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Thursday, June 07, 2018

The 2018 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show Awards Luncheon at The Mount Nelson

It is time for you to hear who the winners were at this year's Old Mutual Trophy Wine Awards. Held again over lunch at the Mount Nelson Hotel, there were some nice surprises and a few foregone conclusions, knowing the quality of the producers. Janice Fridjhon and her team at Outsorceress Marketing organise these events so ably. The public tastings will be held at the CTICC on June 13th and in Johannesburg at Sandton Convention Centre on June 15th. Get your tickets for Cape Town here and for Johannesburg here. See the winners and the lunch here

A welcoming glass of Graham Beck Brut

Canapés of small croquettes, and scallops and radish, which had a lovely flavour but were impossible to eat with the tiny sticks

More canapés. We like the information, especially as so many people have allergies nowadays

Tiny savoury tarts, wonderful pastry

Winemag publisher Christian Eedes and Riandri Visser of Cape Point Vineyards

Chatting on the terrace. Luke O'Cuinneagain, Wim Truter, Rudger van Wyk, Brad Paton, Thys Louw, Ian Sieg, Pieter Carstens and James Pietersen chatting before the event started

Miles Mossop and Carl van der Merwe of De Morgenzon

Miles is about to leave Tokara after 18 years and concentrate on making and marketing his own labels

We take our seats for lunch

Ian Sieg (Douglas Wine Cellar), Wim Truter (KWV/Laborie), Klaas Coetzee (Stellar), Ben Snyman (Overhex/Survivor)

Michael Fridjhon opens proceedings

Duane Hendricks Sommelier at Grande Roche, Narina Cloete, winemaker at Blaauwklippen, Publicist Emile Joubert

It was a good menu, uncomplicated fresh food, beautifully cooked and presented

The vegetarian menu also had some lovely dishes

Best seared pink tuna this year, so fresh, with a beautifully moist piece of salmon, the avocado and caper sauces were perfect accompaniments. Seaweed and samphire are also rarely seen and much enjoyed

Time to announce the Gold medals

Hugh Hacking of Old Mutual presented the Awards

Pieter Badenhorst of Fleur du Cap, Hagen Viljoen of Grande Provence, Martin Lamprecht of Marras, Jacques Cilliers of Zandvliet

The main course of seared loin of lamb

Gold Medal winners

OLD MUTUAL TROPHY WINE SHOW 2018

All the gold medallists – superlative, world-class

BOUTIQUE CLASSES (BC): non-dessert, non-fortified wines with a production volume of between 600 and 900 litres

MUSEUM CLASSES (MC): white wines at least four years old and all other wines at least eight years old

GREAT VALUE: medallists highlighted in red are priced at under R80 per 750ml bottle for white, fortified, Rosé and Blanc de Noir wines, and under R100 per 750ml for red, sparkling and unfortified dessert wines

Arabella Pinotage 2017

Backsberg Family Reserve White 2017

Backsberg Pumphouse Shiraz 2016

Beaumont Family Wines Dangerfield Syrah 2016

Boschendal Appellation Series Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Buitenverwachting "1769" 2015

Buitenverwachting Christine 2012

Cape Point Vineyards Noordhoek Sauvignon Blanc 2017

De Grendel Amandelboord Pinotage 2016

De Grendel Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc 2017

DeMorgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2017

DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin Blanc 2017

Diemersdal Private Collection 2016

Diemersfontein Woolworths Reserve Collection Pinotage 2016

Eagles' Nest Merlot 2014

Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chardonnay 2016

Glenelly Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2016

Grande Provence Chenin Blanc 2017

Laborie Méthode Cap Classique Blanc de Blancs 2011

Landzicht Wit Muskadel 2016

Leeuwenkuil Heritage Syrah 2015

Marras Swartland Los Tros Chenin Blanc 2017

Meerlust Rubicon 2015

Middelvlei Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Middelvlei Momberg 2016

Olifantsberg Silhouette 2014

Rainbow's End Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Rustenberg Peter Barlow Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2016

Springfontein Daredevils' Drums Bunches Broken Shiraz 2016

Springfontein Limestone Rocks Child in Time Petit Verdot 2012

Stark-Condé Round Mountain Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2011 (MC)

Stellar Organics Woolworths No Sulphur Added Organic Shiraz 2017

Survivor Sauvignon Blanc 2017 (Overhex)

Tokara Reserve Collection Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2016

Vergelegen G.V.B White 2013 (MC)

