Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - Lothian

Because we were early for the tasting at Shannon, we shot down the road to Lothian to taste two wines that people were talking about (thank you Rebecca). Winemaker Richard Kershaw MW is making the wines for Lothian and his wines come with a huge pedigree. This view is of the house over the lake
A Kokerboom aloe tree, also known as the Quiver tree from the San peoples’ practice
of hollowing out the tubular branches of Aloidendron dichotomum to form quivers for their arrows
The front of the house is covered in the most exquisite green wall we have ever seen
It is planted with different coloured Streptocarpus plants, ferns and some succulents
A view of the autumnal vines over the lake
and the pool. Lothian has luxury accommodation and some festival goers were staying there
A warm welcome awaited us from Ewen Wilson at the tasting room area, despite the early hour. We were their first customers of the day
The line-up of wines for tasting
We loved the 2018 Isobel Mourvedre Rosé. The wine is fruity, refreshing and crisp and identifiably Mourvedre
Made one think of lunch in Southern France. So we bought some
We also thought that the 2017 Chardonnay was superb
Lightly toasted Burgundy barrels impart just enough elegance to the wine;
there is a beautiful balance of fruit and wood, layers of exciting flavours of citrus, lime, butter and pineapple
So we bought some of that too
The 2017 Pinot Noir is also a well made classic from Richard Kershaw and speaks of the good valley fruit
Sadly, our budget did not quite stretch that far. Another time perhaps. These wines have come on so well
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Elgin Cool Wine Festival – Elgin Ridge

After Shannon we headed for Elgin Ridge to taste their wines and have some lunch from the Goose Roasters' food truck
The tasting counter was inside the winery and we sampled their White Crunch Sauvignon Blanc which is very quaffable and went well with our lunch. We also enjoyed the fruity Crunch Pinot Noir, which is made with some carbonic maceration in an egg - you can see them at the back of the cellar. It did remind us a little of a Beaujolais Village
Choices choices...
and good music while we ate, from this young singer Jay P Storm
We both went for the Pork Belly burger with its rich creamy curry sauce and lots of salad vegetables crammed into the soft bun. It was incredibly difficult to eat this with grace and delicacy, not made any easier by some idiot with a long lens focusing on our faces as we tried to eat. Lynne was very tempted to go and give him a piece of her mind, if not a piece of her burger (or the flat of her hand). Good chips too but far too many for us
John's crisp version with little or no fat on the pork as requested
We risked it and sat on the hay bales and have had no bites from hay mites. We are still very cautious...
Time to move on to the next place. We do want to thank Marion Smith (owner of Elgin Ridge with her husband Brian)
for organising this great weekend for us and hosting us
We had a wonderful tasting of their wines at Aubergine and you can see it at https://adamastorbacchus.blogspot.com/2016/10/lunch-at-aubergine-with-vertical.html
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - Shannon Mount Bullet vertical

