificent job. A radio broadcaster present said that he does not know how he does it for the entire day and he never seems to dry or stumble. Suggestion to the organisers for next year: Maybe make a video of the auctioneer reading the Terms and Conditions before hand. It might help save his voice.

And then - it's time - 9h15 - to auction the first lot, traditionally one of the highest selling wines the previous year so the auction gets off to a good start. This year it was Etienne le Riche's turn to be the first with his Cabernet Sauvignon Auction Reserve 2014 and the first lot of six bottles went for R8200

He is so good at spotting the bidders and getting the lots sold quickly

The first sales on the board

Hard at work throughout the auction, tracking the results, the social media etc were Linda Potgieter and PRO Gudrun Clark

Do you just want one lot? If you are successful bidding for one lot, you may take the next lots in the same category as well at the same price. The smaller case lots always get better prices than the larger lots

Chairman of CWG, Miles Mossop, with the two ladies taking phone bids. These seemed to come in fast and furiously this year

Such serious faces!

The first million was reached at 09h45 on the fourth wine which was Newton Johnson's Windansea Pinot Noir 2016 whose 40 lots were averaging R7000 a case. The second million only took another quarter of an hour and so it continued through the day. Gordon looks a bit stunned

Fast and furious

Sartorial elegance in the sock department from James Brown of Hartenberg

And then came on of the most emotional moment of the auction. This was Danie Steytler's last auction and he had named one of his wines The Ultimate Vision 2015. When bidding started, two people at the back of the hall, not sitting together, both put up their paddles and kept them in the air. The total began to climb, and climb. The auctioneer kept taking the bids and when the total got to R16600, they dropped their paddles and the lot went to one of them. It was an astounding price and an astounding tribute to Danie. The entire audience erupted in applause and amazement and there were shouts of joy and cheers. It is an all time record price for the CWG Auction. Tears were streaming down Lynne's face; Danie has been a kind mentor to us in our long journey into wine starting in the mid 1990s and has become a good friend. We always stocked his Kaapzicht wines in our shop, Main Ingredient. He has survived cancer twice. He is a quiet and humble man whom we like very much. It was a very great tribute. There was more. When the successful bidder was asked if he wanted any more, he took all of the four two case lots at the same price

Even Auctioneer Henré Hablutzel had a moment

Danie Steytler looking so happy as he gets a standing ovation

At midday, it was time for the auctioneer to take a small break while Louis Strydom introduced us to some of the Nedbank CWG Guild Development Trust Protégés. We watched a short video about the project which featured some of them

There were only a few of the 10 current protégés present this year as many are overseas doing harvests or busy working at their jobs. To date 24 have participated in this successful programme of mentoring and training. Fourteen have graduated and are now working in the industry. In front of them is the 2017 Auction Charity item, the CWG Magnum Collection, 44 magnums, each one made and signed by the Guild member who made the wine; all of the wines were on auction this year

James Pietersen of The Wine Cellar and Frans Smit (Spier) enjoying the auction

This lot reached R140000 which will go to the Oenology and Viticulture Protégé programme. Here are the protégés with the magnums and the successful bidder.

You can slip in and out to get some lunch in the lounge and enjoy a glass of MCC or one of the Auction wines. Here, enjoying themselves are some of the old guard: Johan Malan of Simonsig, Distell director Duimpie Bayly and Jan Boland Coetzee of Vriesenhof. Beyers Truter was heard to say "Ag no, prices are down this year, I got R1 a case less than last year". At which Johan Malan handed him a R100 note!

And at 15h24 the last lot was sold and the final auction total was R13 223 200. Still to come was the silent auction in the foyer, which closes half an hour after the main auction. Sadly, this year, we were not successful with any bids; we have managed to buy some spectacular wines in previous Auctions

A happy and tired auctioneer. The prices were just a little down on last year, (2016 total was R13 833 400) with red wines getting higher prices than the whites, which is normal. Lynne asked Chairman Miles Mossop for his thoughts on the final total. "Satisfied" he said. He had expected a correction as times are tough in this recession and it had not been a bad one. He was impressed at how many private buyers there were this year. We can't wait for next year, when the Auction will be on the 29th of September

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