Friday, November 19, 2021

In MENU This Week – Blaauwklippen Blending Competition, Caroline’s Champagne & Bubbly, Karoo Odyssey Part Two – Prince Albert to Graaff-Reinet

Evening in the Valley of Desolation, Graaff-Reinet

This week, we continue the story of our inland odyssey, travelling to and spending time in the Camdeboo area of the Karoo. And, very exciting for us, was our invitations to two wine-related events, the Blaauwklippen Blending Competition awards and Caroline’s bubbly tasting. Caroline’s Fine Wines is about to move her city centre shop to Regent Road in Sea Point. We hope that she will receive the support that she deserves. Enjoy our stories (Click on the photos or the headlines to open them)…

The Awards Ceremony and Lunch of the 38th Blaauwklippen Blending Competition

Every year for 38 years, Blaauwklippen Wine Estate in Stellenbosch has held a Blending Competition for wine clubs. We were delighted to be invited again and to write about the winning wine and the winners of the 38th competition. A glass of the Blaauwklippen Brut Rosé started the day well… Read On…

Caroline's Celebration of Champagne and Cap Classique

We were invited to celebrate November with Caroline’s at the Table bay Hotel Ballroom. There was an afternoon session as well. We opted to go to the one between 6 and 8.30. Only 70 People could be accommodated in the hall and that included people serving, so good Covid protocols. It was wonderful to see so many friends from wine farms and the attending public. It is a challenge with so much to taste… Read On…

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 7. Prince Albert

Prince Albert is at the bottom of the phenomenal Swartberg Pass, built in the Victorian era – and the town is named for Victoria's husband. We checked into our very smart self-catering apartment at Koppie Cottage and discovered that we could sit outside at the back and so we braaied for the first time. Even the front entrance had some seating... Read On…

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 8. Through the Karoo to Graaff-Reinet

Today we were leaving pretty Prince Albert and heading for Graaff-Reinet and the Valley of Desolation. It was going to be quite a long drive and we would be leaving the Western Cape, entering the Eastern Cape and climbing up to the Great Karoo. We headed first for Klaarstroom... Read On…

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 9. The Drostdy Hotel, Graaff-Reinet

We wanted to break our trip in Graaff-Reinet for a couple of days. It was the actual inspiration for the trip. Over the years, we have travelled to places that one of us had visited before, but the other had not seen. This time, it was John’s turn. Lynne had never been to the central Karoo. John’s maternal grandmother’s family had farmed here since the late 18th Century and his grandmother was born in Graaff-Reinet in 1883... Read On…

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 10. The Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation

Graaff-Reinet has two noteworthy natural attractions; The Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation. They are close to one another and both can be visited on the same day. Taking our lunch with us, we headed off to the Camdeboo National Park, which is a less than ten minute drive from the centre of Graaff-Reinet. It is a small Park and can easily covered in a half day visit. Entry for both of us cost R96. This included entry to the Valley of Desolation, which we planned to visit later to see the valley at sunset. The weather had turned hot and muggy, there were scudding clouds high in the sky and a real berg wind; 37ºC when we arrived at the Park… Read On…

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 11. The little village called Nieu Bethesda

After our time in Graaff-Reinet, we made our way to Nieu Bethesda, a quick detour on our way to our overnight stay in Cradock. John's mother was born there and Lynne had never been to this tiny village that does not seem to have aged in 150 years. We drove to Nieu Bethesda along beautiful roads and gentle passes. We were relieved to find that most of the road to the historic village was paved and, when it became a dirt road, it was in good condition… Read On…

The road trip before today’s stories…

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 1. Calitzdorp - De Krans and 365 on St Helena

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 2. Calitzdorp - Axe Hill

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 3. Calitzdorp - Lunch at Bakhuis

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 4. Calitzdorp – Boplaas

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 5. Calitzdorp - Peter Bayly Wines

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 6. From Calitzdorp to the Swartberg Pass

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Thursday, November 18, 2021

The Awards Ceremony and Lunch of the 38th Blaauwklippen Blending Competition

Every year for 38 years, Blaauwklippen Wine Estate in Stellenbosch has held a Blending Competition for wine clubs
We were delighted to be invited again and to write about the winning wine and the winners of the 38th competition

A glass of the Blaauwklippen Brut Rosé started the day well

Good to see people whom we know entering the competition

The canapés that were circulating were delicious. Confited fresh salmon on a pea purée

Rather difficult to eat with your hands were the crumbly deep fried pani puri
stuffed with sweet spiced lentils. We later had these as one of the main courses

