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Thursday, November 22, 2018

Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Blend & Wooded Sauvignon Blanc Report 2018

An invitation to attend the WineMag awards for the sixth annual Sauvignon-Semillon Blend & Wooded Sauvignon Blanc Report, now sponsored by precision agriculture service provider Aerobotics. The awards were held at Uitkyk. It is always a joy to visit this marvellous example of Cape Georgian architecture, which is unique

Uitkyk has been bought, with Warwick estate across the road, by Eileses Capital, a San Francisco investment firm, Eileses Capital was founded in 2016 by Kishore Bopardikar and Charles Marston, the two having worked together since 1991 and possessing extensive experience in the technology space. According to the official media releases, additional acquisitions in SA are planned. WineMag.co.za has also been acquired by Eileses Capital

We gathered on the lawn in front of the house with glasses of MCC bubbly and there was a chance to go into the house (see photos at the end of this story)

Then we decamped to the tasting room for the awards

Christian Eedes, Winemag Editor, told us that entries were up this year. There were 41 blends entered from 37 producers while, for the second time, Wooded Sauvignon Blanc was included and there were 19 examples from 16 producers. Jacqueline Lahoud is alongside him

Andrew Burdock, CEO of Aerobotics gave us a slide show of what the services they provide for farmers: "Tree top protection for Farmers." Using drones, they can closely examine crops, orchards and vineyards from the air and then analyse the data and show where the problems are beginning to occur. This can save farmers a great deal of money, time and trouble before it gets started. Some of the top scorers at the awards received free trials

The judges were Christian, James Petersen and Roland Peens. One white Bordeaux among the blends and two Austrian examples of Wooded Sauvignon Blanc as ringers. As Christian says, these are not swimming pool wines; they need time to mature. The average price is R254 a bottle. Some of the wines entered are too green and grassy and they cannot be sold as premium wines. Some are overrich, thick in texture. The most successful wines have great freshness, are carefully structured with some richness. And wooding, where used, is subtle

The top Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Blends

The Top Wooded Sauvignons Blanc

Winemakers Riandri Visser and Adriaan Jacobs who made the overall winner, Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2016, receiving their certificate from Christian Eedes and Andrew Burdock

Jean Daneel, who represents Sylvain cooperage, hands over the prize of a 225 litre barrel

to Riandrie Visser and Adriaan Jacobs of Cape Point Vineyards

Green pepper pyrazines and some green leaves. Full on Sauvignon Blanc,

juicy, very long and deep and satisfying. Wood?

A classic pyrazine Sauvignon Blanc nose, with a little added Chanel perfume to splash behind your ears. With tangy crisp fruit, this has lots of potential to age. Deep, rich and long flavours with the wood hinting and floating in and out of the glass

Shy on the nose, with a whiff of smoke. Then a blockbuster wine in the glass, it shouts "I am Here!"

Some semillon richness, complexity with English gooseberries, citrus freshness and wood support

67% Semillon and 33 % Sauvignon; this reverses the normal blend. A classic dusty semillon nose with some floral notes, then green pepper speaks for the Sauvignon. Crisp clean zingy good flavours; some Hungarian oak is used. Hazendal has decided to use what we would normally call a Muscat bottle on all of their wines. These are imported from Italy

From what is acknowledged as one of South Africa's best Sauvignon vineyards, the Suider Terras (Southern Terrace). Green pepper and wood smoke, then asparagus and peas on the nose.

It has clean, crisp long integrated flavours, quite French in style

A coastal Blanc Fume grown on the Outeniqua Mountains, with smoke, citrus, clean minerality

and sea air. Lemon lime citrus some good wood mid palate, long flavours with cream or fatness

perhaps from a little semillon?

Green pepper and smoke on the nose. Rich with creaminess, deep and concentrated citrus flavours, and a distinct tingle on the tongue

Faint smoke, elegance, stone fruit, rich clean with minerality and length

A classic noseful of Elgin Pyrazines, At first, some sweetness then a good balance of fruit acidity,

long flavours, some oak wood, minerality and length. They also scored 92 with their Sauvignon Blanc,

with its classic green leaf nose, rich and full, with good acid balance, long flavours

with some chalk on the end and a hint of wood

Our wine of the week last week, with whiffs of smoke, It brings out the best in both grapes,

dusty and fresh with green pepper and asparagus notes, full on the palate,

advancing in layers of fruit and elegance

With its classic nose of green pepper and kelp.it is full of crisp, lean pyrazines and citrus,

long flavours, complexity and minerality.

