Thursday, October 10, 2019

The Cape Wine Academy celebrates 40 years

We were very happy to be invited to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Cape Wine Academy. You may not know that we met while we were studying at the Academy for our Diplomas in Wine in the mid 1990s. The celebration was held in a marquee on the lawn in front of the Red House restaurant at Nederburg in Paarl on a near perfect Spring day
The restaurant is housed in the Nederburg manor house, an historic Cape Dutch building, built in 1800
Tables laid for a large crowd
Greg de Bruyn CWM and Mary Lou Nash CWM
Each Cape Wine Master had brought along a special wine (or two) to be enjoyed with lunch
This was Mary Lou's offering of her Black Pearl 2004 Oro
We had so many choices to make from wonderful wines, and we managed to taste a few spectacular wines
The wines on the first table. They were all excellent, but our favourites were the Zonnebloems, the Raats Cabernet Francs
and the Vergelegen "V". We certainly enjoyed a glass of the Veuve Clicquot Champagne
The second table also had some very fine wines The 1993 KWV Pinotage showed how well this varietal can age
We loved the Le Riche Cabernet and the Muratie Ronnie Melck Shiraz. 
The aged Lustau East India Solera Sherry was quite magnificent
and many others were also after a taste of the rare Zonnebloem 1983 Cabernet and 1984 Shiraz
Bennie Howard CWM, Phyllis Hands CWM, Shona Anderson, Group Human Resources Manager: Meridian Holdings and Academy Principal Harry Melck CWM. It was lovely to have Phyllis Hands attend as she was the first Principal of the Cape Wine Academy; she taught us in her last year there - our first year on the Diploma course
We sit down to lunch
We got to know dear Allan Mullins CWM when he lectured at the Cape Wine Academy and have been friends ever since
He is a man who can teach one an enormous lesson about wine and Champagne - and life!
Bennie Howard with the book The Grapevine, a complete bound collection of newsletters published in the 1970s and 1980s by the Cape Wine Academy and the Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (predecessor of Distell). It was a major resource which was used as a learning tool by the Academy and SFW in the early days
Bennie chatting to Phyllis about her time as Principal. She was a journalist in wine before taking on the job. She said she was so grateful to the talented staff, viticulturists and winemakers who were so helpful to her. She and Dave Hughes wrote the first book on Cape Wine together with a budget of only R500. She said she worked very closely with WSET in the UK to set up the Academy. Sadly, Dave Hughes could not attend as he was in hospital having an operation
and Harry Melck CWM, the current Principal, told us about some of the exciting new changes happening at the Academy
Shona Anderson, Group Human Resources Manager at Meridian Holdings
Their strategy is 'to be Significant, to be Accessible and Inclusive'
They will shortly announce a partnership that will get people excited about wine at the starter level
Duimpie Bayly and Bennie Howard were two of the first three Cape Wine Masters when the programme was started. Duimpie gave a very amusing speech and said "I am the oldest person here today. How to get older? Drink wine every day". He says people put ISA behind his name as well as CWM. What does it mean? "If still alive". He says Bennie might have scored more points doing Cape Wine Master than he did, but he has more degrees than Bennie! Phyllis Hands reassured him that he scored only one or two points below Bennie
Cape Wine Academy Principal Harry Melck, looking appropriately serious
and they presented Phyllis with a huge bouquet
Time for lunch and it was a buffet
Mixed Mediterranean vegetables, and baby potatoes dressed with caramelised onions and rosemary
Lettuce, asparagus, green vegetables and feta cheese
Whole fish dressed with herbs and lemon
Sliced cold beef salad with sun dried tomatoes, rocket and shavings of Parmesan cheese
The buffet table
Rhona Friendship, who managed our course, and Dr Rolene Bauer CWM
Lynne Sherriff MW announced that, in December, she will be donating €2000 to a Trust in memory of her late sister
This award, given "In the spirit of Education", will be administered by the Cape Wine Academy
and presented to worthy recipients
The gang's all here. The Cape Wine Masters attending the celebration
and staff members of the Cape Wine Academy past and present
and cheers to Phyllis; with thanks for coming
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 11:47 pm 0 comments

MENU's UK Adventure 4. From Edinburgh to Rothes in Speyside

The next part of our journey was to go North, through the Cairngorm National Park to Rothes in Speyside,
a small town in the centre of the Speyside whisky area, where we were to stay in an old Inn for four nights

First we had to collect our hire car, a Vauxhall (Opel) Crossland X, from near Waverley station in Edinburgh
We made sure this one had SatNav

We packed the car and said a fond farewell to Edinburgh, planning to come back some day soon; it's a lovely city

The road north is very, very beautiful. You travel though small villages and lots of forests

We stopped for a short break next to this old hotel to eat our sandwiches

It is on a very pretty river, calm below the bridge

Above, it was quite turbulent as it rushed over a weir

Herb Robert, a plant found all over the British Isles, especially in late summer

The SatNav, irritatingly, kept trying to take us the long way round. We wanted to drive through the Cairngorm National Park. We had to ignore the GPS which made us detour for quite a long way. But it was so worth it. High hills and mountains covered in purple heather. In the winter, this is where you can come and ski in Britain; there is a lot of snow. The posts alongside the road show the position of the road when the hills are covered in deep snow and the snow ploughs have to come out to clear the road

Our amateur botanist looking at what is growing alongside the road

and, in the grass, a rain kissed blue Harebell

The road continues through Braemar where the famous Highland games are held in September every year
We could not get a photograph of nearby Balmoral Castle, where the Queen lives for part of the year
and during the games, as it is hidden behind trees
This is the smaller Braemar castle. You can visit both
Sadly, we arrived at 5pm, just as they were closing. Onward!

