Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium



We were very excited when we were invited to attend the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium
It had not been held since 2019 because of the Covid hiatus
Elgin's cool climate and excellent soils produce some of the best South African Chardonnays in several different styles,
some of which we were to taste in the four flights

They were kind enough to lay on transport from Pinelands for us, a place at which we could safely leave our car
It was an early start, the bus leaving at 8 am

A lovely warm day and a warm welcome with tea, coffee and cheese scones to begin the day

 It was attended by fifty invited members of the trade, media and Chardonnay buyers

Malu Lambert and Bubs Hyland getting the message out to their readers

The tasting was held in one of the barrel cellars at South Hill wine estate

The first flight of four was poured

The water was sponsored by the new owner of South Hill, Aquasky, who condense water from the atmosphere

James Downes of Shannon welcomed us all and told us some of the history of Elgin,
including a few things that we had not heard before
The South African Navy used terroir in Elgin which belonged to James' father for their training ground
The Naval camp was called Oscar Browne. Sadly, Naval personnel caused a fire that cleared much of the wild bush
Mr Downes, as a farmer, saw the potential of the slopes once they were cleared after the fire;
soon apples, pears and then grapes followed. And he was so right
That is why their Chardonnay is called Oscar Browne 

Paul Cluver gave us some more history of the wines of Elgin
Elgin grows just 2% of the national crop of Chardonnay, just narrowly beating the Hemel and Aarde valley
But in the past few years, they have been carrying home some of the most prestigious wine awards
from South African and abroad
Which speaks to the quality of these wines and the talent that is making them

The winemakers would explain their wines when we had finished tasting each flight
One in each flight would be a foreign Chardonnay and we were to guess which it was

Time to taste the first flight of four Chardonnays

Idun consultant winemaker Kobie Viljoen, Cathy van Zyl MW was the moderator, Michael White of Highlands Road and James Downes of Shannon

In this flight the first wine was the Larry Cherubino Chardonnay 2020 from Margaret River in Australia
A classic nose, a hint of oak, lovely fruit aromas, lime lemon crispness, then wood, long warm flavours

Wine two was Highlands Road 2020 Chardonnay. Great elegance on the nose, stone fruit, melon, apricot
Round on the palate with oak first, then ripe cling peach, nectarine and warmth

Wine No.3, Shannon's Oscar Browne 2020 was sensational; Very French in style, sophisticated with a hint of smoke
Full and layered on the palate, lovely crispness with wood appearing on the end
Well done to winemaker Gordon Newton Johnson

No.4 was Callipyge 2020 from Idun – named for the goddess of eternal life, apples and fertility
Idun is owned by the Rousset family
Smoke, limes, Seville marmalade on the nose; clean crisp lime lemon grapefruit with long flavours on the palate
A food wine. Their consultant was there to talk about the wine

Second flight

Paul Cluver cellarmaster Andries Burger, Cathy van Zyl MW, Bobby Wallace of Paul Wallace Wines
and Warren Ellis of Neil Ellis Wines

The first wine was Paul Wallace 2021 Reflection; clean, flinty, lime profile with wood notes
Clean grape, lemon lime roundness and depth, lime cordial on the long end

No.2, Paul Cluver 2020 Estate is rich, complex with a hint of oak on the nose
Crisp, with salty minerality, layered, very complex and lasting with some dry tannins
This is one of Lynne’s favourite Chardonnays and she did recognize it

No.3 was the foreign one: Mercurey Blanc, "En Pierrelet" 2020 Chateau de Chamirey, France, just south of Burgundy
Wood then sweet ripeness, ripe melon and peach on the nose
Rich and full on the palate with stone fruit and ends with more wood

No.4. Neil Ellis 2021 Whitehall Chardonnay (is it drunk there?)
Classic, elegant, a little shy on the nose. Lemon lime, crisp apple. long flavours, clean and chalky

Andries Burger told us that the Paul Cluver Estate wine is from 35 year old vines
Their top Chardonnay, Seven Flags, comes from two very old vineyards

Dan the Man. Daniel of ProCon Audio Visual, responsible for the electronics

Guests enjoying the tasting and at the end of the row, a renowned expert on Burgundy, Remington Norman MW

Winemaker Richard Kershaw MW - smiling

and serious

Third Flight

Oak Valley winemaker Jacques du Plessis, Cathy van Zyl, Rudi Schultz, winemaker at Thelema
and Werner Muller, Iona winemaker

No.1 was Iona Highlands 2021. Incense wood, elegance, smoke and citrus notes on the nose
Dark wood first then butteriness, intense flavours of lime lemon grapefruit and lots of wood

No.2, the foreign wine, Dom Marc Morey Rully Blanc 2020 from Côte Chalonnaise, France
Shy with stone fruit, well made and obviously foreign
Saline, citrus, lots of wood, dried and cooked apple and a bit sickly on the end

No.3, Oak Valley Groenlandberg 2021
Perfume, white fruit, fig leaves, classic and classy, initially, the wood is there, but nicely integrated
Lime citrus, sour plum then heavy wood appears on the end

No.4 Thelema Sutherland 2021
Fruit forward on the nose, cling peach, apple. Lovely mouth feel, almost caramel wood,
bottled Tart Tatin with nuts and apple. Another food wine

Flight four

Joris van Almenkerk, Cathy van Zyl, Richard Kershaw, Carl Lambour, GM of Tokara

The first wine was the foreign example. Sandhi Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay 2019 from Santa Barbara in California
Elegance and quality, spice, apple, cooked and fresh on the nose
Clean, crisp, layered lime, lemon and Granny Smith green apples; the flavours go on and on
It could have been an Elgin wine!