The wine was best overall in the Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Blends category.

It also won a R25000 Aerobotics voucher & the 225 litre Sylvain barrel, presented by Jean Daneel

Conrad Vlok, winemaker at Strandveld Vineyards with his Adamastor white blend and its certificate

Jonathan Snashall pours a glass of Highland Road for Michael White

Michael White and Vanessa Simkiss of Highland Road

Uitkyk is tastefully furnished with beautiful examples of Cape furniture and some imports,

with original frescos on the walls. We do hope that these will be retained by the new owners

Wow, one of the longest tables we have ever seen, made from Yellowwood, an

indigenous hardwood tree, the national tree of South Africa, as is the large Armoire behind it

Elegant proportions and wooden ceilings and floors

A side sitting room with a beautiful mantle mirror

and another dining room

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Friday, November 16, 2018

This Week’s MENU. Keermont Single Vineyard wines, 2019 Platter's South African Wine Guide, Paserene, Franschhoek, De Wetshof Celebration of Chardonnay, Almond Marzipan, Strandveld Adamastor White Blend

A flight of blue cranes, near Bredasdorp, Southern Cape

The buzz continues. Robertson twice in a week. Last week, we told you about our time at Wine on the River and our visits to some wine estates. This week, we were back for De Wetshof’s Celebration of Chardonnay, one of those “Don’t Miss It” events of the year. Plus the full story of the Platter launch and some other events you can look at, below this. Pressure of time has meant that, yet again, we’ve held some over till next week.

Tasting Keermont Single Vineyard wines

An invitation last week to visit Keermont owner Mark Wraith's Cape Town offices in Kloof Street to taste the new release of the Single Vineyard Series. We used to sell these wines in our shop, so we know the quality they produce on the farm in the high Helderberg mountains…

The 2019 Platter's South African Wine Guide launched

The 2019 Platter Wine Guide by Diners Club was released last week at the Table Bay Hotel. There is always great excitement in the wine trade when this occurs with producers hoping that a wine has been awarded 5 stars. We love going to the presentation; there is so much energy and joy in the room…

Wine tasting and lunch with Martin Smith at Paserene, Franschhoek

We were invited by PRO Caroline van Schalkwyk to visit Paserene wine farm in Franschhoek. Owned by Cellarmaster Viticulturist Martin Smith and his business partner Ndube Mareda, who say that their aim is to produce world-class wines with creativity and passion. They are close friends. And, at Paserene, there is Martin's passion for making the wine. A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes, the order of "travelling and free" birds which includes swifts and swallows. it gets its name from the Latin passer, which refers to sparrows and similar small birds…

De Wetshof Celebration of Chardonnay

This celebration is held every two years at De Wetshof in Robertson and it is one of those events to which members of the industry fervently hope to receive an invitation. There is certainly a lot of celebration in our house. This year, De Wetshof paid homage to icons and legends. We tasted the wines made by the people who have played leading rôles in pushing Chardonnay forward as a serious South African wine varietal, both locally and internationally. Chardonnay was only established here just four decades ago and it has certainly garnered a reputation for excellence in that short time…

On the MENU this week Almond Marzipan

If you are making Christmas cakes you might want to know how to make proper Marzipan. No cooking required and it makes all the difference to that awful bought stuff that puts children off until they are 40! And now that ground almonds are so popular because of Banting, they are no longer difficult to find…

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Strandveld Adamastor White Blend

16th November 2018

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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 our website and ancillary works are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are often 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 Wine of the Week. Strandveld Adamastor White Blend

Our Wine of the Week was tasted at the Elim Wine festival and has since won another award. You will read about both of these events next week. From Strandveld Winery in Elim, it is a good blend of Sauvignon and Semillon grapes. It brings out the best in both grapes, dusty and fresh with green pepper and asparagus notes, full on the palate, advancing in layers of fruit and elegance. R165 from the farm

