Saturday, May 07, 2022

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 1. Lothian

We looked back at our records and we have been visiting Elgin for their Cool Wine Festival since 2014! It is the perfect time for a wine festival; autumn is upon us and there are lovely glowing colours in the trees in this cool wine area. The programme for this year included 9 wine farms and we planned to visit over both days. You cannot do them justice if you rush at it. So we drove up that morning to arrive at our first stop, Lothian, at 10h30

Checked in by Angie from Webtickets, we were given our armbands and glasses
Tickets were a reasonable R250 for the weekend; they gave visitors access to all the farms taking part

Lothian is a very glamorous location;
the huge house can be hired out for large parties and is often used for film and television productions

We didn’t manage to lie on a sun bed while tasting and admiring the lake view, but it is a tempting prospect

But they are also a working wine estate, with wines made by the renowned Richard Kershaw with Dudley Wilson
and their viticulturist is Kevin Watt. Co-Owner Ewen Wilson was on duty in the tasting room



We tasted the 2019 Riesling, very much in the Cape style,
very dry with good lemon and lime flavours, dark toast and some terpenes 

The 2019 Chardonnay has lovely perfume, peach and a hint of oak and white pepper on the nose
Creamy, crisp, complex; it reveals itself in layers with good crisp acidity and some well-balanced wood on the end

The 2019 Mourvèdre Rosé is light in weight, with lots of Mourvèdre’s classic character and some perfume of rose petals

The pale garnet 2019 Pinot Noir has wood smoke then brûléed cherry on the nose,
cranberry, morello cherry and plum on the palate with a hint of mint

The Horny Owl Chardonnay sur lie was exciting
A lovely nose with clean white fruit, and a good leesy character on the end palate, crisp, layered and rounded

The 2017 Lothian Noble Late Harvest is made from Viognier and is not a heavy or too sweet variation;
it has lots of honey and peach notes. This is the last of its type from the farm;
the viognier vines have been cut from the rootstocks and replaced with Pinot noir.
We didn't get to taste the Brut Rosé MCC which is made from Pinot noir

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Posted by MENU at 5:02 pm 0 comments

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 5. Almenkerk

Sunday morning and, after a huge breakfast at our accommodation in Gordon’s Bay,
it was time to head for Elgin for our second day at the Elgin Cool Wines Festival
It is harvest time in the valley for the apples and pears that they grow so successfully, as well as the grapes

Pink Lady apples ripening on the tree

The view from the entrance at Almenkerk vineyards, our first stop of the day,
looks far over this fruitful valley towards the sea, which is just behind the long hill

and you can look over the vines and orchards in this hilly area

More lovely autumnal colours

Looking towards the mountains, you can see more of the mixed hill farming,
some sheep grazing and a charming farm house

Almenkerk winery is a lovely modern building, designed by Derick Henstra, set well back into the hill behind it
The lawn in front was to be used for the Barrel Rolling competition

Looking down towards the dam below a new vineyard and an orchard

An unusual flowering plant that looked like a red lobelia but seems to be a salvia,
red autumn sage, apparently very good for attracting butterflies

Almenkerk, Belgian owned, had a food truck serving proper Belgian Waffles

and a tasting centre outside for festival goers

A look into the spotlessly clean cellar being patrolled by their young Great Dane,
who was a great favourite with visitors and us

Owner/winemaker Joris van Almenkerk in the barrel cellar, chatting wine with two festival visitors

The day before they had a race which began early and they had many visitors at that time
Sunday morning was a lovely day but people were slow to get out of bed and only turned up a bit later


Another magnificent view across the Elgin Valley

It is protea season and this was a lovely arrangement of Queen Proteas

The Almenkerk wine range

Children admiring the Dane, who was quite unperturbed, lying in the sun

We sat and chatted to Natalie and Joris and their daughter while we tasted their festival wines

Natalie Opstaele

Joris and their daughter sharing a Belgian waffle

There were four wines to taste and we began with the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc,
which is crisp and dry with the classic Elgin fig leaf nose and the same characteristic flavours

The 2019 Chardonnay has good lees notes with white peach and nectarine fruit; it has lovely richness with long flavours