MC and judge Guy McDonald with Blaauwklippen winemaker Narina Cloete

Two long tables for lunch. The contestants from the top 3 teams were intermingled with judges, media and wine people

The winning wine is always put into magnum bottles. It was on the table to be tasted with lunch before the winners were announced. When tasted, it had Cabernet Franc front and centre on the nose, with savouriness, then cassis Cabernet and incense wood, then smoky bacon. On the palate, softness and sweetness initially, then very crisp fruit acids and heavy chalky tannins with some strong dark wood bitterness on the end. One to age

Time to hear the story of this year’s competition from our MC Guy MacDonald. The clubs do the blending at home and then send in the percentages they had decided upon for their chosen wine blends. These are then made up at Blaauwklippen and judged. Only four out of 44 entries made it to the final and their names are Business Times, Carignan my Wayward Son, First Four and Oom Davie International Wine Tasters

Winemaker Narina explained that they had asked the teams to make up a classic Bordeaux blend. They had been supplied with a bottle each of Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petite Verdot and needed to use them with certain provisos, not less than 25% and not more than 50% of each cultivar

The wines are then submitted and tasted by a panel of judges who, this year, were
Narina, Jaco van der Westhuizen, Clive Torr, Guy MacDonald and Marius Lategan

Then the club leaders introduced themselves. Ruan de Hart of Business Time

Carignan my Wayward Son. The members originally met when studying at Stellenbosch University,
where they were members of the University wine club; they are now all living and working in Johannesburg

Oom Davie International Wine Tasters
We know Janine van Zyl; she is a chef and is currently studying for Cape Wine Master final examinations

First Four Members were announced as Chris and Andreas

Blaauwklippen 2021 Sauvignon Blanc, served with lunch

Good to see Journalist Johan Crafford, here being poured a glass of the winning wine but,
at this point, we still didn’t know which team's wine it was; that was to be announced after lunch

Then we had a repeat of the crumbly deep fried Lentil stuffed pani puri, which was followed by a neck of lamb chop called Denningvleis, from our Indonesian heritage, usually flavoured with bay leaves and tamarind 

This pea, kale and asparagus dish with a squeeze of lemon. We still have not developed a taste for raw chewy Kale

It was accompanied by a baby chicken which was flamed at the table on a small hibachi grill. Very tender

Half a chicken each. Combining the two

We were then told the components of the three blends and asked to guess which one we thought was the winner
Lynne had detected a lot of good Cabernet Franc in the glass we were poured, so she guessed right

And the winner is: Business Time from Cape Town

Ryno Jansen, Ruan de Hart and Paul Ackerman are the members

The back label with the winning blend

Dessert was a soft koeksister with a frozen vanilla flavoured dessert

All attending were given a magnum of the winning wine and two crystal wine glasses. donated by the sponsor Vitria Glass

So good to see Kathy Raath and her son Dane; they are both purveyors of fine wines to the trade
Kathy is a legend in the wine industry and has been involved with Blaauwklippen since 1980 

There have been so many brilliant changes to Blaauwklippen tasting room area and restaurant;
you can now enjoy a tasting outside on the terrace

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MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 10. The Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation

Graaff-Reinet has two noteworthy natural attractions; The Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation
They are close to one another and both can be visited on the same day

The view down Church Street to the Groot Kerk

and Reinet House, currently being restored
We passed it en route to the Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation

Taking our lunch with us, we headed off to the Camdeboo National Park, which is a less than ten minute drive from the centre of Graaff-Reinet. It is a small Park and can easily covered in a half day visit. Entry for both of us cost R96. This included entry to the Valley of Desolation, which we planned to visit later to see the valley at sunset. The weather had turned hot and muggy, there were scudding clouds high in the sky and a real berg wind; 37ºC when we arrived at the Park

Gift of the Givers is a wonderful NGO which has helped to ease suffering caused by natural and other disasters throughout Africa. Their efforts to ease the drought which has persisted in the Eastern Cape for years are praiseworthy and their sterling work worldwide deserves recognition with something as prestigious as a Nobel peace prize

This monument to the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius was erected in 1943. He was a Boer leader in the Great Trek from the British Cape Colony, the dominant military and political figure in Natal and was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic. The city of Pretoria is named after him. The sculptor was Coert Steynberg

The inscription "Eenmaal sal daar wel 'n wiel oor ons wêreld rol wat vir u en vir my onkeerbaar is" ("One day a wheel will indeed roll across our world and neither you nor I will be able to stop it"). He said this to Cape Governor Sir Harry Smith during their discussions in 1848. Almost an incitement to ... what? Apartheid? But, indeed, the 19th Century development of railways and then motor vehicles changed accessibility and communication to an extent that he could never imagine