We also had a taste of a 2008 Strandveld Adamastor in a master class at the festival and this is a lesson about waiting a while before you drink good white blends. A blockbuster of a nose with tinned asparagus, this is a BIG wine. Golden fruit with soft warm alcohol, nice minerality and long flavours. A complex food wine. Still fresh, too. Amazing for a 10 year old white wine

and

We almost have a new category this week: Wines we WISH we had bought earlier. At the same master class at the festival, we tasted the first Sijnn wine, a 2008 red blend of Shiraz, Mourvedre, Touriga and Trincadeira and it quite near blew us away. We have to confess that, when we first tasted in years ago, we were not that enthusiastic, but this is a real lesson: if a wine is made by one of your favourite winemakers, pay attention, buy some and keep it. Thank you David Trafford. We scored it 19 points. We do have some of the Adamastor in our Cellar and may just forget about it for a year or two

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On the MENU this week. Almond Marzipan

If you are making Christmas cakes you might want to know how to make proper Marzipan. No cooking required and it makes all the difference, compared to that awful bought ersatz stuff that puts children off until they are 40! And now that ground almonds are so popular because of Banting, they are no longer difficult to find

100g icing sugar - 100 g caster sugar - 200g ground almonds - 1 t lemon juice - a few drops Almond extract - 1 beaten egg

Sift the icing sugar and caster sugar into a bowl, add the almonds. Then stir in the lemon juice, the almond extract and the egg using your hands or a wooden spoon until you have a firm but workable dough. You could do this in a food processor. Knead lightly then roll out. This is enough to cover a 7 inch/18cm cake. Make double if you have a larger Christmas cake. You can also use the marzipan for confectionery - roll out and use to stuff dates, or make small rounds or squares and enrobe in dark chocolate for that ultimate Christmas gift.

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De Wetshof Celebration of Chardonnay

We arrived early to make sure that we didn't miss a thing. We loved the innovative way they displayed all the Chardonnays that were to be tasted, by putting them all on pedestals on the lawn. Although we did express concern that the 32º heat might damage these particular bottles!

Lynne and our host Néwald Marais of Kranskop, who very kindly put us up for two nights,
took a stroll to see what we were to enjoy and spotted some favourites

There was a tent with coffee, rooibos tea and some breakfast canapés to sustain us

PRO Emile Joubert with Stephen Spurrier, who was the keynote speaker of the day. He is British, previously a wine retailer in Paris, where he opened l'Academie du Vin, France's first private wine school in 1973. He is a renowned wine writer, educator, commentator, consultant, critic and judge. He created the Christie’s Wine Course with Michael Broadbent, and he is famous for having staged The Judgement of Paris, at which he arranged a blind tasting of French and American wines in France, where the USA wines outgunned the French. He has now made his own wine in Britain, Bride Valley Brut, and published his memoir Wine - a Way of Life earlier this year

Winemakers Nico Grobler (Eikendal), Morné Vrey (Delaire Graff),
Stuart Botha (Tokara), Carl Schultz (Hartenberg)

Joris van Almenkerk, Michael Bampfield Duggan, Natalie Opstaele van Almenkerk,
Jean Vincent Ridon and Cathy Marston

Johann de Wet is now the CEO of De Wetshof and he opened proceedings that morning

He told us that this biennial event began in 2006. The wines that we were to taste

are the most highly regarded Chardonnays in South Africa today

We were to taste four flights, each with three top Chardonnays

These wines were selected by Remington Norman

and each would be introduced by the winemaker, where possible

Other great wines would be poured during lunch

The formal tasting was held in the newly painted wine cellar

The makers of the wines in the tasting, preparing to talk about their wines

Murray Barlow of Rustenberg, Achim and Hildegard von Arnim of Haute Cabrière

The wines we tasted in these flights were quite superb and deserved to be here and respected

All were quite different; there do seem to be several styles and the different terroirs

obviously play a big role, as do the winemaking and the wood, if any

The first flight: Peter Finlayson of Bouchard Finlayson, Missionvale 2016
Jeanette Bruwer of Springfield (sister of cellarmaster Abrie who was unable to attend), Méthode Ancienne 2016
Andrew Gunn of Iona, Iona Chardonnay 2013

