Friday, October 12, 2018

MENU's Wine of the Week. Constantia Royale Sauvignon blanc 2016


This is from Nova Zonnestraal, a Constantia vineyard which is believed to be one of the oldest in the Cape, but which has only been producing its own wines in the last five years. It is made from the farm’s own Sauvignon blanc, with an addition of 15% Semillon which is bought in, as their own Semillon vines are too young to be harvested. Herbaceous passion fruit and a very light pyrazine hint on the nose and the palate, with crisp varietal acidity, good mineral structure and a long finish. It will be a good match for dishes with a creamy base or sauce

One of the top 20 Sauvignons in this year’s FNB Sauvignon Top10 challenge, it was made by Roger Burton, well-known as winemaker for Tierhoek in the Piekenierskloof area. Roger has Constantia roots and a good understanding of the terroir, as he worked under Hermann Kirschbaum at Buitenverwachting in the early part of his career. It was awarded 4½ stars in Platter. Sadly, the 2016 is sold out, but the 2018 vintage is available from Wade Bales at R99
Posted by MENU at 2:20 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, October 09, 2018

Wine tasting at Yonder Hill, lunch at Cuccina di Giovanni, Eikendal

We visited Yonder Hill in the Helderberg ward of Stellenbosch on Saturday with our wine club. The Cellarmaster here is Abé Beukes
They made room for our large party in their tasting room and we had a wonderful time tasting the wines. They had also laid on a lovely cheese platter for us and we were given gifts of their olive oil from the farm owner, Mr Naude, who has recently sold his Olyfberg farm, whiuch has always produced a great oil. A lovely warm welcome
We loved the 2018 Rosé made from Merlot and Grenache, juicy, elegant and dry, R75. The crisp Sauvignon blanc is a typical one from Stellenbosch; lots of tropical fruit with some crispness, R70. The Merlot 2013 is a big wine with lots of tannins for ageability, R200. Warm and complex on the palate, layered, with some green cassis leaves on the end. The 2014 is lighter, less grippy with some chalk on the end. The Inanda blend 2014 is soft and sweet on entry, dark liquorice, burnt caramel wood in the middle, toast on the end, R130. The 2015 is light and sweet with green leaves and berry fruit. The Nicola 2015 is the star of the show: Rich on the nose, lovely sweet ripe fruit, layered, dark berries, licorice, salt, dark toast on the end. Scored 18/20, R400. And the 2016 is a very close second, with violets and vanilla on the nose, again sweet berry fruit, long flavours, some gentle chalky tannins
Some beautiful pincushion proteas in the garden
We needed lunch, so a booking had been made at nearby Eikendal
Giovanni’s Restaurant
Lots of tables, many people, long waits and lovely sunshine
Often
Inside the restaurant
Inside the Eikendal tasting room
A family favourite
We had a very long table
And an extra guest below, at his Mum's feet
Some enjoyed a bottle of the Rosé. It did take nearly an hour and a half for our food to arrive, but they were very, very busy. We had a helpful waiter. We got it just in time, as we had to rush of home to meet friends who were coming to stay for the night after we had all attended the Veritas Awards dinner
Lynne chose the Avocado, bacon and mozzarella salad
John a Quattro Stagione Pizza (no mushrooms)
and enchanting little people were very happy playing in the sandpit
Posted by MENU at 4:24 pm 0 comments

Thursday, October 04, 2018

This Week’s MENU. Amorim MCC Challenge Awards, CWG Auction, Bistro and Vine at Harrington's, Spicy Spanish Tortilla, Domaine des Dieux Claudia Brut

A sign of spring. Pincushion proteas (leucospermum)
This was a week in which we attended two prestigious wine events and were able to taste appropriately wonderful wines. Méthode Cap Classique may never earn the reputation which Champagne has achieved after a couple of hundred years of dominating the world of sparkling wines, but the improvement in quality of these wines since Frans Malan of Simonsig bottled his first MCC forty years ago is gaining recognition internationally and they are competing very well on the international stage. Similarly, wines we tasted at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction and its tasting a few weeks ago have reached unprecedented levels of quality and renowned judges have given some of them scores equal to any of the great names from other continents. South African wines are showing their Championship quality, and now we just need the Springboks to repeat their performance of a couple of weeks ago and beat the All Blacks again on the rugby field….
The Amorim Cork MCC Challenge Awards 2018 at The Twelve Apostles    
This annual event is one of our favourites, we love bubbles and we always know we are going to be tasting and drinking some of the best. The only competition committed exclusively to the Cap Classique category, the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge is sponsored by Portugal-based cork producer Amorim. This was the 17th year of this prestigious competition and there were 127 entries, a record. It was held this year (as it has been for several years) at The Twelve Apostles Hotel on the road from Bakoven to Llandudno…
The 2018 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction at Spier, Stellenbosch    
This annual action took place last Saturday at Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. We love going; it is fast and furious and it is so good to see good wines getting great prices. And to see the happy faces of the winemakers. Once we had registered, there was a choice of good Guild members’ bubblies to start the day……
Wednesday Bistro and Vine at Harrington's Cocktail Lounge      
One of our Media colleagues found a Wednesday special at Harrington’s Wine and Vine Cocktail lounge in central Cape Town, just down the road from Dias Taven, one of our favourite and recently visited destinations, so we decided to go and check it out
On the MENU this week. Spicy Spanish Tortilla with chicken    
What to do with left over chicken? Neither of us has been very well this busy week, John had a root canal filling and is on antibiotics; Lynne has them for a chest infection, so cooking has not been a priority. We bought a ready cooked chicken from Checkers for one meal and had the rest in the fridge for another. This is what Lynne came up with…

