Wednesday, August 24, 2022

2022 Graduation lunch of two new Cape Wine Masters at Van Loveren

Friday the 12th of August was a cold, wet and stormy day,
but we drove to Robertson willingly to celebrate the induction of two new Cape Wine Masters
at Van Loveren wine estate on the banks of the Breede River


A warm welcome was awaiting all the guests in the very modern tasting hall at van Loveren

and who doesn't enjoy a good glass of a Van Loveren Cap Classique Rosé made from Pinot Noir,
and service from smiling staff

or the Brut, Chardonnay with 29% Pinot Noir, lovely crisp citrus and apple satisfaction with some savoury notes

Some savoury blinis to take away the chill



Always a favourite, blinis topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon and caviar

Zandvliet winemaker Jacques Cilliers, new Cape Wine Master Helena Melis and Spier winemaker Anton Swarts CWM

A jovial and welcoming Bennie Howard CWM who can organize such good events

and, on display, some of the top super premium wines from van Loveren and Zandvliet (which they now own)
 to go with lunch

Finding our seats, chatting to people we know and meeting new friends

Bennie Howard and Jacques Cilliers begin proceedings

Jacques tells us about the different farms Van Loveren owns such as Isabeau and De Hoop,
where they have planted 62 hectares of new vines, which may begin to be harvested next year
In a two-year project, they planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz,
Pinotage, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Pinotage on Buitensorg
(see who is beavering away making notes at the table while John takes the photos!)

Then we had a guided tasting of some of the top wines

The 2018 Retief Reserve Cape White is a blend of Colombard, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay
grown on clay soil which really impressed us all. Crystal clear in the glass
Richness, crisp and complex with lovely loquat, lemon, lime aromas and long flavours, with good concentration;
this calls for food. This is museum stock, released for us on the day, the current vintage is 2021
The 2021 Christiena Chardonnay was initially shy on the nose, with hints of pine nuts, which repeated on the palate;
then wood appears and the classic lime, lemon, zesty flavours with vanilla and golden oak are on the end

One of the slides showing some of the new plantings

Zandvliet Kalkveld 2018 has elegance, good French oak in the background supporting rich ripe berry fruit and some spice
On the palate, sweet, unctuous and delicious concentration of berries, mulberries
and some umami licorice, textured with some chalky tannins
2019 Zandvliet Hill of Enon Shiraz has incense wood, spice and dark berry fruit,
rounded on the palate with sweet and sour fruit, ripe berries and sharp plums, and grippy chalky tannins, needs time
2017 Christina 9 Barrels Pinotage has hints of mint, shy dark fruit which then opens up on the nose
Initially quite light on the palate then, wham, lots of fruit appears
It needs time to gather itself together. Good French oak on the end
These wines were then served with lunch

Bennie Howard told us that this is the 39th ceremony to welcome and present their diplomas to new Cape Wine Masters
He reminisced about how Duimpie Bailey, Tony Mossop and he were the first three Cape Wine Masters in 1983
 They wrote and passed their examinations in 1983, but were only awarded their diplomas on the 19th of July 1984
 There are now 111 Cape Wine Masters

Van Loveren CEO Philip Retief said that both the Cape Wine Masters and van Loveren were reaching for the sky. After the closing down of the industry in March 2020, things looked bleak, it was a black swan event, difficult to predict. They then increased their overseas marketing and sales and had a good year and found that being actively involved was challenging and exciting. Yes, there is an industry surplus of wine. But exports are growing in packed wine, not bulk. Last December, boxed wines oversold bottles for the first time. Van Loveren wants to be commercially successful and invest in our people and then comes sustainable growth through innovation. They must face and defend against the threat from the beer and cider market. If everyone in South Africa drank one more glass of wine a month, there would be a shortage, so DRINK UP! Of the top ten brands in South Africa, nine of them are sweet wines, so don’t talk down to those consumers, they are supporting the market

Christiena Trousseau Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 has expensive oak, pencil shavings
and classic Cabernet fruit on the nose and palate and, while a little young, it paired very well with the food at lunch

Some port and brandy to taste after lunch. The Blaauwklippen 10 year old potstill brandy,
Van Loveren Christiena 10 year old brandy and Zandvliet Cape Vintage Port, made from Shiraz

The starter of vanilla poached pears, a crisp blue cheese bonbon,
Parma ham, basil pesto, balsamic vinegar and crisp noodles was delicious
It paired best with the Christiena Trousseau Cabernet which stood up to the blue cheese and balsamic so well

Bussell Retief presenting Lynne with a surprise birthday gift of a bottle of Van Loveren Brut Rosé Cap Classique