No.2. Almenkerk Chardonnay 2019
An elegant, nuanced, and expensive nose with apple, calvados notes and a hint of oak
Full on the palate with chalky tannins, lime, apple & long flavours

No.3 Kershaw Clonal Selection 2019. A dive-in nose, ripe fruit and maturity
Apple in all its modes, with lime to spice it up, some salinity and subtlety; so well made
Lynne’s favourite of the tasting

No. 4. Tokara Mèthode Cap Classique Blanc de Blanc 2014
Good initial mousse, hints of brioche, nice and crisp with lime, lemon and green apple; some butteriness from the lees

Jacques de Klerk, winemaker of Radford Dale, who brought the imported wines from their selection

Joris van Almenkerk

Karl Lambour, General manager of Tokara

Moderator Cathy van Zyl MW

A view through the cellar door of Elgin magic: Grape vines, Apple and Pear orchards and forestry plantations

A few final words from James Downes who thanked the hard-working people who put the event together

Jacques de Klerk for sourcing the imported wines

Oak Valley Tasting room manager Carissa Moutsoyannis for her organisation of the event

and a bouquet for a deserving lady, Cathy van Zyl MW
 who is such an important contributor to the South African wine industry

Nicky Wallace of Paul Wallace wines, Carissa Moutsoyannis of Oak Valley and Jacqueline Lahoud of Winemag.co.za

Lunch consisted of mezze starters, 

lots of Mediterranean dishes

and then the main courses were served family style to each table
Elgin wines, not only chardonnays, were available for tasting in the next room,
so some guests spent quite a lot of time there,
which is why many of the seats at the tables were unoccupied when this photograph was taken

Spicy couscous, roasted new potatoes, rare beef, chicken, salad and a warm ham croquette
There was a huge selection of wines to taste and drink with our lunch

Dessert was a delicious panna cotta topped with a berry coulis and a light chocolate mousse
to finish off a wonderful day tasting Elgin wines

This is definitely one of the top tastings on the South African wine calendar

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Lunch at The Beach Bar, Hout Bay

Lynne had read good reviews for The Beach Bar in Hout Bay
It's next to the beach car park, opposite the Chapman's Peak Hotel. 
So we invited a friend who lives locally, booked a table and went for lunch on a beautiful breezy day

The wind made us choose to sit inside
We were impressed by the wide variety of ages and apparent incomes eating there

We had taken along a bottle from our collection and were happy to pay R50 corkage

Good quality cutlery

A good range of draught beers and cocktails

This jug of Draught was ordered by two men who then sat and chatted while it became flat and warm!

Our vegetarian friend chose three tapas, spicy chilli poppers...

Camembert spring rolls served with a berry coulis

and loaded fries without the bacon

Well-seasoned and nicely crisp Salt and Pepper calamari with barbecue ribs also comes with chips. Good value at R150
The barbecue sauce needs a bit of a rev, but the pork rib meat was falling off the bone

The large and much enjoyed New Yorker hamburger comes with a white cheddar sauce and maple bacon
 and you can substitute loaded chips for R20 extra
We did quite enjoy them but they are indeed loaded with calories

The Breakfast menu needs investigating

The drinks menu


with cocktails, wine, beer and cider

and the new main menu
We must say that the Truffled Mac and Cheese sounds like a great winter dish when one is feeling down!
And some other items on this menu like the Caesar salad and Nachos also need ordering. A return is planned

The bill for three with great service from Shaen-Claude


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Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Cape Town Opera concert in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

We made a resolution this year to go to more music events
We both love music and have quite eclectic tastes
So, when we heard that Cape Town Opera was giving a Sunday concert of opera choruses at Kirstenbosch,
supported by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Brandon Phillipswe bought tickets immediately
It is such a lovely venue. You pack a picnic supper and some wine, get there for 4 pm,
take a rug and some small low backed chairs and walk to the concert area,
where the lawns slope down to the stage, and find your favourite place

The chorus and orchestra were rehearsing as we arrived, so we enjoyed a double whammy of joyous music

We like to sit quite far back, the sound towers bring excellent sound to everyone

Our wine for the picnic was Lothian's lovely Mourvedre Rosé, a classic Rhône style dry rosé,
just the thing to enjoy slowly with some good food and music
Lynne made Jambon Persillé, salad and some gooey chocolate Brownies

Broadcaster Africa Melane was the compère for the evening and announced the pieces
He also made a plea for funds in support of Cape Town Opera and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra
 How can a large city like Cape Town exist without an opera company and a symphony orchestra?
We are very lucky to have them, but they both need funds
Check out their websites for their current programmes so you can buy tickets and support them
https://capetownopera.co.za/operas/ 
 https://www.cpo.org.za/new/

Orchestra tuning and ready to go at 5.30 pm

Goldilocks or, perhaps, Debussy's Girl with Flaxen Hair

Such rousing choruses and arias.  This shows the four main soloists performing what for Lynne
was perhaps the best rendition she has heard of the Quartet from Verdi's Rigoletto
We also had the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly,
the chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco,
the Easter Chorus from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana,
the tenor and baritone duet from Bizet's Pearl Fishers and many more

We have many talented singers in South Africa and many are now singing in some of the top opera houses in the world
The chorus contains excellent singers just waiting to get their break

Watch the performance of Verdi's Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco
(apologies for the occasional wind noise and the focus blips)
It's the music that matters

One of the last performances was the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony
also known as the Ode to Joy and the European Hymn.  It really was such an enjoyable concert

Time to go home after two rousing encores. The crowd is usually very neat and tidies up after themselves

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