Second Flight: Gary Jordan of Jordan Wines, Nine Yards Reserve Chardonnay 2015
Carl Schultz of Hartenberg, The Eleanor 2016
Jan "Boland" Coetzee of Vriesenhof, Chardonnay 2012

Third Flight: Simon Barlow of Rustenberg, Five Soldiers 2017
Danie de Wet, De Wetshof Estate Bateleur Chardonnay 2016
Anthony Hamilton Russell, Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2015

Fourth Flight: Kevin Grant of Ataraxia, 2016 Chardonnay
Boela Gerber of Groot Constantia, 2017 Chardonnay
Neil Ellis, Neil Ellis wines White Hall Chardonnay 2015

Stephen Spurrier began his speech with a question, "Why is Chardonnay a great wine? He quoted British Master Sommelier Ronan Sayburn, who said: “Flavour-wise, Chardonnay is the chicken of the wine world – a blank canvas that winemakers are free to write upon. To oak, to semi-oak or not to oak at all; to follow partial or full malolactic fermentation, or to add richness and texture by lees stirring. All these and more are factors a wine-maker has to consider. But before the winemaker comes the vineyard”. Aubert de Villaine from Romanée Conti, arguably the most revered name in wine, is often asked how he made such great wines. His reply is always: “We pick the grapes when they are ripe and do nothing”. We hope to have a link to Mr Spurrier’s full speech in due course

Remington Norman introduced the wines. Tension is the buzz word in the industry at the moment and he said that we should be aiming at TEPF in winemaking - Tension, Energy, Precision and Focus. He said to the winemakers: "It is not your production facility or your socks we are interested in. What are you trying to do with your wine? Why did you make this wine, who are you, what are you trying to achieve? Tell us now as we taste it"

Steven Spurrier answering questions after his speech.

Comparing notes are Kevin Grant of Ataraxia and Boela Gerber of Groot Constantia

Neil Ellis of Neil Ellis wines, chatting to Mr Spurrier

Heads down, noses deployed, we begin the tasting
The Flying Sommelier, Jean Vincent Ridon and Johan Malan of Simonsig

Joris and Natalie van Almenkerk of Almenkerk Estate in Elgin

The audience was asked for questions and comments about the wine, but were not very forthcoming

GM Johann Laubscher and winemaker Morné Frey of Delaire Graff

Peter de Wet, Winemaker at De Wetshof

The pourers were wonderful, silent, efficient and quick
and the portions were correct in every glass, so important

Christine Rudman with Phil Freese of Vilafonte

Simon Barlow making us laugh

and reminding us that had Danie de Wet not gone and acquired those cuttings from France,
the SA wine industry would not have had Chardonnay as early as it did

Danie de Wet, who started the ball rolling

Allan Mullins with the "old boys" –

Remington Norman, Achim von Arnim, Neil Ellis, Danie de Wet and Peter Finlayson

We moved to a marquee on the lawn for lunch. Johann de Wet outlined the rest of the programme

L to R Simon Back, chef George Jardine, Higgo Jacobs, Allan Mullins, Louise Jardine, Etienne le Riche

Thomas Webb of Thelema and Emul Ross, winemaker at Hamilton Russell

Johann de Wet, Rudi Liebenberg, Executive Chef at the Belmont Mount Nelson Hotel, and
Gera de Wet with the Golden Vine Award which is presented by De Wetshof each year
to an outstanding chef for service to wine and cuisine

Chef Marius Uys of Slippery Spoon, who looked after the catering for lunch. Each of the small dishes, titled Nips, was dedicated to a winemaker and was recommended to be paired with three wines. You could walk from table to table and try each one with the recommended wines

Peter de Wet with Izelle van Blerk, who makes the Mentors wines at KWV

Time to taste the many other chardonnays available with lunch; it was a very tempting selection

The Coal Miner, inspired by Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck, was a black sesame topped sweet and savoury charcoal macaron, filled with an artichoke mousse and rolled in sunflower seeds, which added a very good texture to the macaron. Good acidity in the filling too. Paired with Joubert Tradauw 2015 Chardonnay; Lismore Reserve Chardonnay 2016 and Excelsior Chardonnay 2018