The dark purple patches are the heather on the hill

These ancient narrow stone bridges are quite daunting to cross as they are very steep,
so you cannot see what is on the other side until you reach the top. They are only one lane wide

The Eastbank Hotel, where were we were to stay for four nights

Our room was the two windows on the left of the first floor of the stone building, with good triple glazing

Rothes High Street, where we could park

The courtyard at the back

It was very comfortable with a huge bed. We needed it as we had both come down with a very bad flu and cough
(it appears that it was Covid, long before anyone heard about it!)
and spent one entire day in bed, trying to recover

Space to sit with our laptops

And a comfy sofa which can become a sofa bed if you have children. We booked this on Booking.com
A large bathroom with shower  is through the door on the left

Downstairs in the bar and the restaurant, where we ate breakfast most mornings

Our first experience of a full Scottish breakfast. John started with muesli, orange juice and coffee
and then had the full cooked breakfast

This was on day two when Lynne asked just for just one egg, no black pudding, half a slice of haggis and no baked beans
It is a huge feast and we just couldn't manage it all

Glen Rothes distillery is in the town and was a previous owner of the hotel

The whisky bar in our hotel. They say they have 108 whiskies to try
Sadly, the staff was not very clued up or available, as they were busy chatting to friends in the other bar,
so we only went to taste there once
Which was a great pity and a missed opportunity as this is where you can taste some whiskies without driving anywhere

The owners' dog who was very unhappy with his collar which prevented him licking his wound
Posted by MENU at 5:21 pm 0 comments

Hope Distillery New Label Launch & Trade tasting

Hope Distillery's gin has risen to the top of the range of local gins because they do things properly. Their gins are interesting, worth drinking and not flooded with unnecessary botanicals and they are very good at marketing. They also make gin for many of the other brands you find locally to their own recipes. We were invited to see their new branding and to taste a couple of their new flavours
The new labels. They generously sent us one of these to try
This limited release gin celebrates the Rugby World Cup in Japan
It is made with yuzu (a Japanese citrus) and cherry blossom
Lucy Beard, Hope Distillery's co-founder
The Yuzu gin has hints of umami and the sea, very interesting, very pleasant
The sparkling distillery with its pot still and column stills
Many members of the trade had been invited
Some of the botanicals added to their gins are coriander, citrus peel, juniper, bay, herbs, local fynbos and other spices
The very distinctive new labels
As ex wine retailers we like anything that jumps off the shelf when you look at a range of labels on bottles; these certainly do
Tanya Beuttler and Bridget McClure
The pink bottle is a classic London Dry gin, with hints of citrus, rosemary and juniper, very familiar to many gin lovers and a style that many prefer. The blue bottle is inspired by flavours from the Mediterranean. It is infused with olives, rosemary, thyme, basil and cardamom with citrus notes and hints of juniper. The yellow bottle is Salt River Gin, in the London Dry gin style with distinct South African botanical flavours of buchu and kapokbos (wild rosemary) added and is blended down to bottling strength using Table Mountain spring water collected from the Newlands spring
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 3:34 pm 0 comments

A light lunch at Bovine, Franschhoek

"We have a free day in Franschhoek, so where shall we have lunch?" Then we remembered that a chef we know, Oliver Cattermole, had opened a new restaurant this year, Bovine, on the Main Street. And we had promised his dad Nigel that we would visit. Lunch sitting on a shaded terrace watching the people go by seemed like a great thing to do, and they had the table we wanted
Hard to miss the sign
Chef Ollie is in partnership with Black Elephant Vintners, so you can order their wines ...
... and beer from Woodstock Brewery, which is just what we felt like drinking on a nice warm Spring day
Their Citrus IPA has lower alcohol than their other Orange flavoured IPA and is very refreshing with a definite taste of lemon
The serving staff was smiling, friendly and prompt
The restaurant has a good stream of lunch customers and the menu is simple with something for everyone
The beers went perfectly with the good medium rare beef and cheese burger and some triple cooked chips
and with Lynne's choice of Salt and Pepper Calamari
Yes, we should have ordered only one plate of chips to share, they are very large
Lots of gooey cheese on the burger with the usual onion and tomato and a sesame bun. The beef is very good quality
Chef Ollie came to chat for a short while before getting back to his kitchen
The bill
All content ©  John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
Posted by MENU at 2:33 pm 0 comments
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