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Domaine des Dieux Claudia Brut 2012  
This wine was the Overall winner of the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge for 2018. It has also been included among the Top 10 bubblies in the SA Wine Classification, and was awarded a gold medal at the Sparkling Wine World Championships in the UK. The 2011 was awarded four stars in the 2018 Platter; it will be interesting to see how this 2012 fares there…
4th October 2018
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
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Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

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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
Posted by MENU at 11:39 pm 0 comments

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Domaine des Dieux Claudia Brut 2012

This wine was the Overall winner of the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge for 2018. It has also been included among the Top 10 bubblies in the SA Wine Classification, and was awarded a gold medal at the Sparkling Wine World Championships in the UK. This wine was the Overall winner of the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge for 2018. It has also been included among the Top 10 bubblies in the SA Wine Classification, and was awarded a gold medal at the Sparkling Wine World Championships in the UK. The 2011 was awarded four stars in the 2018 Platter; it will be interesting to see how this 2012 fares there

Made in the Hemel en Aarde Valley from 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot noir, it spent four years on the lees, which accounts for its mature autolytic flavour and bready nose over ripe Granny Smith apple with a dash of lemon and a buttery hint from a little barrel contact. We enjoyed it at the Awards lunch where its complex, mature flavours paired very well with the main course of very good tender beef fillet, cooked sous vide, accompanied by a crisp Yorkshire pudding filled with braised brisket, beef fat roasted potatoes, baby carrots, broccoli puree and a good red wine jus. It is named for Domaine des Dieux owner Sharon Parnell's daughter
Expect to pay between R220 and R250 per bottle

Posted by MENU at 10:23 pm 0 comments

Wednesday Bistro and Vine at Harrington's Cocktail Lounge

One of our Media colleagues found a Wednesday special at Harrington’s Wine and Vine Cocktail lounge in central Cape Town, just down the road from Dias Tavern, one of our favourite and recently visited destinations, so we decided to go and check it out
The bar area, where they mix cocktails. The Wednesday special offers a choice of one of three main courses and a mini petit four dessert platter for R160 per person. You get a glass of wine on arrival and another with your meal. We decided to also opt for the starter which costs another R35 pp. So our bill was R390 for two, paid upfront through Dineplan. Not bad, especially with wine included. The menu changes daily, so it’s a bit of a lottery. They have a different winery showcasing its wines each week and it is that wine which you are served with dinner. This week featured Ken Forrester
and there was happy and smiling Bianca Brand from Ken Forrester behind her wines counter. You could taste any of the wines
Choices? We both plumped for the Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc to go with our starters
The venue is large and they can cope with parties
The menu of the day
The current list of wine farms whose wines are part of the promotion
We decided to have both soups and swap half way through. This was the vegetable and cannellini bean soup with garlic and jalapenos, topped with nacho chips. John loved this, Lynne found it a bit salty, but loved the combination of the beans and sweetcorn. The chips do go soggy, so eat them quickly. The topping was sliced avocado and some fresh coriander
The Home-style Chakalaka Soup with two mini boerewors meatballs; one each when we shared! NOT from a tin, we really liked the fresh spicy flavours. It’s topped with fresh grated carrot; definitely one to go for if you feel off colour. We thought that the portions were generous. Apparently, off the normal menu they are much bigger.. so said our lovely, helpful waitress Siobhan Kedian
We did the same with the two main courses. This is the tender and slow braised pork belly on a bed of smoky herb mash. It has interesting flavours with hints of cinnamon, citrus and soy, the smoke reminds us of Liquid Smoke, the pork is moist and tender but a little fatty. Topped with tooth-challenging crackling and spring onions. Lynne had a glass of the Ken Forrester Renegade red blend with her meat dishes and it went very well. John had the smoky Ken Forrester Merlot and it was a great match with this dish
The lamb shank was slow roasted and came on a bed of creamy polenta (mielie pap!) which reminded us of the texture of maltabella - we are both boarding school kids, so it’s not our favourite starch. It came with Brussels sprouts & capers with lemon. They said 'with chilli', but we didn’t detect any, which was fine. The meat was tender and fell apart, but was a little dry and stringy
The petite dessert. One very rich cubic inch of chocolate Brownie and a tiny meringue each, topped with what tasted like Orley whip?
And when we left, each of us was presented with a box of chocolates, part of the current promotion
Posted by MENU at 9:20 pm 0 comments