The Robertson Fisherman, Abrie Bruwer of Springfield. A seared tuna Tataki with a miso pressed watermelon and crispy flakes of pancetta with a thick soy sauce. Good tuna; not sure what the watermelon was doing there, it added nothing to this good dish. Paired with Robertson Winery Constitution Road 2016 Chardonnay, Uva Mira Single Tree Chardonnay 2016 and Paul Cluver Estate Chardonnay 2015

The Rustenberg Garden, Simon Barlow. Rooibos vermicelli noodles and seven finely diced vegetables in a rice paper roll. Topped with a viola and served with a very weak nuoc cham dressing which should be sweet, sour and salty; this was just sweet. Didn’t see any of the promised edible gold. Paired with Arco Laarman’s Focal Point Chardonnay 2017, Bergsig Estate Tant Anna Chardonnay 2017 and Delaire Graff Terraced Block Reserve Chardonnay 2016

Johan Malan of Simonsig tasting the Tant Anna with this course

Gary Jordan enjoying one of the dishes

The chef serving the Biltong dish

The Springbok, Jan Boland Coetzee. 24 hour matured Springbok biltong, encrusted with cumin and coriander - thinly sliced with Japanese knives and slivered onto a hot crispy polenta cube and topped with a good, spicy waterblommetjie kimchi relish. Some people thought the meat too soft, we loved it, perhaps more carpaccio than biltong. Paired with Glen Carlou Chardonnay 2017, Groote Post Kapokberg Chardonnay 2017 and Vergelegen Reserve Chardonnay 2016

The Forager, Anthony Hamilton Russell. Mushroom toast. Foraged mushrooms in an XO sauce, in petit fried bao buns; serve with buchu and good Kalahari truffle sauce. The buns were strange; deep fried, they lost their fluffiness, but the contents were good, as was the truffle flavour. Paired with Mont Blois Hoog and Laag Chardonnay 2016, Storm Vrede Chardonnay 2016 and Thelema Chardonnay 2015

Carl Schultz and Rebecca Constable in conversation

The VOC, Boela Gerber. Crisp fried Karoo lamb bitterballen and Asian style steamed bitterballen, prepared in bamboo steamers with sweet mustard sauce. I have to say that they bore no relation to any bitterballen we have had; however, as a lamb kofta and a steamed dumpling, they were rather good. Paired with Arendsig Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2017, Almenkerk Chardonnay 2012 and Tokara Reserve Collection Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2014

White Gloves, Danie de Wet. Home smoked oysters in their shells with seared king oyster mushrooms, fresh baby spinach and a fresh Cape gooseberry. Paired with De Grendel Op die Berg Chardonnay 2017, Newton Johnson Chardonnay 2017 and Kranskop Chardonnay 2017

Oysters on ice

There was another course, entitled The Elgin, Andrew Gunn: a hefty square of pork belly topped with a cheese Welsh rarebit with an apple purée, and dehydrated apple slices. Sadly, no photograph. It did rather need a sauce. Paired with Chamonix Reserve Chardonnay 2017, De Morgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2017 and Eikendal Earth Chardonnay 2016

Dessert - Three versions of a very sweet alcoholic sorbet:

L'Ormarins Sorbet Anthonij Rupert, L'Ormarins Blanc de Blanc MCC, topped with strawberry

Graham Beck Blanc de Blanc with pink peppercorns and cucumber

and Simonsig Blanc de Blanc with fresh apple and parmesan shavings

These were paired with the MCCs from which they were made

Fida Hess, Louise Jardine, Bevan Newton Johnson

Meyer and Beate Joubert of Joubert Tradauw

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MENU, our weekly email newsletter, started as an advertising medium for Main Ingredient, our specialist retail grocery business. We opened our Sea Point shop in December 2002 because realised that there was a place in South Africa for a grocer catering to people with sophisticated tastes and needs. We moved the shop on line in 2010, but discontinued it in 2015, having decided that it is time to “retire” and concentrate on our writing, photography and tour guiding. MENU has a wide circulation and is read nationally and internationally.

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