Thursday, December 23, 2021

In MENU This Week. Karoo Trip #25, Newton Johnson, Highland Road, Oak Valley visits, Lunch at Chart Farm


An old wind pump, a Karoo trade mark

And so we, finally, have reached the end of the 2021 road. For much of it, we have been stationary, waiting to be released from self-imposed quarantine bondage. And then, the relief, as we reached October, of seeing other parts of our beautiful country. A wonderful two week road trip, the last of whose experiences we publish here. And the joy of visiting wine farms and seeing old friends, most of whom we had not seen for two years or so. Some of the people we visited might have expected to see these stories earlier. We’ve simply had to delay them because there were so many stories to tell.

Now it’s time to relax. Family celebrations and small, very small, parties with close friends. We hope that you will all enjoy the celebrations in the traditions of your families, and then we’ll all gird our loins in a week’s time and plunge into a new year. Let us hope that it will bring us all good health, comfort and the love of those who mean the most to us. Thank you for reading our stories,

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 25. Weltevrede estate, Bonnievale

The last day of our two week trip was a day of rushing off to appointments, so time had to be squashed a bit. We had intended to head home after Kranskop, but Weltevrede had called the day before and asked us not to come that day, but move the appointment to our last day, as they had a media group from Cape Town coming in a bus to see and experience the new tasting room and their two different cellar tours. Could we make it for lunch? Sadly not, as we already had our appointment with Newald Marais at Kranskop. We managed to re-arrange our day and our planned early departure back to Cape Town and made it by 2.45. Read on…

A taste of Newton Johnson

There are so many excellent wine farms in the beautiful Hemel and Aarde valley, but one we always try to visit is Newton Johnson. Why? Because they produce beautiful elegant wine, wine we love, wine we want to buy and drink. And they happen to be a really friendly and welcoming lot! So, as we were staying in the area and had some late afternoon time, we had to visit. Read on…

Highlands Road wines in Elgin

Our visit to Highlands Road in Elgin nearly didn't start, as the road to the farm was being resurfaced by their neighbour. The recent heavy rains - and Elgin is one of our wettest places in the Cape - our largest Dam is there - had stopped the brick paving operation and made the road a quagmire. Luckily we could phone the farm, and they came to get us in the farm bakkie, so we could leave our car (which is not a 4x4) here. Read on…

Tasting and lunch at Oak Valley

As we were in the area recently, we ,took up an invitation to taste the wines at Oak Valley. We tasted the wines with lunch in the renamed Melting Pot restaurant, which is a wonderful venue for outside and inside meals and tastings

They have a new chef, John van Zyl, who has worked with the very successful Chef Liam Tomlin as head chef at Thali. His style of cooking and offering is summed up here: "The Melting Pot is a flavour packed, global food experience, serving contemporary small plates made for sharing. John’s cooking style is heavily influenced by his travels abroad, giving you a culinary trip around the world in one sitting. The menu is small and vibrant comprising up to ten dishes that change every two weeks or so, with options for everyone. Be bold and order ‘one of everything’ for the full experience". And, indeed, we were to be delighted with what we ate. Read on…

Lunch at The View on Chart Farm

We had thought of going to Klondyke Cherry Farm in Ceres to pick cherries this year, but the huge rise in the petrol price was a major deterrent. Then we remembered that the same family also owns Chart Farm, a rose farm in Constantia and yes, they do sell the Klondyke cherries. So we decided to kill three birds with one stone, do an escape from home, get some cherries and have lunch at The View restaurant on the farm. Read on…


If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com

Posted by MENU at 9:13 pm 0 comments

Lunch at The View on Chart Farm

We had thought of going to Klondyke Cherry Farm in Ceres to pick cherries this year, but the huge rise in the petrol price was a major deterrent. Then we remembered that the same family also owns Chart Farm, a rose farm in Constantia and yes, they do sell the Klondyke cherries. So we decided to kill three birds with one stone, do an escape from home, get some cherries and have lunch at The View restaurant on the farm 

It was a perfect summer’s day, not too hot and no wind
Owner of The View Sandra Engelen, our friend, had booked us a good table
with perfect views of the rose farm gardens, where you can pick your own roses, and the mountain

We had booked for 1 and it was nicely full 

We wanted to celebrate being alive, so took one of our special wines, The 1947 from Kaapzicht wine estate in the Bottelary area of Stellenbosch, the second-oldest Chenin blanc vineyard in South Africa. This bottle is from the first vintage, 2013 and was a birthday gift to Lynne from winemaker Danie Steytler Senior; she is a product of the same year as the farm’s first vintage. It is a classic old vine Chenin Blanc, with good depth and length and such good fruit and it has lasted so well