Warwick Cabernet Franc 2015

Warwick Professor Black 2017

Zandvliet Shiraz 2015
Klaas Coetzee, head winemaker at Stellar Winery with Rebecca Constable of Woolworths

Jacques Erasmus, responsible for making white wines at Spier

Alicia Rechner of Backsberg and Duane Hendricks of the Grande Roche with Grand Roche Trophy for Best White Blend

Thys Louw of Diemersdal receives the Riedel Trophy for Best Bordeaux-Style Red Blend from Michael Crossley of Reciprocal Trading

Simon Barlow of Rustenberg with Hilton Vos of American Express and the American Express Trophy for the best Cabernet Sauvignon

Ian Sieg of Douglas Wine Cellar with the Trophy for Best Fortified Wine: Landzicht Wit Muskadel. Apparently he rings Michael each time he gets an award and asks whether it is worth his while driving 1000 Km (return) to Cape Town. A word to the wise, if you get an invitation to these Awards, you have definitely won something

Dessert was a gentle poem in Passion Fruit - a Crème, a Sable, a jelly, syrup and a sorbet

Grande Roche sommelier Duane Hendricks

And now for the top awards. Pieter Carstens, head winemaker at Leeuwenkuil takes the Trophy for the best Red wine Overall

Jacques Erasmus of Spier gets the Trophy for the Best White wine overall

Michael Fridjhon, Nic van Aarde of Warwick and Hugh Hacking with the Old Mutual Trophy for Most Successful Producer

Alex Mason-Gordon of Outsorceress Marketing, another great organiser

Jacques Erasmus of Spier with Anthea Eedes and the Harold Eedes Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc and Old Mutual Trophy for Best White Wine Overall

The Trophy winners

OLD MUTUAL TROPHY WINE SHOW 2018

All the Trophy Winners

Old Mutual Trophy for Most Successful Producer Overall

Warwick Wine Estate

Makro Trophy Best Shiraz, Old Mutual International Judges’ Trophy, Old Mutual Trophy Best Red Wine Overall

Leeuwenkuil Heritage Syrah 2015

Harold Eedes Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc, Old Mutual Trophy for Best White Wine Overall

Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2016

Old Mutual Trophy for Discovery of the Show / Best Value Gold Medallist

Arabella Pinotage 2017

American Express Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon

Rustenberg Peter Barlow Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Old Mutual Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine

Laborie Méthode Cap Classique Blanc de Blancs 2011

Old Mutual Trophy for Best Dessert Wine (Unfortified)

Buitenverwachting ‘1769’ 2015

Riedel Trophy for Best Bordeaux-Style Red Blend

Diemersdal Private Collection 2016

Miele Trophy for Best Chardonnay

Tokara Reserve Collection Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2016

Nestlé Pure Life Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc

Stark-Condé Round Mountain Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Grand Roche Trophy for Best White Blend

Backsberg Family Reserve White 2017

Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Blend

Warwick Professor Black 2017 (Sauvignon Blanc Semillon)

Trophy for Best Cabernet Franc

Warwick Cabernet Franc 2015

Trophy for Best Shiraz-Based Red Blend

Middelvlei Momberg 2016

Trophy for Best Pinotage

De Grendel Amandelboord Pinotage 2016

Trophy for Best Niche Variety

Springfontein Limestone Rocks Child in Time Petit Verdot 2012

Trophy for Best Merlot

Eagles’ Nest Merlot 2014

Trophy for Best Fortified Wine

Landzicht Wit Muskadel 2016

Trophy for Best Museum Class Sauvignon Blanc

Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2011

Trophy for Best Museum Class White Blend

Vergelegen G.V.B White 2013

Nothing like a refreshing beer to relax the tension after the event. JD Pretorius, Duran Cornhill, Jacqueline Lahoud and Brad Paton

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This Week’s MENU. Old Mutual Trophy; Shiraz SA Awards; Tasting competition; Alentejo Adega; Seville; Boerewors Casserole; First Sighting Sauvignon

A Flamenco whirl of colour, swirling flounces and pretty ladies

This has been a week of wine awards and wine tasting, but we have a bit of relief for you if you aren’t a wine enthusiast. One of our Iberian stories is about a Portuguese winery, but we are sure that you’ll enjoy our story about our time in Seville. Click on the links to open the stories

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The Old Mutual Trophy Awards lunch

Time to hear who the winners are this year at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Awards. Held this year at the Mount Nelson Hotel over lunch, there were some nice surprises and a few foregone conclusions, knowing the quality of the producers. Janice Fridjhon and Taryn Vincent of Outsorceress Marketing are who organise these events so ably. The public tasting will be held at the CTICC on June 13th See the winners and the lunch here

Shiraz SA Awards

We are great fans of good South African Shiraz; we believe that this cultivar is well suited to our climate and terroir. This year's Awards ceremony was held over lunch at Rhebokskloof wine estate in Paarl and we were able to taste the top 25 and ten blends before the awards. A total of 192 wines (36 blends and 156 single varietal wines) from every wine making region was submitted this year.

