Thursday, October 04, 2018

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 will be tasting and drinking some of the best. The only competition committed exclusively to the Cap Classique category, the Amorim Méthode Cap Classique Challenge is sponsored by Portugal-based cork company 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
One of the helpful waiters pouring us a welcoming glass ....
... of our confessed favourite Brut Rosé MCC, the one from Simonsig
Canapés were served and this fresh Tuna Tataki was absolutely superb, so well flavoured
There were also some cheese croquettes with a mustard sauce,
rather risky to eat as they oozed warm cheese as they fell apart, but good
Peppadew mousse wrapped in cucumber
Winemakers Etienne Louw (Pierre Simond), Xander Grier (Villiera) and Stephan de Beer (Krone) chatting on the terrace, which has a superb view of the Atlantic Ocean and the mountains behind
Siobhan Thompson (WOSA), Elunda Basson (Pongracz) and Cathy Marston (WSET)
Joaquim Sá (Amorim Cork), Johan Malan (Simonsig), Pieter Ferreira (Graham Beck) & JP Colmant (Colmant)
Greg Landman and Samantha van der Berg entering the room
behind Shane Mullis of Domaine des Dieux and Marize Uys of Amorim Cork
Julian Richfield (freelance journalist) and Maryna Calow of WOSA
Pongracz Cellarmaster Elunda Basson
Our MCC MC for the event was PRO and Journalist Emile Joubert
Joaquim Sá, MD of Amorim South Africa, said that the country’s wine industry can justifiably feel proud of its Cap Classique category. “As a cork producer, Amorim believes that a natural cork adds value to a bottle of wine by endorsing the product with a closure that represents tradition and quality. This is what Cap Classique does for the South African wine industry: it adds value and this is at a time when there is great pressure on producers to do just that, said Sá. "MCC", he said, "is recognised as one of the best bottled Méthode Champenoise wines in the world. It has style, quality, taste and fashion. And it has the ability to compete with the rest of the world. Sales are climbing". Amorim is co-sponsor of the Cape Winemakers Guild protégé programme and of Jean Vincent Ridon in supporting the international Sommeliers competition
He continued: “The quality of product and the excitement of the category add value to the image of the South African wine industry, and here we have to thank the pioneers who created Cap Classique over 40 years ago as well as the passionate and headstrong pursuers of excellence who built the category to what it is today. Amorim is immensely proud to be associated with the product and its people who add value to the lovely everyday pleasure that is wine”
Heidi Duminy CWM was the head judge. Her colleagues were Cathy Marston, wine educator and journalist, sommelier-at-large Higgo Jacobs, Elunda Basson, JC le Roux cellarmaster (seen in the picture above) and Pierre de Klerk from Graham Beck. Farai Magwada, sommelier at Cavalli Estate in Stellenbosch, joined the team as associate judge. She said it was the most lively judging panel ever! And the tasting was rigorous. “The 127 record show of entries in this year’s competition is both exciting and encouraging and as a panel we were delighted by the overall standard across the classes,” she said. “Every year there is a tangible step up in quality and intent, especially amongst the frontrunners. The advancement of quality on the whole has raised the bar across all styles, with time on lees clearly key to distinguishing the good from the exceptional”
Nearly time to present the trophies
We wait in anticipation, but first came the starters
The interesting menu
Elegant decoration
Joaquim Sá chats to the Portuguese Consul in Cape Town, Mr Arsenio
The naughty table, for smokers, on the balcony: Anton Pretorius, Heidi van Wyk, Martelize Brink
There were two starters: the first was a chicken arancini (rice ball) in crisp panko crumbs, a chicken mousse morsel, a creamy sauce of smoked mozzarella, a herb tapenade and a rich dark chicken jus. A good mix of textures and flavours, so it left you wanting more
Roxanne la Vita (aka The Witty Wine Woman) and Heidi van Wyk get a glass of the MCC that accompanied the starters
It was a taste of things to come; this was our wine of the week last week, just after the competition, Colmant Brut Chardonnay Non Vintage MCC. It is made by Jean-Philippe (JP) Colmant on his farm in Franschhoek from selected chardonnay grapes grown in both Franschhoek and Robertson. He calls it his crème de la crème and we agree. On the nose it speaks to French Champagne in style, with elegance and restraint, with rich and creamy brioche notes from long maturation and a whiff of cognac richness and complexity. Clean citrus and apple on the nose and palate, it has a good mousse and has long, crisp and dry flavours with a tingle. It is also so good with food. R240 from the farm. It is has twice received five stars in Platter 