The 2018 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction at Spier, Stellenbosch

This annual action took place last Saturday at Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. We love going; it is fast and furious and it is so good to see good wines getting great prices. And to see the happy faces of the winemakers. Once we had registered, there was a choice of good Guild members’ bubblies to start the day……
The event is hosted by Spier
Deciding which to have.... The Auction starts at 9,
so you have to arrive early if you want to enjoy the pre-action delights
Guild members John Loubser (Silverthorn),
Niels Verburg (Luddite), Carl van der Merwe (De Morgenzon)
Examining what is on offer at the Silent Auction. We have in the past got some great lots, but sadly not this year. Interest in this side of the auction is growing. Spier cellarmaster Frans Smit, Lynne, Ken Fargher. Proceeds go to the CWG Protégé Programme
This is one lot
Covetable wines
Then you can go into the tasting room and taste the wines coming up for auction before you buy, in case you have forgotten how good they are. Next door there was a breakfast buffet - good smoked salmon bagels and Scotch eggs
And the auction is off at 9am
Abrie Beeslaar kicked the auction off well with his Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2015;
the wine which Tim Atkin awarded 100 points. His 12 lots made a total of R1 029 000. Wow!
The Auctioneer is Henré Hablutzel of Hofmeyer Mills Auctioneers
He is absolutely tireless, runs a tight ship and gets it done on time
Gary Jordan looking pensive. His wine did very well
Paul Cluver cellarmaster Andries Burger and his pretty daughter Aninke
CWG members Rianie Strydom of Haskell and Jeff Grier of Villiera
Linda Potgieter and Gudrun Clark running the social media
Rapt attention
Dave Swingler and Graham Blackshaw made some silly low bids. The auctioneer
was rather amusing when he said he didn't know who was more embarrassed, he or they!
With them is Chef Christophe Dehosse
Kevin Grant congratulates Sebastian Beaumont for good prices. They both did well
Auctioneer Henré Hablutzel
Andries Burger and Andrea Mullineux
James Browne, Pieter "Bubbles" Ferreira, Dewaldt & Tania Heyns
Telephone bids. The wires were hot
This group of young men was bidding enthusiastically
Gary Jordan, Jeremy Walker, Niels Verburg - Happy chaps
Lynne sipping Monro Brut and paying attention
Sophia Hawkins of Vilafonte, Mark Norrish of Ultra Liquors
Kevin and Hanli Grant of Ataraxia
Spier was lot 13 (of 52) and at this point the auction reached R4 651 200 and it was about 10h30
John took a break to get something to drink and popped into the silent auction room
Miles Mossop with Judy Brower of Wine.co.za, having fun
Carel Nel of Boplaas and his daughter Rozanne
Not a happy face. Prices were high
Then it was time for the Charity Auction, just after Lot 41
 The 8 lots went for R115 500 in total, all for the CWG Protégé Programme
Here are the results
The wines in this auction were all previous CWG auction wines, donated by the member winemakers
Sold! lot gone to paddle number...
Last lot coming up
The unofficial total at the end was R10 580 800 from fewer lots than last year
and so prices were good. The auction finished just after 2pm
Public Relations consultant Gudrun Clark, auctioneer Henré Hablutzel
and CWG Chairman Boela Gerber at the end of the auction
Time for some lunch. It was a help yourself buffet of quite simple food
There was a great choice of wines to have with lunch
Choices!....
... more choices
The kimchi cabbage was HOT with chilli and very enjoyable. Most of us left the buns behind
Bitterballen and mustard
Dessert was chocolate brownie cheesecakes and tiny melkterts
Most of us sat at tables on the terrace and enjoyed chatting, eating and drinking good wine
The silent auction is open until half an hour after the end of the main auction, then it closes 
This was a great lot and received very good bids for the double magnum
Time to close the Silent Auction
and Henré rings the bell. It was a really good experience. We love being there to see the results 
Posted by MENU at 6:43 pm 0 comments
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