Sunday morning was a bit of a rush, as we thought we had overslept; had a very quick breakfast of toast, tea and coffee and then rushed to Shannon for their Vertical tasting, only to find that we were an hour early! Owners Stuart (Marketing and Sales) and James (Viticulturist) were manning the Festival bar
The views from Shannon of the Palmiet river and valley are absolutely stunning
And below the red autumnal vines are three modern Deutz tractors,
as James says, paid for by the apples and pears they also grow
Time to take our seats for the Vertical tasting of Mount Bullet Merlot, often recognised as the best merlot in South Africa
These three young men work in the in the industry - two for Wine Concepts and the other for L’Avenir
It was a very relaxed Sunday morning and Shannon was a very popular venue to visit, despite being a bit off the highway
A warm welcome from James Downes
The festival was pet friendly, as long as they were on leads
We saw numerous dogs and one small, very docile, black cat, brought by the visitors!
The wines are made for Shannon by Nadia and Gordon Newton Johnson. James wanted to know if we could tell where the wine starts to change as it ages, at what age the tasters want to start drinking it and if there is a correlation between vintage variation and climate, which we believe is visible. Shannon has 50% French Merlot clones and 50% Italian. They have 3 hectares of Merlot, all on East facing slopes. The cool climate of Elgin means that ripening is slow, which merlot needs and, as they say, “Good even ripeness” is the key
Christine Rudman bringing the dogs some water. She was the principal of the Cape Wine Academy
when we were awarded our Diplomas and is now a wine judge. She runs the Michelangelo Wine Awards each year
We began with the youngest vintage of Mount Bullet Merlot, the currently available 2016, which sells for R465 on the farm
Notes of rose, rich dark cherry and red berry fruit initially
Black cherry fruit on entry with dry chalky tannins, dark toast from the wood and a long finish with a hint of liquorice
Infanticide to drink now; buy to put away as it has such class that it will develop beautifully and pay dividends
Enjoying the wine. The 2015 has a beautiful nose of seductive, rich berry fruit that you want to dive into
Silky soft, with chalky tannin, rich berry fruit and nice freshness and tension. It needs time too
A long finish with some umami flavours and dark toasted wood supporting, not overwhelming
The 2014 has milk chocolate and cherry with a hint of amaretto on the nose and is also soft and seductive
Full-on salty liquorice and black cherries on the palate, with soft, chalky tannins and freshness on the end
A food wine. Lynne scored this 19/20
The 2013 is shyer, but has a similar nose and is more integrated, with cherry fruit and a hint of balsam
Softer, shyer again on the palate with very grippy, chalky tannins, and some warmth and freshness on the end
This wine is resting, gathering itself for a big reveal in the future
The 2012 has cherries and smoke, a rich fruit nose with rose petals
Wonderful bright cherry fruit, soft chalk on the teeth, not the cheeks, lighter in style but delicious to drink now
Some umami notes
The 2011 so impressed. It is an integrated wine, very French in style - you cannot distinguish separate fruit flavours
It has lovely complex fruit, its opulence is rich and full, with depth of flavour and structure from soft ready tannins,
some chocolate, some umami and dark oak hints on the end palate. Reminds us of a St Emilion
Another 19/20 and a wine we wish we had bought. If you have some, you are very fortunate
Another view of that beautiful Palmiet river.
In the tent, people enjoying the wine and food
We tasted just a couple more wines before we left for the next farm; the very excellent Semillon which, at first, shows a slight sweetness on the palate but then reveals its secrets and its crisp and rich rounded mouthfeel. We wondered if there is a touch of botrytis on this? And the Pinot Noir, a classic Elgin with beautiful fruit and the aroma of raspberries and roses does show the style of the Newton Johnsons
Happy wine people James and Stuart Downes
The taco stand was doing well
And you could help yourself to some of these lovely Pink Lady apples
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Elgin Cool Wine Festival – South Hill dinner

We were invited by Kevin and Sandy King to join them for dinner at their South Hill wine estate on Saturday night 
We met Kathy and Selborne Boome there. Kathy is the Executive Head of Elgin and Grabouw Tourism and, if you are into rugby, you will know that Selborne Boome is a former Stormers and Springbok rugby player. He is now an apple and pear farmer in Elgin. Also there were Annareth Bolton and Mariette du Toit Helmbold of Destinate. We all sat at the same table with Sandy and Kevin King
The restaurant is light and spacious and is filled with art, most of which is for sale
Some festival goers were eating outside, although the night was "drawing in" as they say
Autumn is upon us and fires are being lit
We loved this amusingly painted barrel and the ceramic child's head on it
The menu. We think it is very good value at R275 (£14.85 to you Brits) for three courses
The restaurant was full of people enjoying themselves
The starter of French onion tart on buffalo mozzarella with garden greens was very good
as was the roasted tomato soup. We were served very good homemade bread
We both went for the Twice-baked Gruyère cheese soufflé with rocket in a vinaigrette dressing
Meltingly light and cheesy, it was delicious
We drank the South Hill Sauvignon Blanc with the starters - full of those wonderful fig leaf aromas you get on Elgin sauvignons, crisp and full of green peppers and granadilla. With the main course, in addition to the South Hill Cabernet on the table, we were treated to this magnum of 2012 Kevin King Micah (named for Kevin's grandson), an unusual blend of 50% Syrah, 25% Mourvedre, 25% Barbera. The Barbera gives it a little wildness; the wine was full and soft and went wonderfully with the meat dishes
Most on our table ordered the Butter chicken and rice, topped with a poppadom and served with sambals
We did have some food envy as they said it was very good
We both ordered the Dukkah nut-encrusted deboned leg of lamb with Greek yoghurt, mint and chermoula,
served with a very flavourful couscous, jewelled with fruit. The seasonal vegetables were rather al dente and a bit hard to cut
The Traditional gammon looked moist and was served with a creamy mustard sauce,
baked apple crisps, scalloped potatoes and season greens and carrots
The seasonal Elgin Apple and Blueberry crumble served warm and topped with ice cream for someone with room for dessert
We had coffees and Green tea and then it was time to head to our accommodation
Thank you Kevin and Sandy for a lovely evening
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus