Thursday, November 02, 2017

Durbanville celebrates Sauvignon blanc

Sunday saw us summoned to be at Diemersdal by 9.30am for the media briefing of the Season of Sauvignon, which actually had begun the previous day, Saturday. We managed it even after a rather hectic week and saw the tents and marquees with the food trucks setting up. The festival was different this year in that your Computicket pass was for just one farm, which you had to choose. If you wanted to move to another farm you would have to buy another ticket. This was your chance to experience one farm in depth. As media we were given special passes which enabled us to move from farm to farm so we could see what was happening
Thys Louw, winemaker of Diemersdal and chairman of the Durbanville Valley, chatting with Siobhan Thompson, CEO of WOSA
Here we could taste the Sauvignons Blanc from every farm involved in the festival, which was 12 out of the 18 in the valley
We loved the Diemersdal 2017 Sauvignon blanc
One of the farm horses was having such fun gambolling around the lake
Winnie Bowman CWM and her sister Lynne having fun with one of the tweeting signs
Standing under the trees tasting the wine, it was becoming a very hot day.
We all took advantage of any shade
They had organised a brunch for the media in the Farmhouse Eatery. This was the menu
When everyone had arrived, we all moved inside the restaurant
Clever piece of table decoration, many plants growing hydroponically
These are the canapés served. From Left to Right, the steamed hake topped with a sliver of raw scallop and strawberries, the vegetarian option - a slice of butternut with a pumpkin seed pesto and halloumi; the sliced of very tender lamb rib eye with a little dribble of bordelaise sauce and the very salty smoked duck with a Pinotage mousse. This was a portion for three people
Angela Fourie, who does the PR for the Durbanville Valley
Love those frog princes!
Thys tells us more about the festival and the wines
The restaurant manager tells us about the canapés
After Brunch, John took a walk around to see what Diemersdal had to offer
Food tents including Kitchen Cowboys
And some fussball!
A large marquee for those seeking shade
There was a band at one end
The farm's tasting room and the garden where the media were relaxing
Then it was time to move to another farm and we headed off to see what Klein Roosboom was doing
They too had a marquee with a band and we met a some of our readers, also enjoying the farm and its wine
Some food tents
and a lovely place to taste their wine was at this tiny table in the middle of the vines
The tiny grapes are surviving the drought and the heat. We hope they do produce good grapes this year
Next we ventured to Durbanville Hills, which is across the road from Klein Roosboom. They too had lots of food trucks set up in the parking areas and were very busy indeed. The car park had been moved to a nearby field and was almost full and they had arranged a shuttle to get visitors up to the main buildings
They had a marquee there as well
And up on the main lawns the festival was pumping, with good music and lots of happy people. The heat drove us into the cooler tasting room area where we met marketing manager Kate Jackson
Oh so enticing was the cold bubby. We loved the new Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc which has just been launched. It is nice and crisp and has a very attractive bottle too
And the white wines; we tasted both our favourite Durbanville Hills Sauvignons Blanc, the Rhinofields and the Vineyard Selection Biesjies Kraal
 The tasting station was busy
We had a lovely time chatting to an old friend, Cellar master Martin Moore and supping some of their Sauvignon Blanc upstairs in the restaurant . It was a lovely way to end a festival
As we left at about 3.30 the festival at Durbanville Hills was still pumping