We drove around to the first hide called Khwalimanzi. It is a very good place to sit and watch the animals coming to drink. It is the only covered hide that we saw. It’s very sad to see how small the lake has become with the drought, so it is difficult to get close to the water. There is a long, winding rustic fence on both sides, from the car park to the hide, and it is raised above the ground, so you get good views of the small water hole. And there is a bench to sit on. Luckily, we did not encounter anybody else in the hide, so we could watch quietly. We saw springbok, a baboon, bontebok, a hadeda ibis, swallows dipping as they flew past and, in the distance, one wildebeest. As the temperature rose, they drifted away

A springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) and a black wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou)

A hadeda flew in

for refreshment

A bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus) coming to the water hole

and a baboon

who sat down to contemplate the scene

Once there was water...

So we returned to the car and set off, looking for further viewpoints and hides and found a water hole

with grey herons (ardea cinerea)

Vervet monkeys in a tall tree, where they can watch for predators

and we saw some, with these springbok, drinking at a small dam where water was pumped from underground

At lunch time, we headed to the picnic place, which is fenced in and has a pleasant long drop loo, and even a water tap. They have several dedicated areas with picnic tables and benches and some shade roofs. We were on our own again. We had a very simple lunch of cold boerewors, left over from our braai in Prince Albert, tomatoes, nuts, cheese, biltong and beer. But the heat finally got to us and, when we returned to the car, it was 42ºC! Lynne was not unconvinced that it might thunder and send rain; it was so muggy but, sadly, that didn't happen

We did see a large herd of bontebok and ostriches from one viewpoint, but they were quite far away

Trying to find some greenery to eat

and finding water

A young black Wildebeest or white-tailed gnu

who had strayed a little way from the herd

The dry Plains of the Camdeboo
The name Camdeboo derives from the Khoikhoi and means either green heights or green hollow
because there was water in the mountains and valleys

A distant group of gemsbok (Oryx gazella), seen through the heat haze

The leader of a troop of Vervet monkeys

We drove around for another hour and finished off back at the hide, but very little game was seen, except for two kudu cows feeding alongside the hide, just outside the ambit of our cameras, and some monkeys drinking cautiously at the waterhole

Grooming time in the shade

And a small flock of guineafowl as we left

Using our binoculars, we spotted a small fire which had broken out way across the park. Luckily the local fire fighters arrived and managed to put it out. The park vegetation already looks as though it has been seared by fire and could go up in minutes; it is so dry and broken. We spoke to a ranger later and he confirmed that it was out, but they did not know how it started. The fire and the smell of smoke had sent all the animals into hiding, so we left and went back to the hotel for a rest and for John to join the F&B manager for a wine tasting

At 5pm, we were back in our car and headed for the Valley of Desolation, which is a National Monument. It is about 14 Km out of town and the drive up the mountain is quite spectacular. The road is tarred all the way to the top. Not too comfortable for those with vertigo going up, but the views are amazing. We were misinformed about the time of the sunset, so it was already beginning when we reached the top. From the parking area there, you have a reasonable climb of 220 meters up a flat rock lined path to the very top, a bit like stepping stones

Lynne made it, going slowly and carefully, but then she grew up scrambling on the Atlantic seaboard rocks. John was faster, even carrying the cold box with two glasses and some wine. We were barracked by presumptuous, insistent and, we suspect, tipsy aged visitors at the top, who wanted us to share the bottle with them. We were able to decline, as there was not enough and only two glasses! After that climb, we certainly thought we deserved it

The National Parks Board is in the process of building a viewing platform at the top. The view down into this small valley is spectacular. The walls of piled high Dolerite columns are said to be the product of volcanic and erosive forces of nature over a period of 230 million years. Looking down at the town below, it looks about as high as Table Mountain. However, if you have vertigo and are short in stature, you currently do not get a very good view of the actual valley. Lynne had to rely on John's photographs for her Facebook page, as he took them from the vertiginous edge

Unfortunately once at the top, the sun began its rather quick descent and we had been warned by friends who did this recently, not to walk down in the dark which they'd had to do. We did come armed with torches, but got back to the car in time and without incident and then, head lights full on, travelled back down and down and down and home to the Drostdy hotel


Looking down and along the Valley of Desolation. It is certainly worth a visit

Next Episode: Janet Ford's birthplace, Nieu Bethesda

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