The menu is concise with something for everyone and will not disappoint

They do good breakfasts and even better afternoon teas,
with scones, cream and jam and a large selection of homemade cakes

John chose the excellent large Wagyu Hamburger, which comes with a good mixed salad and crisps

Lynne decided to try the Prego roll and it is delicious
120g of sliced steak in a good Prego sauce,
and she detected that they use some chicken livers to enrich the spicy sauce
A great lunch with a glass of good Chenin Blanc

and at a very reasonable price. They do charge corkage, but it was waived for us by Sandra

Some lovely Iced Christmas biscuits for your Christmas tree on sale

A large selection

And those really good-looking cakes. Red Velvet, a Chocolate and a Carrot cake

Lemon meringue pie, a rich cheesecake and some chocolate torte

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com

Posted by MENU at 6:35 pm 1 comments

Highlands Road wines in Elgin

Our visit to Highlands Road in Elgin nearly didn't start, as their neighbour shares the road into the farm and is having part of it resurfaced. The recent heavy rains - and Elgin is one of our wettest places in the Cape - had stopped the bricklaying work and made the road a quagmire. Luckily, we could phone the farm and they came to get us in the farm bakkie (pickup), so we could leave our car (which is not a 4x4) here

When we arrived, there was a car stuck in this mud and the bricks to be used for the new surfacing were piled in the way

Into the tasting room on this wet, chilly day

It is a nice long room with views of the wine cellar and they had a large order about to go out

Sadly, winemaker Vanessa Simkiss had to go into town urgently, so we had the tasting with Christal Jacobus
who has worked at the farm for the past ten years. She knows her wines and was very, very helpful

We began with the whites

The 2019 Highlands Road Sauvignon Blanc. It has a herbal green nose;
lemon, lime, nectarine crispness and fig leaf make this a very satisfying expression of the grape and the area

The 2017 Wooded Sauvignon Blanc Reserve has hints of the wood on the nose and palate, with herbal notes
It has concentrated fruit of fig, citrus and nectarine on the palate, a classic Blanc Fumé
It has, deservedly, scored many good awards

One of our favourites has always been the very satisfying and complex Sine Cera (the meaning is “honest” or “true”)
It is a blend of 50/50 Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Shy nose initially, with a hint of wood,
then filling the glass and palate are stone fruits in layers, nectarines, apricots, plums
It has a lovely mouthfeel from the Semillon and it is a very good wine with food

The 2018 Highlands Road Chardonnay has a hint of sweet incense smoke and baked apple on the nose
It is lovely and rich on the palate, with baked apple and apricots - delicious;
wood does not overcome this wine. It has earned many awards

The Highlands Road 2019 Semillon has a typical nose with grey notes, richness
and hints of fig, cherry blossom and beeswax with light wood notes
Round and full on the palate with baked apple, nectarine, guava and lime and with dark toast on the end
You just want to keep quaffing
The 2018 was awarded Platinum at Michelangelo

The 2015 Pinot Noir has cola on the nose with raspberry, rose and rhubarb
The palate is full of fruit, some brûléed, cherry, strawberry and rhubarb pie with the crust!
The crust for us is the pale wood. It has long and deep flavours

The 2016 Highlands Road Syrah has an attractive nose;
spicy, with dark deep fruit, plums, cherries, fudge and caramel wood
It’s a dive in nose. Brûléed berry fruits, cinnamon, pepper, allspice and more berries;
it’s a good expression of the varietal

The final wine was the 2017 Highlands Road Noble Late Harvest, made from Sauvignon Blanc
It has a sugar candy nose and 126gm/l residual sugar. Sweetness of ripe yellow peach and lime nicely in balance
this is not a heavy, syrupy expression of the style

An order for Wine of the Month Club being collected

Christal's Jack Russell, Rusty, is a great character and very friendly
Thank you for a great tasting all at Highlands Road

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com

Posted by MENU at 5:59 pm 0 comments

Tasting and lunch at Oak Valley

As we were in the area recently, we took up an invitation to taste the wines at Oak Valley
We tasted the wines with lunch in the renamed Melting Pot restaurant,
which is a wonderful venue for outside and inside meals and tastings

They have a new chef, John van Zyl, who worked with the very successful Chef Liam Tomlin as head chef at Thali. His style of cooking and offering is summed up here: "The Melting Pot is a flavour packed, global food experience, serving contemporary small plates made for sharing. John’s cooking style is heavily influenced by his travels abroad, giving you a culinary trip around the world in one sitting. The menu is small and vibrant, comprising up to ten dishes that change every two weeks or so, with options for everyone. Be bold and order ‘one of everything’ for the full experience". And, indeed, we were to be delighted with what we ate