Pouring for the competition! Birthday Boy Paul Gerber of Le Lude
Winemakers Pierre de Klerk of Graham Beck and Clayton Reabow of Moreson
Maryna Calow chats with Emile Joubert
The second starter was Salmon Trout Poke with soy jelly cubes, avocado mousse, toasted sesame seeds, all delicious. What didn't gel was the Granny Smith apple purée strongly flavoured with cloves; not something one associates with delicate trout
The Consul enjoying the lunch, as we were
Time for the awards. Joaquim Sá, presenting to Charl Schoeman, who won the Rosé Trophy for Simonsig Woolworths Pinot Noir Rosé
Kobus van der Merwe of KWV gets a Gold Medal in the Blanc de Blanc category for his Laborie Blanc de Blancs
Another one goes to Pierre de Klerk, for the Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2013
and one to Etienne Louw, for his Pierre Simond Anna Carin Blanc de Blancs 2015
And the Blanc de Blanc Trophy and a certificate goes to Jean-Philippe Colmant for his Brut Chardonnay NV
Now for the Brut category, a Gold Medal to Xander Grier for the Villiera Monro Brut 2011
One for Hannes Nel, Lourensford MCC 2012
and the Trophy to Sharon Parnell, Domaine des Dieux Claudia Brut 2012
In the Museum Class, the Trophy went to Elunda Basson of JC le Roux for the Pongracz Desiderius 2000
A happy JP Colmant with his Blanc de Blanc Trophy, sitting down as he’d had a hip replacement just a few days before the awards. He is walking well already
The line up of some of the Trophy wines which we had for lunch
Jean Vincent Ridon, winemaker at Signal Hill wines and Manager at the Sommeliers Academy
Journalists Malu Lambert and Graham Howe
Main course of very good tender beef fillet, cooked sous vide, with a crisp Yorkshire pudding filled with braised brisket, Beef fat roasted potatoes baby carrots, broccoli puree and a good red wine jus. We were served the Trophy winner, Claudia Brut 2012, with this course and it was a very good match. Brut does pair well with savoury courses, especially if it has its own complex flavours, as this one does
Head Sommelier at the 12 Apostles, Gregory Mutambe pouring the wine to go with dessert, Desiderus 2000, which won the Museum Class Trophy. It is very concentrated and rich, bready, and full of cooked apple and pear with some dark caramel
Dessert tasted like a great deconstructed Lemon Meringue pie, if you discounted the basil gel. With lemon curd, lemon sorbet, sherbet, vanilla mousse, almond crumble
The final award of the Competition is the overall winner. In a repeat performance from 2014, Domaine des Dieux, the boutique wine producer in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley near Hermanus, was crowned as South Africa’s best Cap Classique exponent. They won their second sword for sabrage
Sharon Parnell accepting the award
Johan Malan of Simonsig presenting their Annual Franz Malan Award to the person who has made a great contribution to the industry. The winner this year was Christine Rudman CWM, ex principal of the Cape Wine Academy, writer, author, Platter taster and educator. The award was given for her sponsorship of this category, for featuring its immense quality and the culture of Cap Classique. We studied under Christine when we were working towards our Diplomas; that is how we met
When accepting her award, Christine had some wise words to say. She reminded us how, early on, you always had sweet JC le Roux or Grand Mousseux at weddings, and how we have progressed to the modern versions and that Bubbly is now the rule at celebrations. She thanked her mentors in the industry who helped her grow in self confidence. She said that working for Platter had made her focus on the wine in the glass, to describe it in as few words as possible. She advised us to make our opinions known, to be honest; make a fool of yourself now and then and sometimes you will be brilliant. She is NOT giving up, she is having such fun
and Johan Malan reminded us that his late father Franz Malan, the father of MCC in South Africa, would have been 90 on the 8th of August this year
Emotional!
The winners line up
Charl Schoeman & Johan Malan
Trying out that new sword
Off goes the cork
The winning Domaine des Dieux team: Myles Buxton, Shane Mullis, Sharon Parnell
This will go very nicely with the other one they have. We suggested Scottish dancing in the tasting room....