Jacques Steyn, CWM, Chairman of the Institute of Cape Wine Masters and CEO of Jordan Wine Estate, about to present the two new Cape Wine Masters with their certificates. He announced its Vision 2030 programme for broadening racial and cultural representation in its membership, enhancing the reputation of the wine industry and the image of its products and building a contemporary and aspirational African wine culture through this engagement by involving more black candidates in the prestigious CWM qualification. It is about creating a new culture in the South African wine landscape. It is about engendering an aspiration quality in all races. The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) has just confirmed its pledge of £2 500 (R50 000) towards this programme. “The IWSC funding is a most welcome kick-start to the wine journey of our first two Vision 2030 candidates, and ICWM is looking for more sponsors to follow this example”, he said. Four candidates have been selected to enter the programme over the next two years. They are Lethabo Komana, a chef and events management consultant, and Xolani Mancotywa, a certified sommelier, qualified chef and culinary artist. Lerato Thwane and Heinrich Bothman have already been lined up as the candidates for 2023-2025. The Cape Wine Master Institute has received a grant of R50 000 and two new students will begin their Cape Wine Master journey

https://www.gov.za/issues/national-development-plan-2030

Helena Melis then received her CWM Diploma. Helena is originally from Poland,
and has been in the marketing of Duty Free products since 1985
She is currently Marketing Manager and Spirits, Wine and Confectionery Buyer at Big Five Duty Free,
based at OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg

Helena has a Master's degree in Economics and has passed WSET4. Her Cape Wine Master dissertation is on the Importance of Wine in Duty Free Markets, focusing on the unique marketing platform that Big Five Duty Free (BFDF) offers to local wine brands in terms of showcasing their products to foreign markets, the merchandising options to promote consumer purchasing in a diverse international marketplace and the promotional value of wine brand ambassadors in selling wines

Mark Philp also won the new CWM Dissertation Excellence Award 2022 for the best dissertation,
adding to the body of South African wine knowledge, sponsored by Kleine Zalze Wines

He wrote his dissertation on Carbon Neutrality in the Wine Industry. He is a director of the Selfords and Donford Motor Group of companies in the Cape. His dissertation aims to create greater awareness of the main factors contributing to the carbon dioxide generated by the wine industry in the processes of wine-making, packaging, distribution and in wine consumption and offers useful measures for neutralising, sequestering or eliminating such emissions to achieve that desirable net zero carbon footprint. We then drank a toast to both of them

Jacques Steyn with Mark Philp and Helena Melis with their diplomas

A jolly group of the Cape Winemakers who were present for the awards

The main course was beautifully cooked rib of beef

in a rich red wine sauce on a bed of al dente vegetables and mash

Mark was presented with the new CWM Dissertation Excellence Award 2022
for the best dissertation adding to the body of South African wine knowledge, sponsored by Kleine Zalze Wines

Dessert was a vanilla Panna Cotta topped with fresh fruit, just the right creamy consistency
Paired with the delicious Van Loveren Red Muscadel, full of rose hips, ripe figs and strawberry joy

The weather had taken a turn for a drench as we headed back to our accommodation

and then, as we left, we saw this lovely rainbow over the vineyards

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Posted by MENU at 1:19 pm 0 comments

Monday, August 22, 2022

Return to The Lab boutique hotel, near Robertson

We enjoyed our stay at The Lab last year and were invited back should we be in the area again,
in return for their use of our photographs
So we were delighted to be invited for one more night after the Cape Wine Masters induction at Van Loveren
(see our separate story)
The Lab is very green, powered by solar electricity and is very high tech, with room facilities accessed by voice commands
Their car is an electric BMW, charged by the sun, and they have electric bicycles for use by guests

It was rather horrible weather that night and intensely cold when the temperature dropped to 2 degrees, but our room was nice and warm, as we could ask Echo, the computer, to pull down the blinds and turn on the air conditioning

A fire in the grate might have been good, but then it might have been smoky.
John enjoyed a shower in the morning, which was lovely and hot; Lynne waited till we got home later that day

We had a large lunch at van Loveren but by 7.30 were in need of some sustenance, so we had dinner at the Lab restaurant
The menu is on the wall

and it was quite busy. We were thankful for the open fire

A bottle from the winery up the road, Kranskop 2021 Chenin Blanc, made by our friend Newald Marais
It is full of crisp fruit, and goes so well with food

A new way to do riempie (leather thong) lacing which we might copy on our antique stinkwood rocking chair
which does need re-doing

Lovely watching a roaring fire on a very cold night

John had more appetite than Lynne and ordered the Thai seafood curry which came with several prawns

Lynne had the starter of seafood risotto. Not sure about balsamic vinegar on risotto....