We arrived at one and were warmly welcomed by the owners, Anthony and Maddy Rawbone-Viljoen,
who were having lunch with friends, and the winemaker Jacques du Plessis

It’s an open kitchen, so you can see the chefs at work
 Good to see that they have a small childrens' menu

We were to have the tasting with Jacques of the exciting Tabula Rasa range of wines
The Pinot Noirs have just caused a sensation in the wine world
Top Platter Pinot Noir of the year was the Oak Valley Tabula Rasa 2018 (South Ridge PN 777)
and all four of Oak Valley's Tabula Rasa specific clone Pinots received Five Stars in Platter
No farm has ever done this before

Christopher Rawbone-Viljoen receiving the Platter Award

We can only imagine how surprised and delighted the Platter Guide judges must have felt as they tasted through these excellent wines. They are all so different, because of their different terroirs, but the quality and good winemaking shines through. Tabula Rasa (Latin) means Clean Slate and that is the where the terroir speaks. Only the two best barrels of each vineyard clone of Tabula Rasa will be bottled each year

Clone 114 has the classic Elgin fig leaf Pinot noir nose with raspberry fruit. On the palate, there is good wood integration, sweet fruit with lots of class. Grown on a block planted in 2004, it adds the crunchy component, says Jacques

Clone 115 is the most commonly grown Pinot clone in South Africa, as it gives good safe Pinot characters. It is more masculine on the nose, with some perfume. Meaty and full on the palate with different characteristics - soft and fruity on the front palate, with nice racy acidity on the back palate

Clone 667 has marzipan and cherry on the attractive red berry nose. Silky soft on the palate, with grippy tannins, it has quality and reminds one of Cabernet Franc in some way

Clone 777 was Platter's Pinot Noir of the year. Cigar box and herbs, Jacques description was, “It is like rolling on green grass!” Cranberry and mulberry fruit on the palate with racy fruit acidity on the back palate and a finish of licorice wood and good minerality

Wow, what great blending components these all offer

Winemaker/Viticulturist Jacques du Plessis told us that Oak Valley has decided that they are only going to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from now on; they have been so successful for them. They certainly have the right terroir for both these varietals

The wine that took it all. The Oak Valley Groenlandberg 2020 Pinot Noir is the sum of all the parts
It is a blend of all the Tabula Rasa Pinot Noir Clones, grown in different vineyard terroirs
It has very gentle incense wood, herbal notes, then raspberry & cranberry aromas
Sweet cranberry, then raspberry fruit on the young and fresh palate, then wood and fig leaf herbaceousness

Our Pinot Noir tasting glasses

With lunch, we were to taste two Chardonnays. The first was the 5 star Platter Groenlandberg 2020 Chardonnay,
with fennel on the nose, summery flavours with crisp lemon and lime on the end, and a hint of wood on the end

Then the Tabula Rasa 2017 Chardonnay, clone CY95, from a single vineyard
Shy at first then aromatic with classic Chardonnay aromas
On the palate, lean and crisp lemon lime with good, lightly toasted oak support

We also tasted the Tabula Rasa Chardonnay, Clone CY548,
which is full of buttery brioche on the nose, lots of blonde oak, lime and ripe stone fruit

Tasting Room manager Carissa Moutsoyannis and Chef John van Zyl

Afrika Chimombe was our pleasant and attentive waiter

Carissa has a beautiful smile

The menu. We made some choices with assistance from Afrika
probably a little more than we needed, but the food was superb

The mezze platter is such good value: Humus sprinkled with Dukkah, rich, soft and sharp aubergine,
Goats cheese balls, Tibbouleh salad, fat olives and warm pita bread 

Beautiful beetroot stained salmon gravadlax with cucumber, fennel leaves and yoghurt

Pulled, smoked, spicy with chilli, pork, a bit palate busting, but worth it

Perfectly cooked and moist chicken breast on fragrant Jasmine rice in a delicate stock
it comes with rice wine vinegar and spring onions, a fruity spicy chilli and tamarind dipping sauce
and a salad of pickled vegetables

The dish of the day for us, as we love something we have not had before, and this was innovative and, for us, the best new invention yet. Wow. Squid sliders. Soft, almost brioche, buns with sesame topping, crisp, spicy, battered and deep fried squid with chilli mayonnaise

The contents spilling out. It so works

Special thanks to Jacques and chef John, and all in the kitchen, restaurant and the tasting room
The tasting did take a while and they stayed overtime for us,
for which we are extremely grateful for their time and their attention to detail
Definitely the place to go for great wine and lunch this summer and the rest of the year

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com
Posted by MENU at 3:11 pm 1 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)