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 kept the rest in the fridge for another. This is what Lynne came up with

All the ingredients are things we had in the house or the garden. You can buy the peppers now in the supermarket, but if you don’t find them, you can use Peppadews instead. We keep jars of these in our fridge to spice food up. Look for the PEPPADEW® brand. They certainly spice up this Tortilla nicely. You can add garlic, but it is not usual and the flavour does get a bit lost
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil - 1 onion, sliced - 500g potatoes, cubed - 6 eggs – 1 to 1.5 cups of cooked chicken – 3 Tbsp roughly chopped pickled jalapeno peppers – 3 Tbsp roughly chopped Peppadew peppers – 1 teaspoon of Spanish smoked Paprika – salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a skillet, fry the onions with a pinch of salt until In a large skillet or frying pan, fry the onions with a pinch of salt in 2 Tbspns of the oil, until transparent and just beginning to colour, then add the potatoes and cook until they are beginning to soften. You can put a lid on the pan to help this. Add the last Tbspn of oil to the pan and make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Whip up the eggs, add the chicken, peppers and smoked paprika, season well and pour over the potato and onion mix. Cook on a low heat until the bottom begins to set, and then put the tortilla under a hot grill for a few moments to cook the top. Cut into wedges and serve with a simple tomato salad. You can eat this hot or enjoy it cold the next day. We find that serving it lukewarm is the best compromise, it has more flavour

Thursday, September 27, 2018

This Week’s MENU. Lunch at Pajamas & Jam, Pinot noir Report, Zeitz MOCAA, Tian of vegetables. Colmant MCC

Spiral. Looking up the 6 storey spiral staircase at the Zeitz MOCAA, like a huge mechanical eye

Spring was here.... and then, typically, it changed its mind. It tucked itself back into its box and let Winter stay with us for a while longer. Last Sunday, on the way through Constantia to a friend's birthday celebration, we passed beautiful spring flowers massed along the edge of the road in the sunshine. For most of this week, including today, when we were at the celebration of the Amorim Cork MCC Awards, it was cold, cloudy and damp. But the weather forecast says that it will clear up tomorrow, so maybe Spring is coming back. But the good news is that our dam levels have reached 70%, which is better than we've had for a couple of years, but we still need to be careful about using water. Enjoy this week's stories…
We were invited to an awards presentation in Somerset West at 3.30 in the afternoon last week and, to make going out there worthwhile, we decided to try out one of the local restaurants for a bite of lunch. Friends who live there, depressingly, told us that this is where restaurants go to die, so we were a bit cautious. Then a friend in our industry said “Try Pajamas and Jam, just off the N2, they are good”. So here we are. Not difficult to find it; just look for the Sikorsky S61 helicopter on top of the building. You take the turning to the right off the N2, just before the bridge (heading for Sir Lowry’s Pass). It is at 32 van Zyl Street, off Fabriek Road…