Posted by MENU at 10:18 am 0 comments

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

New Parskuip neighbourhood market at Windmeul Cellar

We were invited to the media launch of this new marketplace at Windmeul and they very kindly organised transport for us from the V&A Waterfront. Sadly, it was on a really harsh wintery day and we had to take shelter in the MyCiti bus station while we waited for the driver to arrive
A really wet day in Cape Town and how can we complain when we need every drop we can get
Windmeul Cellar is on the R44, en route to Wellington
Welcomed by Ronelda Visser of Peridot Communications
They have changed the cellar in which they had their huge cement wine tanks (Kuipe in Afrikaans) into a lovely area with individual shops
We were treated to coffees from the coffee shop and amazing Breakfast Bacon and Egg pizzas. These cost R90 each and would happily feed a family! Lots of eggs, bacon and tomato and topped with lots of crisp and gooey cheese and rocket, they have crisp thin bases
Marketing Manager Liza Geldenhuys told us we would be having a presentation on olive oils and buchu later
This is the new Marketplace
Lots of local produce for sale and, of course, Windmeul’s wines
Curried Pickles and Beetroot from Dercia
The wines and some cheese boards
A freezer and a fridge with fresh local meat
Some lovely temptations
Some beautiful handmade wooden toys
Crockery and pans
Windmeul win lots of awards for their wines
Time to sit down and hear from Elsabe du Plessis about her Olive oil and Buchu products. She is such an informed and amusing presenter. She soon realised most people were au fait with olives and oil - she did pass on some good tips about other uses than culinary, so she concentrated on telling us about Buchu
She told us this herb has been used for centuries as a medicine, it has good anti-inflammatory properties. There are 117 different species but only 2 can be cultivated. That is what she and her husband do on their farm. This is the short round leaf Buchu Agathosma betulina. Oil is extracted which, in France, goes into perfume, in the USA into food and in Britain and Germany it goes into pharmaceutical products as well as tea. To make the tea pour on hot water (it should not be boiling) to 1 tsp of dried buchu and steep for 2 to 3 minutes, sieve and drink. She says it is excellent for prostate and high blood pressure. Never for low blood pressure however
Elsabe steeps hers in some good brandy. Good for the stomach, bloating, nausea. She says you can also use whisky or rum.... She is a very amusing raconteur and very knowledgeable. We also learned that bedsores can be improved if washed with buchu water, and buchu salve is applied. It is used in the animal kingdom on pregnant pigs and ostriches and is useful for kidney problems. Obviously a miracle herb
She had made us some buchu shortbread. It does not have any of that characteristic rather cat’s pee smell and was slightly herbal and delicious
We also sampled that Buchu brandy - you can tell it does you good - but it was not to everyone’s taste. She also told us the extraordinary fact that buchu earns the farmer something in the region of R28000 a ton! So definitely worth farming, even in these drought years
Then we moved through to the tasting room to try some of the Windmeul wines. This is the 2017 Chenin Blanc. Many people say that this is the best area for Chenins. Dust and tropical fruit on the nose with granadilla, peaches, guava and pineapple; with fresh acidity and clean flavours of melon and guava on the palate
They have a pairing of roosterkoek (fire damper bread) and wines they wanted us to taste for lunch. It is R50 a tasting for three different variations
The first one was fried fish with avocado and a touch of horseradish; then chicken mayonnaise with cheddar, apple and pecan nuts and finally sliced steak with a tiny piece of brie on a creamy mushroom sauce. Not sure the brie is needed; the sauce is rich enough
We then tasted the about to be released 2017 Wooded Chenin Blanc. More herbal with a whiff of smoke then some pyrazines and tropical fruits, layers of peaches, limes and apricots. Rich good mouth feel and the wood is prominent. This is a dry land bush vine Chenin. Cellar price R80; 12 months in wood. The 2016 was a Top 10 Chenin; dark toast on the end
Danie Marais has been cellar master at Windmeul for 18 years via Bovlei and McGregor
Then we had some more pizzas from the restaurant
An avocado, bacon and peppadew, one of our personal favourite combinations
It went very well with the Wooded Chardonnay which has a yeasty nose with white peaches. It is a nice and clean crisp chardonnay with some smoky wood, filled with limes and apples. No faults
We also tasted the 2015 Pinotage, lactic on the nose with vanilla oak from the 100% French barrels and some rhubarb. Sweet cherries and plums, tight chalky tannins with some green leaves, rust and some red velvet with a slightly bitter end

Posted by MENU at 5:12 pm 1 comments

Restaurant Week lunch at Restaurant Jardine, Stellenbosch

To say we have been meaning to visit this restaurant for months is no lie; when we saw it was on Restaurant week we felt there was no excuse not to book and plan well ahead. We think George is one of the best chefs in South Africa and he never disappoints us. His sauces are legendary and we never allow any to go back to the kitchen
A warm welcome from his wife Louise, who very kindly sent us complimentary glasses of Graham Beck Brut Rosé. Chef George was not cooking on Friday, but we know he always trains his staff so well that the food would be the same as if he had been there, and we were right
The Jardines have recently refurbished this compact restaurant on Andringa Street in the centre of Stellenbosch. We arrived at 12 and parked in the Eikestad mall
In the other room
First comes the bread and how witty the design of the serving 'plate' - looked like a butcher bird's hoard! Warm seed load, some Banting crackers and some speared baby cucumbers, carrots and radishes to dip into the aioli topped with pesto
The menu: Two courses for R250, three for R300 and some great choices
We decided that a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oak Valley, their Sounds of Silence would be a good match for many of the courses we were having. We were with two friends who are both vegetarian
The vegetarian starter of new season globe artichokes, light potato gnocchi, crisp sage and a parmesan cream sauce
John chose the delectable terrine of smoked chicken and leek, with truffled leek dressing, creamy chicken liver parfait balls and crisp chicken skin
Lynne is convinced hers was the best, although it had some competition. East coast hake and prawn Boudin blanc (white sausage) slices on crushed pea purée with chervil, in a sea of marvellous prawn bisque. the boudin slices were topped with nasturtiums. Delicate boudin with texture of the prawns and fish, deep and wonderfully flavoured bisque. One to remember for a long time. Clean plate returned.
On to the main courses. John chose the perfectly pink and tender peppered fillet which had been seared; the onion was stuffed with rich braised brisket, falling apart. It same with a square of potato fondant, a good rich jus and some spinach  purée
The vegetarian main course was a poem of fresh glazed Kokstad porcini mushrooms, with mushroom mousse balls rolled in hazelnuts, quince and kale, on a crisp, tart, fine flaky pastry base. Just how to showcase simple fresh mushrooms
Another deceptively simple dish for Lynne. Sea Trout, moist and perfectly cooked with crisp skin, served with broad beans - yes! And kale - no! Sprouts and crisp waterblommetjies. This had a lovely light cream, lemon and chive sauce
We are being served a LOT of kale recently, so we assume it is in season. This was quite soft and edible but it is not our favourite vegetable, it has little flavour and is often so hard to chew and sometimes has a texture like glass (not here). We are told it is healthy. So is spinach. Please - leave it for the cattle.
And so to dessert. We can often pass, but not here. We all succumbed and had no regrets. This was the Valrhona chocolate mousse, fruity with tropical flavours, dark, light and sublime, topped with the Valrhona torte - rich and dense with crisp edges like those on a brownie, topped with a creamy chocolate ice cream. Signs of satisfaction were heard. And another four clean plates returned to the kitchen – yes, we did decadently use our fingers to swipe up the remains and prolong the joy. Thank you George and Louise, a memorable meal
The bill followed four good double espressos. R810 per couple for three courses with wine and service seems very reasonable for food of such quality

Posted by MENU at 4:53 pm 0 comments
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