How could we refuse an invitation like this, to celebrate important Anniversaries with friends?
The lovely, crisp Jordan Blanc de Blancs MCC as a welcoming drink
Served outside the new Tasting room on its deck. A perfect early summer evening;
GM Jacques Steyn was trying to keep up with demand
Gary Jordan, chatting to Lynne, and to Annareth Bolton and Mariette du Toit-Helmbold of marketing agency Destinate
The new tasting room is next to the deck used for al fresco customers of the Jordan Bakery, spacious and cool
Sue and Neil Proudfoot of Wine Concepts
Wine Distributor Andrew Baker of Vinimark, waiting for a recharge
Inside the new tasting room, the doors open up to those famous Jordan views
over the lake and down across Stellenbosch to the far Paarl mountains
Looking from the other end
Alastair Rellenberg, Khoisan tour guide, with Amanda Bosch and John Collins,
who markets Jordan's wines to the restaurant and wine retail trades
Chef George Jardine was busy in his kitchen preparing the food for later
Several vintages of Cobbler's Hill, available for tasting and as accompaniment to the food, in bottles and magnums
Time for the speeches, hearing about the reasons for the party, congratulations for the anniversaries and celebrating, introduced by Jordan's General Manager, Jacques Steyn CWM
Great to see Allan Mullins and many other friends from the wine industry
Kathy Jordan told us about winemaker Sjaak and his 20 years with the farm, how he has changed in that time,
how hard he works to produce their great wines and how particular he is about the work in the vineyard and the cellar
She confessed that they change things a lot, not always with Sjaak’s approval. They have always been full of innovative ideas
And, even when they are in the United Kingdom, they have daily contact with the farm and its running
Gary Jordan also lauded Sjaak and spoke about how they had come from five staff to now employing nearly 125 people
We then watched a very funny video filmed in the last few days by Thea van der Merwe, the Marketing Manager.
Sjaak then spoke briefly about his time on the farm
Chef George Jardine has had his popular, award winning restaurant on Jordan for 10 years
and has opened two others, in Stellenbosch and Somerset West
Gary told us how they found him at his restaurant, which was then in Bree Street, and managed to persuade him to join them
at Jordan. It has been a very successful partnership. Gary spoke about how passionate Chef George is
about training his staff properly and of how so many of them are now respected chefs with their own restaurants
Chef George spoke about his time at Jordan, running the restaurant with his wife Louise
It is most certainly our favourite place to bring friends, tourists and to have important family celebrations. It never disappoints
Great food, well priced; great wines and a view to savour as well. It is very popular, so you do need to book
The map of where to find the wines which we could taste and which dishes would be paired with them
Paired with the Inspector Peringuey 2014 Chenin blanc, the barrel smoked salmon, topped with sauce Gribiche and cucumber
Chef George Jardine does his own hot and cold smoking in old Jordan barrels
On each stand there was a menu showing that day’s lunch menu at the restaurant
In 2014, the smoked salmon dish was on this menu
The Inspector Peringuey 2014 Chenin blanc, which is quite superb and a wine we often order when dining here
Mini vetkoek was to go with…
…the Saldanha mussel dish. It was superb; the coconut, lemongrass and chilli seafood bisque
served with the mussels was really memorable; such depth of delicious flavours
Chopped pan fried mushrooms for the risotto
and, making the excellent mushroom risotto the proper way was this young chef's task
Tasting portions of the finished dish
The risotto was paired with Jordan’s award winning Chardonnay, the Nine Yards 2013
Jordan Sophia 2009 was paired with the Chalmar beef. It had aged very well
The vetkoek was served with the Mussel bisque, which was paired with Jordan 'The Real McCoy' crisp Riesling 2015
There was only one magnum of the Sophia, which they had put aside just for this anniversary;
you had to be quick to get a taste of this
being poured here by Jordan winemaker Wade Roger-Lund for Mariette du Toit-Helmbold
Wade was Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year in 2017
The aged Chalmar beef was perfectly pink, herb crusted and very tender
topped with broccoli, endive and Gorgonzola
Enjoying their dishes were Tim and Vanessa Hoek. Tim is winemaker at Haute Cabrière
and Vanessa, also a qualified winemaker, distributes barrels for a French cooperage
As the sun begins to set, the mountains turn purple and pink in the distance over the vineyards;
it is a wonderful view from Jordan
Riaan Mol, who was restaurant manager here for several years, with former colleagues
Winemaker Teddy Hall with his wife Denise, chatting to Chef Pete Goffe-Wood, who is now at Grande Roche in Paarl
A winning team; Louise and George Jardine. Both their charming teenage boys were helping to serve on the night
Celebrating the Anniversaries, Kathy and Gary Jordan
and with Sjaak Nelson. It was a really fantastic evening and a great party
Restaurant manager ?