WineMag invited us to join them at the release of the results of the second annual (2018) Pinot Noir Report, to see the top scorers get their certificates and taste the top wines. The event was held last week at Idiom Wine Estate in Sir Lowry’s Pass high above Somerset West and the Strand
The Zeitz MOCAA is a museum of contemporary African art. It is also, in a way, a sculpture on its own; a reincarnation of the old grain silo in the Cape Town harbour. The silo tubes have been carved out to create new spaces and wonderful shapes which lend themselves to photographic compositions. This makes it an interesting exercise for a photographer, but so do the interactions between visitors, the art works and the building itself. Most of the photographs do not need captions. On Heritage Day this week, the museum was open free to local residents and we decided to take advantage of the offer. There was also a special Cape Malay lunch in the museum restaurant, so we booked for that as well…

We eat a lot of vegetables – because we enjoy them. So, wondering how to cook some good pork sausages differently, Lynne looked in our fridge and came up with this idea. The Americans would call this a tray bake; it rather more resembles a Moroccan tagine or French Tian. The pork bangers we had were plump and full of flavour; buy the best you can get, they will reward you. The vegetables in this were what we had in the fridge; you can make your own choices, but you must use the cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and the herbs. Click here or on the title to see the whole recipe

South African Méthode Cap Classique has been around since Frans Malan made the first Kaapse Vonkel at Simonsig in 1971. Made in the traditional French method, this beautiful rendition is not allowed to be called Champagne, but many of our talented winemakers are able to make superb wines of quality and finesse in this style. We love drinking it; we always try to welcome guests with a bottle of bubbly. It must be served at celebrations, breakfast, lunch, dinner, picnics, with luxurious food like duck paté, smoked salmon and caviar and it goes perfectly with rich desserts. In fact, we don’t need any excuses to pop the cork on a bottle, or two. Today, over lunch at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge for 2018, we tasted the wines awarded the top accolades in South Africa, much more about which next week. The wine that impressed us more than the others, and they are all excellent, is our Wine of the Week…
27th September 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

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

MENU's Wine of the Week. Colmant Brut Chardonnay Non Vintage MCC

South African Méthode Cap Classique has been around since Frans Malan made the first Kaapse Vonkel at Simonsig in 1971. Made in the traditional French method, this beautiful rendition is not allowed to be called Champagne, but many of our talented winemakers are able to make superb wines of quality and finesse in this style. We love drinking it, we always try to welcome guests with a bottle of bubbly, it must be served at celebrations, breakfast, lunch, dinner, picnics, with luxurious food like duck paté, smoked salmon and caviar and it goes perfectly with rich desserts. In fact, we don’t need any excuses to pop the cork on a bottle, or two. Today, over lunch at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge for 2018, we tasted the wines awarded the top accolades in South Africa, much more about this next week. The wine that impressed us more than the others, and they are all excellent, is our Wine of the Week

Colmant Brut Chardonnay Non Vintage MCC won this year’s Blanc de Blanc Trophy. It is made by Jean-Philippe (JP) Colmant on his farm in Franschhoek from selected chardonnay grapes grown in both Franschhoek and Robertson. He calls it his crème de la crème and we agree. On the nose, it speaks to French Champagne in style, with elegance and restraint, with rich and creamy brioche notes from long maturation and a whiff of cognac richness and complexity. Clean citrus and apple on the nose and palate, it has a good mousse and has long, crisp and dry flavours with a tingle. It is also so good with food. R240 on the farm. It is has twice received five stars in Platter 

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

On the MENU this week. Tian of vegetables topped with Pork Sausages

We eat a lot of vegetables – because we enjoy them. So, wondering how to cook some good pork sausages differently, Lynne looked in our fridge and came up with this idea. The Americans would call this a tray bake; it rather more resembles a Moroccan tagine or French Tian. The pork bangers we had were plump and full of flavour; buy the best you can get, they will reward you. The vegetables in this were what we had in the fridge; you can make your own choices but you must use the cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and the herbs
6 or 8 pork sausages – a cup of ripe cherry tomatoes – 3 courgettes – 5 baby carrots, scraped – a cup of baby potatoes in their skins – three small shallots, halved – 1 leek, sliced – 1 kohlrabi, trimmed & sliced into half moons – 5 or 6 whole cloves of garlic – 5 small sprigs of rosemary and the same of thyme – 3 bay leaves – a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil – sea salt - freshly ground black pepper – half a cup of water
Heat your oven to 180°C. Make sure all the vegetables are in bite-sized pieces and put them into the base of a deep open dish. Add the water and tuck in the herbs and garlic. Season with a little sea salt and then drizzle with olive oil. Put the sausages on the top and put the dish into the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the sausages and check that the vegetables are cooking. Continue cooking until the sausages are cooked. If the vegetables still need a bit more cooking, cover the dish with foil and give it another 10 minutes in the oven. If the dish is dry, add a little more water; you do want a bit of ‘gravy’. Taste the jus and add more salt to the dish if you think it needs it. The sausages will add lots of flavour. Give it a grind of black pepper and serve