Shiraz, or Syrah to give it its other name (there is no difference in the wine, just a nod to whether it is in a certain Northern or a Southern Rhône style), can be made in many different styles. Do we make Syrah? Some think we are just being pretentious. Can you charge more if it’s called by a French name? We should make Shiraz in the many South African styles, and how closely those can and should resemble styles from France, Australia, California, South America, Italy, sunny Spain or even chilly New Zealand – or any other areas that grow this grape - is up for a long debate. Photographs and more here…

Wine Tasting for the Championship team at The Taj, Cape Town

This interesting wine tasting competition has the wine industry abuzz each year and lots of wine people rush to enter so that they can show off their tasting skills. Why? Because, if you are one of the winners, you get a trip to the International Championship which is held overseas and the trip is phenomenal. Not only do you compete, but you get to visit various wine areas and are hosted. You will taste amazing wines and meet important people in the international wine industry. And all you have to do to win is know which wines you are tasting. Easier said than done.

Because John was guiding a wine tour that morning, we were a little late in arriving. What happens is that there is a wine tasting in one room and you need to taste everything and remember what you tasted. Then you go into the competition room where you taste five white wines and five red wines, blind, and you have to identify them. Name the varietals and the farms they are from, their vintages and other information that is required. And answer some industry questions. Easy!

MENU's Iberian Exploit 7. The Jose de Sousa Winery in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Alentejo

The journey continues South and East, to Alentejo and then across the border into Spain. Europe had had a really appalling Spring this year and it looks like the bad weather is continuing into their summer as well. The windscreen wipers just could not keep up…..

MENU's Iberian Exploit 8. Three days in Seville

Ole! Time to cross the border into sunny Spain. Well, not actually because, once again, it was raining. The border country is so beautiful on both sides, grassy meadows under cork oaks or olive trees, with sheep or those famous black pigs which produce that wonderful Iberico ham, cropping the green grass beneath the trees. And then the castles....

What’s on the Menu this week. A Potjie!

(For our foreign readers it’s a casserole cooked on an open fire in a metal three legged pot, but you can just cook it in a good heavy metal and enamel pot on your hob)

Quick and simple, especially if you are not feeling so well but need to produce a filling and good supper. And if you buy those packs of ready prepared potjie vegetables, all you have to do is tip them in. You can use any vegetables you like in a casserole. Open the Farm Boerewors Casserole recipe here

MENU's Wine of the Week. First Sighting Sauvignon blanc 2017

Served at the 2018 Shiraz SA Awards lunch at Rhebokskloof, Strandveld Vineyards First Sighting Sauvignon Blanc 2017 was awarded a Platinum medal and scored 97 points at the Decanter World Wine Awards on 29th May 2018. Only 149 Platinum medals were awarded this year of which 5 went to South African wines

7th June 2018

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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

MENU's Iberian Exploit 8. Seville

There can be few countries which have as many castles as Spain. driving between the major centres, it seems that every little town has a hill topped by a castle

We arrived in Seville in time to see the last night of their famous annual Feria (festival) and took the Metro from our suburban AirBnB to the showgrounds

All the girls and women of the town seem to have dressed in traditional Flamenco dresses. They were everywhere

The Festival ground in Seville is huge and this wonderfully illuminated Moorish gateway towered over the entrance. The showgrounds are enormous

Clubs, associations and businesses have these pavilions in which they entertain their guests. It is a bit like the Community Chest Carnival in Cape Town, but on a very much grander scale - and much cleaner

Even though light rain was falling, the broad, brightly lit avenues were full of people

enjoying the atmosphere

We stopped to take photographs of the dancing at this large pavilion, which turned out to be the home of a flamenco club. Some of the men and boys were pretty good too

A very kind gentleman saw us watching and then invited us in! We were delighted

We found seats, took lots of photographs and enjoyed the dancing

The floor was a whirl of colour, swirling flounces and pretty ladies, with a few boys joining in; very few men

On a wet, humid, muggy evening, the same kind gentleman brought us a gift of a refreshing jug of a sangria made with manzanilla and Sprite. We never got his name because he could speak no English and we little Spanish.

Not what we would normally order, but light and refreshing

He brought his beautiful daughter over to meet us, she spoke very good English and she explained about the pavillion and that her father was on the committee

Next we headed for a local Churrosteria and enjoyed some churros with the accompanying dip of thick dark hot chocolate. Just to warm us up! Not at all the crisp almost biscuit texture we have had before, these are long tubes of fritter batter, soft inside and crisp outside. Very satisfying and one of these and a coffee cost only 6 Euros

Not a damp squib! The Seville Feria ended with a fireworks display; lots of very loud bangs and not at all affected by the light rain which was falling

Sunday lunching on a Seville pavement the next day. We went back the following day. We saw families eating there and not many tourists, so we knew the price & quality should be good. It was

The Torre del Oro (Gold Tower) was built in the 13th century during the Almohad dynasty as a military watchtower in the city walls, and was meant to control traffic on the Guadalquivir River and to defend the port of Seville from potential attack

Horse-drawn carriages are a popular tourist feature in Seville as well as in Cordoba and Granada. A pleasant reminder of earlier times, but we'd rather drive a car - although the narrow streets of old Spanish cities can be a challenge

A Moorish arch in a street near to the Alcazar. Many buildings are painted with this shade of yellow and white

One of the best tourist guides we were to meet. She was so helpful and informative

Our landlord had recommended a reasonable place for lunch so we went in search of it (this is not it). They produced a menu in English with high prices on it. The previous customers (locals) had left their bill, they had 6 items on it for €13. One dish was going to cost us that. Our two beers were €5. So we left without eating. Its a scam, hit the tourists hard for food. Luckily not everywhere is as avaricious

So many places to choose from

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede). After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years. It is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. The total area occupied by the building is 23,500 square meter

Everywhere one walks in a city in southern Spain, the air is perfumed with the scent of orange blossom. The streets and parks are lined with orange trees. The oranges are sour, somewhat bitter - Seville oranges - and no one seems to eat them, but they would make amazing marmalade

Down an ancient side alley towards the Alcazar

Lots of quiet squares around the cathedral

And the carriage horses carrying on a conversation over lunch

Arriving back at our station. We were quite far out of town at the end of the line but had a really lovely AirBnB with friendly owners and orange trees in blossom outside our window

The driver just walks down to the other end when its time to go.

Back having lunch at the good restaurant we had spotted the day before

Menu on a chalk board and a Menu del Dia

Clean and friendly inside

Choices! We used our phones to translate the dishes we didn't understand, but many are self explanatory if you read menu Spanish. And very reasonable You get two choices of dish each, a drink and a dessert or coffee for €12.90, €25.80 = R390 for a main meal for two. Extraordinary value.

And the special of the day

This was the best dish. Carrillada: Beef cheeks, so tender and flavoursome, cooked in a rich Pedro Ximenez (sherry) sauce on top of chips, and topped with crisp onions

Lovely deep fried squid with peppers, onions and courgettes

Pork fillet "Teriyaki" topped with almonds, a rich sauce and yes, more chips

Croquettes and chips, a bit greasy, not a good choice, perhaps. We should have tried the Paella

The bill. At the restaurant we rejected the previous day, the cheapest dish had been €13.

The 13th Century Abd-el_Aziz portico in Seville. 800 years old and still classical elegance and simplicity

Getting into historic sites in Spain can be a challenge. This was the queue at the Alcazar in Seville. We tried, unsuccessfully, to book online but ended up queuing in the very welcome sun for an hour. With pensioner discount, only paid €3 each, so it was worth it

The Moorish palaces like the Alcazar in Seville have many arched doorways, often highly decorated

It is steeped in history and atmosphere

Many of the arches frame picturesque views of the city or the gardens

This arch took us into the beautiful peaceful gardens, with many pools and fountains and everywhere the tinkling sound of water

The smell of the orange trees in blossom and the mock orange flowers was heady and glorious, we will always associate Seville with them

The gardens at the Alcazar are laid out in geometric designs in the Moorish style and tradition

Vaulted ceilings and superb tiles, many in yellow, the most expensive colour in those days

Elegant horse-drawn carriages and a fountain in the centre of the city

After a long day's walking round Seville and the Alcazar, there is no better restorative medicine than a gin and tonic and a cold beer

and we did manage to walk across the park as far as the famous Plaza de España. It's a really lovely city to spend time in. And not many hills ...

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