A freezing mist lay over the valley when we woke at 7am
and there was frost on the inside of the window and on the grass outside

and John managed to photograph the moon as she set

As we walked to breakfast, we passed this lovely flowering cherry in blossom, so spring is on the way
and, later, we did pass some orchards beginning to burst into bloom

So delicate, so pretty

we managed to get to breakfast early and sat in front of the fire

The breakfast is large and very satisfying. First a bowl of fresh fruit, crunchy granola and plain yogurt
Then a blueberry muffin and some orange juice

Rabbit rabbit?

and this was followed by a full English breakfast with toast, marmalade and jams


John just had scrambled egg, sausage, bacon and tomato

A horse farm next door

Time to head off home after a lovely comfortable stay

We called in at Kranskop to buy some more of that excellent Chenin Blanc
Newald had taken his wife up the West Coast to see the flowers and we missed him
but we look forward to seeing him on our next visit

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Posted by MENU at 7:16 pm 1 comments

Independent wine producers show their wares at Villa 47

'Tis the season of wine trade shows after a long gap
and, recently, we were invited by Riana Smit to attend NT Wines tasting at Villa 47 in Bree Street
 There is quite a diverse range of wineries represented, so we knew we were in for some surprises and some delights
We tried to taste at least two wines from each producer and were tasting for quite a long time
We have to increase our capacity as we are a bit out of practice!

The restaurant kept a table of lovely things to munch during the tasting when we needed some light relief,
with rather good charcuterie

Old friends Paul and Nikki Wallace showed their wines, lovely to see them
Lynne began the tasting with some Little Flirt 2021 Elgin Sauvignon Blanc, always a favourite,
showing all the excellent characteristics of that cool verdant valley and its terroir, crisp,
full and long flavours, with hints of fig leaf and good fruit
The elegant, herbaceous Black Dog Malbec is a firm favourite

and a lovely Chenin Blanc, Off The Record, made by their sons Mark and Bobby,
which has lovely citrus and apple blossom perfume on the nose, which appears on the palate as well
The wine is complex, rich and layered, with lime, apple and lemon flavours, length and is very satisfying
Bobby Wallace, assistant winemaker at Iona, has now produced an Off The Record Syrah from Ceres grapes
 Only 1180 bottles were produced from the 2021 harvest
 The wine is rich in fruit, spice, and flavour, hints of violet, white pepper and good wood on the nose,
dark berry flavours from this cool climate area, with finesse and elegance and supporting tannins and wood

Alvi's Drift wines from Rawsonville, presented by Junel van der Merwe CWM
The reserve Sauvignon Blanc was a classic showing the terroir of the valley it is grown in
The Albertus Viljoen barrel fermented Chenin blanc was impressively rich and will benefit from cellaring for a few years

More dear old friends, winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger and Dirkie Morkel of Bellevue Estate in Bottelary, Stellenbosch
We love the wines they produce
The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and lively and excellent and received 18/20 from Lynne
The Reserve Collection Chardonnay 2019 has depth, great fruit and lots of golden oak
The Bellevue Cinsault 2020 shows its Pinot like character and is packed with attitude
A lovely nose, with incense wood, lots of mulberry and raspberry fruit which continues on the elegant & complex palate, very satisfying
And the 2019 Bellevue Malbec is superb. Dark mulberry, black cherry fruit, juicy with umami flavours,
a lovely texture and so enjoyable, and a food wine par excellence

The stunning Reserve Chardonnay with its many awards

Bernard Dewey, Sales & Marketing Manager of Chamonix
The stand was always busy so Lynne did not get to taste this time, perhaps we need another visit to the farm soon
We love their Sauvignon Semillon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Annalie van Dyk – Winemaker at Hidden Valley, Stellenbosch
Their Sauvignon Blanc was soft and juicy and would be lovely with spicy food
The Cap Classique Brut Rosé is 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and has rose petals on the nose,
a lovely prickle and juicy red plums on the palate, unusual but delish

Wim Braak showed the wines of Peter Falke
The PR Blanc de Noir (white wine made from red grapes) was full of creamy toffee, vanilla, peaches and cream
It is smooth and silky and then a little wood appears
 The Peter Falke Kanoa 2017 was awarded 95 points in the Prescient Cape Bordeaux Red Blend Report 2022

Mark Fletcher and talented Meerhof winemaker Jaco Brand
Jaco's wines from warm country varietals blew Lynne away
Both the whites are food wines and should be on many restaurant menus
The 2021 Arbeitsgenot Grenache Blanc has notes of pears and grass on the nose,
lovely layers of fruit explode on the palate, a bit like popping candy, full of exciting ripe pear and peach flavours
The 2012 Arbeitsgenot Verdelho has a characteristic grey nose, like a Semillon and some old wood notes,
zingy and complex on the fruity, layered palate with ripe orange melon (spanspek), apple & grapefruit, it begs for food
The 2020 Premium Shiraz/Grenache has vanilla oak on the spicy nose
Dark berry/cherry fruit, with milk chocolate, spice and crisp plums with good tannin support. One to age?