Lunch at Pajamas & Jam, Somerset West

We were invited to an awards presentation in Somerset West at 3.30 in the afternoon last week and, to give extra justification for the trip, we decided to try out one of the local restaurants for a bite of lunch. Friends who live there, depressingly, told us that this is where restaurants go to die, so we were a bit cautious. Then a friend in our industry said, "Try Pajamas and Jam, just off the N2, they are good". So here we are. It's not difficult to find it; just look for the scrapped Sikorsky S61 helicopter on top of the building. You take the turning to the right off the N2, just before the bridge (heading for Sir Lowry’s Pass). It is at 32 van Zyl Street, off Fabriek Road
The entrance is quite smart. Inside it’s a huge warehouse connected to another next door
It is enormous. At the front there is a shop with lots of comestibles to buy to take home
The lunch menu. There is also a Morning section for breakfast
NB no licence, so no wine or beer. We had not brought any wine with us
and we were on our way to a wine event, so we chose two of these healthy juices
Menu of the day. Obviously croissants were very popular, as at 12.30 this choice was sold out
And the restaurant is filled with shelves of what the 'antique' trade calls Tut. Next door, there is a scrap metal business and we suspect that much of it ends up here on the shelves. It is mostly metal, like brass or copper, with some glass and other items. Not many items bear prices. Some are reasonable, many are not, but a lot of the prices are ridiculous; many are marked R1750 for something small and not valuable. We suspect that they are not really for sale. (Lynne was in the Antique trade in London in her 20's and used to buy stock for the gallery she worked for - from dealers, markets and from the top auction houses). It is fun to browse while you wait for your food
It is obviously a very popular place for lunch, working or just meeting friends
These old copper geysers and urns are now worth a lot of money
Piles and piles of books, mostly marked "Not for Sale, do not touch"
Love the old walnut piano, but we wouldn’t suggest sitting down to play, you might get stuck....
An old traction engine in a dusty corner, with some plaques from old steam trains
and an old fashioned bike with a basket
Lamps. chandeliers and long tables near a warm round fireplace,
welcome in this huge space on the chilly day we were experiencing
We ordered two of the variations of Quesadillas and were impressed when two arrived on each plate. The wraps were well toasted and the cheese inside had melted nicely
Lynne had chosen the pulled pork with sweet onion jam, mozzarella and cream cheese. Very enjoyable, tender and moist pulled pork with good flavour (So different from the overcooked and dry pulled pork we have had elsewhere in the past). Not a fan of the huge quantity of rather sweet onion jam on both versions. We would also have liked some greenery, like rocket, and perhaps some tomato
These are generous portions
John chose the Bacon and Brie version, which also came with onion jam and cream cheese
We swapped one each, so we had some variety
Just right for soaking up the Pinot noirs we would soon be tasting
Our juices: Lynne chose the Pineapple, mango, orange, ginger and lemon,
John the Grapefruit, orange and ginger
Both were freshly made and came with the pulp in the container
Do not be fooled - these glass chemical flasks had 350ml of juice in each,
so generous for R45. Fresh, unsweetened and very enjoyable
A good selection of cakes to tempt you
Chocolate topped cheesecakes
Luckily we are not tempted to indulge. Lynne bought some Iceland poppies to take home
Our Bill