The 2014 Syrah also has lovely fruit and spice on the nose
Rhubarb, mulberry and licorice wood on the end with spice continuing too

and they saved the best till last with the 2015 Merlot. Beautiful fruit on the classic Merlot nose, sweet cherry with some spice
On the palate soft as silk and a nice tingle on the tongue
Dark toasted wood and good supporting acidity with morello cherry and some chalky tannins, delicious

All the wines have 4.5 stars from Platter and the Merlot a double gold from Michelangelo

and, kindly, they invited us to share this lovely cheese platter with them while we chatted

It was a lovely way to spend a relaxing morning in Elgin and why we love visiting this lovely wine area,
populated with very hospitable and charming people

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Posted by MENU at 3:30 pm 0 comments

Fish and Chips at Trawlers, Gordon's Bay

Gordon's Bay is a quiet town out of season
This was taken at 7 o'clock on a Saturday evening, so the season is definitely over

We wanted some good fish and chips for supper and we knew that Trawlers is a good place to get them
It is a legend and has been serving good seafood for years. Sadly, we were their last customers
Their only seating is on their verandah or on the chilly open air seats and tables

The menu

Two Hake and chips at R78 each. We had asked for crisp chips and, initially, they served us Slap (i.e. soggy) chips,
 which are just oily, half cooked and much loved by many South Africans
Luckily, we insisted that they put them back in the deep fryer and they obliged, so we did get good chips
The fish was very fresh, with pearly flakes and quite delicious
We had taken along a bottle of rosé wine – False Bay, second label of Waterkloof - and our own wine glasses
- we always travel prepared!

A bit lonely on the stoep!
We were observed by one man living on the street, but not bothered by him
and we did leave the rest of our chips for him afterwards; it was a massive portion
There were few people out, but we did see quite a few security cars driving past
No Saturday night youths with nothing to do, looking for trouble
We walked there and back and it only took about 10 minutes at the most

Our bill

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Posted by MENU at 2:47 pm 0 comments

Friday, May 06, 2022

Big Skies Guest House, Gordon's Bay


We were invited to the Elgin Cool Wines festival to write about it this last weekend, so accommodation was a priority for us
Sadly, our tickets arrived just the day before, when all the affordable accommodation in Elgin had been taken
So, thinking laterally, Lynne looked at Gordon's Bay, just 15 minutes down Sir Lowry’s Pass and found Big Skies,
which is only two roads from the sea front

They have eight rooms and prices are good
They also have very admirable facilities; in fact, they had thought of everything to make our stay easy
The furniture and decor are a little dated, but it was very comfortable, with an air conditioner and en suite bathroom with shower

Spot the bathroom door; yes, it’s the door with the coy Victorian gent and lady in brass
There is a fridge and a tea and coffee station with supplies

Small but completely fit for purpose and good hot water
and we had a TV where John was able to watch some Rugby in the early evening

In the hallway, a small cooking station
with an ice machine, microwave, kettle, glasses and crockery and cutlery should you wish to prepare some food

There is a small lounge, also with a TV, perhaps for rainy or windy days not spent on the beach

Not one inch of the property had been wasted
and there was an outdoor barbeque and some picnic tables and benches

Some local brochures and some amusing signage in the hallway

Upstairs is the breakfast room which has views of the sea over the rooftops

Breakfast was included in our booking, but is usually a very reasonable extra charge per person
The breakfast buffet had almost everything you might ever want, including a toast machine
The tea and coffee station has all sort of options but, if you want real coffee, you can ask for a plunger

The bar seemed popular with the guests in the evening

and from it you get a view of the swimming pool below

Another seating area.  We walked down to the sea front at 6.30 to get some fish and chips at Trawlers (a separate story)
which took us right past the local police station which is on the next corner
There were several security company cars in the area, so it seemed safe to walk at night

and we were able to park safely overnight in the front yard

Juice, muesli and cereals, also a selection of yoghurts, jams and fresh fruit. We both had juice, fruit and cereal



Lynne had the full English Breakfast which was fresh and well cooked
We did hear another guest say "I am not English so NO I do NOT want baked beans!" Which were very good

John opted for an omelette which came filled with raw tomatoes and bacon. Sadly, it was rather soggy





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Posted by MENU at 12:46 pm 0 comments
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