Annelien Loubser showing the Stettyn wines to Magda of Pink Olive restaurant in Sunningdale
They have a good, warm country 2022 Chenin Blanc that was  enjoyable
The Babelki* tank sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir is popular in the market at its price,
a fun bubbly with peach and strawberry, slightly off dry

Luan Aucamp - Sales Manager at Ridgeback wine
Lynne was impressed with the Ridgeback 2019 Chenin Blanc
it is very much in the style of the Loire, but with quite a lot of oak supporting

Alta Saayman, Marketing Manager at Riebeek Cellars who used to sell us these wines when we had our wine shop
The Pieter Cruythoff sparkling wine is always impressive with its crisp classic flavours
and the Klein Kasteelberg Brut Chardonnay Pinot Noir was nicely zesty and crisp

Bernard le Roux, winemaker at Zorgvliet had us entranced
Richelle is one of his top wines, a classic Bordeaux blend, perfumed on the nose,
with good dark cherry berry fruit, soft chalky tannins and long elegant flavours
Simoné is a very good Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend, zesty, lively and full of quality and length
His Merlot knocked our socks off, superb layers of fruit, sumptuous, rich and deep with no hard edges,
supported with good wood and no mint
We liked his classic Cabernet Franc and the Petite Verdot has the classic delicate violets on the nose
followed by a blockbuster of a wine full of salty umami flavours

Bernard was describing his second label Silver Myn Sauvignon Blanc to Lynne,
made from grapes harvested on a neighbouring farm, but she was tasting something so different from his description;
it’s a clean, lean style with minerality and green figs and peppers, so good. One for us to buy soon

The two sisters of Capo Donna Chenin Blanc

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Posted by MENU at 6:24 pm 1 comments

Mukanya Cap Classique

We had a visit recently from an old friend whom we have known in the wine and hospitality industry for quite a few years. After several years working as Sommelier at the Cape Grace, Tinashe Marlvin Gwese is now Group Sommelier of the three hotels within The Liz McGrath Collection, which includes The Cellars-Hohenort, The Marine and The Plettenberg. 

He wanted us to taste the sparkling wine he has made. We are very honoured. If you are wondering about the name, it is the name of Marlvin’s Totem. Made with Chardonnay grapes sourced in Franschhoek, it is a classic, crisp Blanc de Blanc with fresh flavours, lime and lemon notes and it has a good mousse; we opened it at a recent celebration and enjoyed it very much.

We first met Marlvin at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, attending the Cap Classique competition awards, and have watched his stellar career with admiration for several years. Like his compatriots Joseph Dhafana, Tinashe Nyamudoka and Pardon Taguzu, all four of whom we know, Marvin has a superb palate. Recently, they all starred in the recently released documentary Blind Ambition; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9914972/ which has now won international film awards

These four talented young Zimbabwean migrants all came, separately, to South Africa to seek a better life. They came from a country with little history and culture of wine. Despite their other qualifications, they found work in restaurants, where they discovered wine and fast developed their skills and talent for wine tasting by studying wine and, in the process, they got to know each other. In 2017, they entered the South African Wine Tasting Championship, organised by expatriate French sommelier Jean Vincent Ridon and they all placed in the top 10. Jean Vincent said to them, “If you can raise the money, you can form your own Team Zimbabwe and go to the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships in France”. With the help of crowd-funded sponsorship and wine writer Jancis Robinson, they were able to take part in what is regarded as the wine Olympics. The rest is history, after a lot of hard work and the study of wine. They have worked at many of the top restaurants in South Africa. We have great respect for all four of them. 

Pardon Taguzu is now Sommelier, Winemaker, Sales & Marketing Director at @Dzimbahwebrands and has been working as a head sommelier in the Netherlands. He has a degree in economics and an MBA equivalent. Tongai Joseph Dhafana has his own brand, Mosi Wines. He produces wines and gin which he is now promoting in Africa. Tinashe Nyamudoka has his own brand of wine, Kumusha Wines and in 1916 won the Eat Out Wine Service award while working with Luke Dale-Roberts at The Test Kitchen. He is currently in the USA, promoting his wines. All of them are now respected wine competition judges. 

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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Posted by MENU at 12:57 pm 0 comments
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