A wheat field near Philadelphia, Swartland, Western Cape
We’re looking forward to a quiet weekend, just the
two of us, relaxing. We’ve had an exceptionally active week and we’ve been
trying to ignore bronchitis and a cold. Thank heavens the events we’ve been to
have been great fun; it would have been murder if we’d had to attend “duty”
functions while managing coughs, wheezes and sneezes. We hope you’ll enjoy
seeing our stories about them. This year is
ending with some spectacular wine-tasting opportunities which will let you
share in some of our action. Please go to our Dates for your Diary below the Wine of the Week in MENU, have a look at them and make your
booking
2018 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Awards at Landtscap,
Stellenbosch
The announcement of the top 10 South
Africa Sauvignon Blancs was held last week at the magnificent Landtscap venue which
overlooks the Devon Valley in Stellenbosch. Proudly sponsored by First National
Bank, they really pushed the boat out and we had a superb celebration. The
early evening views over the valley towards the blue mountains in the distance are
exceptional. There were three food stations…
Relaunch of SALT at Paul Cluver wine estate, Elgin
The anticipation of enjoyment when
we are invited to the media launch of a newish restaurant which has been open
for several months but has not been very vocal while they started up, is always
good. When it is on an iconic wine farm only 1 hour from Cape Town, the
excitement increases. And when we learned that the chefs involved are some of
Cape Town's best, we could not wait to see what was on offer. Chef Craig
Cormack runs The
Goose Roasters with his partner Beau du Toit, where they do
catering, training, functions, private dining and pop ups at festivals and
markets and so much more. This is a new venture for them. Chef Mechell Spann is
the chef in residence at Salt. Craig is also an expert on salt, its history and
its uses and he had a huge collection of salts on show in the restaurant. He
lectures about it worldwide. And you can taste it on the table and in the food.
It is a lovely, open and airy restaurant…
Constantia Royale Sauvignon 2018 launch and Nova
Zonnestraal cellar opening
For several years we celebrated special
events with dinner at Parks, the restaurant operated in a lovely Victorian
house at the foot of the hill in Wynberg by Michael Olivier. We didn't know it
at first, but it was part of the Zonnestraal Estate, owned at the time by Reg
Parker. We'd been told that Mr Parker turned the old house into a restaurant so
that he could entertain his friends without having to leave his estate. Most Capetonians have driven through the estate for the last 30 or so years because, when the M3 Blue Route freeway was built, it divided the estate. As this
separated the two halves of the farm, a tunnel was built under the freeway to
allow access between them. This tunnel has now been transformed into the
storage cellar for the farm's wines and we were invited to the opening…
2018 Veritas public tasting at the CTICC
The annual Veritas Awards, which is the
longest running and most prestigious wine and brandy competition in South Africa,
dating back to 1991, and is said by Bennie Howard CWM, who was the MC of the
evening, to be the "Oscars of the South African Wine World". The
Public tasting of Veritas Gold and Double Gold winners was held at the CTICC.
There will be a tasting in Johannesburg on Tuesday 23rd October, followed by
tastings in other centres. Details of these and other events are in MENU, Dates
for your Diary. A full list of the Double Gold, Gold and Silver medal winners
can be seen at http://www.veritas.co.za/awardssearch
A birthday party for two wine industry veterans
These two large and much loved wine
personalities are celebrating their 70th birthdays this month and we were
delighted to be invited to join them both to celebrate. Allan Mullins, CWM and
Wine Selector for Woolworths, turned 70 on Tuesday this week and Peter
Finlayson of Bouchard Finlayson will do so next week on the 24th. The party was
held at Bouchard Finlayson wine estate in the Hemel en Aarde Valley last Sunday
and was so much fun. The party was held inside…
Tasting Villion wines in Bot River
On the way back from the party and our overnight
stay in the Hemel and Aarde, we stopped off at Barton Wine estate, which we
have been meaning to visit for a long time; it has been closed on the previous
occasions we have tried. It is in the Bot River wine ward, but all is not what
it seems. Cellarmaster viticulturist PJ Geyer has now left and owners Annie and
Suzie Neill are living in the UK. There is still some Barton wine on the farm
to taste and buy, however. The farm has been leased to Villion wines and they
are about to renovate the tasting room. We had a very pleasant tasting of
Villion wines with Chanel van der Berg and a tasting of the Barton Rosé. The Villion wines are made by Kobie Viljoen, previously winemaker at Gabriëlskloof, and all the grapes are bought in…
On the MENU this week. The classic Coronation Chicken
recipe
From the Constance Spry Cookery book with
Rosemary Hume. This dish was invented for, and served at, the Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. See it here…
MENU’s Wine of the Week. Villion Syrah 2016
We have had some superb wines
this week but this one stayed in our taste memories. Our pick of Sauvignons
Blanc and our favourite Chardonnay have both already been our wine of the week
in the past and probably will be again. From Villion Family Wines on Barton
Estate in Bot River. R150 a bottle on the farm and very good value for this
quality of Shiraz. Made by winemaker and owner of Villion, Kobie Viljoen, until
recently winemaker at Gabriëlskloof. It was our favourite wine in the tasting
we had on the farm. Savoury from the small amount of Mourvedre added, with
violets, spice, dark cherry, and elegance on the big nose. There is also a
soupçon of Viognier added and this comes across with the soft sweet fruit, lots
of spice, ripe juicy black cherries, some red berries and black pepper and
cinnamon, A big wine to enjoy with friends over a good dinner of rich food like
duck, steak with a sauce or with Christmas dinner
18th October 2018
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
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
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
