Friday, October 18, 2024

The 2024 Veritas Awards at the CTICC

A rare event for us in 2024; the 2024 Veritas Awards dinner at the CTICC
The invitation said "Strictly black tie" and many of the men did, indeed, wear suits with black neckties
with a reasonable number in proper evening gear, but it was disturbing to note how few had polished their shoes
The women, naturally, were beautifully, mostly glamorously, turned out. The men need to polish their act

Dr Winifred Bowman CWM, Wosa CEO Siobhan Thompson, 
Kendra Thompson, Neil Pendock

Lynne in her finery, looking suitably glamorous

Glasses of good local Cap Classiques served to keep us hydrated and happy. They did

Deep fried prawn tails in abundance with a dipping tartar sauce. Good prawns, but they needed a little salt?

Pouring Boschendal Brut Rosé MCC

Beetroot canapés

Etienne and Aaltjie Gouws, Leon and Marie Uys of Amorim Cork

At Wegner of GetWine
Great to meet his beautiful daughter who is not in the industry, but works in the bush at Kruger National Park

Nice moist lamb Koftas

A loud rock band played all the old favourites like Elvis, Country and Western and solid rock
and made conversation difficult

At our table were Alvi and Junel van der Merwe CWM owners of Alvi's Drift in Worcester

Also at the table were Gera and Johan de Wet of DeWetshof in Robertson

Bennie Howard CWM started proceedings

followed by Christo Pienaar, President of Veritas Awards

There were three Wine Legends awards this year. Sadly, Johann Rupert was unable to attend
His award will be delivered to him in London

Philip Jordaan of Dutoitskloof Winery in Rawsonville

Tim Hutchinson was instrumental in steering the DGB group
to become one of South Africa’s largest independent wine and spirit producers and distributors

A moments silence for those we have lost  this year. 

A televised address by Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, saying how much he would like to be there
as he is a great lover of Cape Wine, but he had other commitments away from home

And we had some great wines on the table. This De Wetshof Calcrete Chardonnay, crisp and clean and delicious,
went so well with the rich starter

Deliciously rich duck confit with citrus segments, herbed quinoa, parsnip and beetroot purée,
and a great duck jus. It would have made a meal on its own

The main was a duo of South African Beef:
a rich Beef Wellington in the pastry caseenrobed in mushrooms, 
long and slow cooked Beef brisket, Duchesse potato, roasted baby carrots, a melanage of wild muchooms,
crushed peas and a roasted butternut purée  

John's dinner sans Mushrooms, the Brisket and a rare fillet of beef in a chilli sauce

Our table had several good wines to sample, to see which went best with dinner
The one that excited us most was the rich and full Buitenverwachting Double Cab,
a blend of Constantia Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc made by cellarmaster Brad Paton 

The highest performing winery, the KWV team with their gold and double gold medals, 
photographed with  Bennie Howard and Christo Pienaar

Desert was a chocolate bar filled with a Marquise chocolate mousse, a good macaron, fresh strawberries
and a brandy snap circle

Executive Chef Roberto Carvalho is in charge of all the catering at the Cape Town Convention Centre

We will publish the list of Award winners when it becomes available 

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Extreme Wines trade tasting at Judd's Local in Kloof Street

 

One of the best and most experienced representatives  in the business,
Michelle Stewart and her daughter Kirsten have an impressive list of wines
and showed them at Judd's Local in Kloof Street

The Extreme Team - Michelle and Kirsten Stewart and Harry 

Zelda Fox, winemaker at Charles Fox 

We tasted and enjoyed the Reserve Rosé Cap Classique, a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier
Lovely red berry fruit, crisp and lively with long flavours

Hier wines are from the farm Rivergold in Bonnievale and are made by Entrepreneur and Cape Wine Master Jaco Pienaar
on Lourens van der Westhuizen's farm Arendsig, which is across the way from Rivergold

The Cinsault is made in a concrete egg and is full of dried fruit and cherries

Henry Kotze and his viticulturist wife Riette make Pilgrim and Mulderbosch wines
There were some impressive wines
The Steen op Hout Chenin has fruit, acidity and wood in perfect balance and is a great food wine

They make a Viura, which is a very unusual Spanish grape
Floral perfume on the nose, pretty enough to wear
Full on on the palate, great acidity to the balance the white stone fruit flavours.
Their Carmenere is juicy. Shy on the nose at first, full on flavour and warmth with dark berries, another wine for food

Billy Hughes, Mark Herd and LRJ

Riette Kotze with Jodi Schiff, sales representative for Nativo wines

Vrede en Lust cellarmaster Karlin Nel and Maia Bezuidenhout, Sales manager

Their Sarah Cap Classique is an impressive blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Bready on the nose, chewy on the palate with cherries and red berries and good crispness


Carsten Migliarina never fails to really impress us with his carefully and thoughtfully made wines
His Bush Vine 2023 Chenin Blanc was our wine of the day and we were not the only ones
A beautifully perfumed nose with jasmin, rose and musk, then rich golden fruit
which follows through on the crisp, complex and layered palate, full of ripe stone fruit and delight

His 2023 Chardonnay from Elgin has lime, lemon and wonderful layers of crisp fruit and toasted wood
The Bushvine Chardonnay, the first, is hard to describe
Silent at first, quite elegant and French in style, then its rounded stone fruit opens to give warmth and wood

The 2023 Albariño has a delicate nose with some roast chicken umami notes
On the palate, lovely texture, layers of ripe yellow fruit, melon and lime. Lots of complexity
The 2022 Grenache is perfumed, lighter in colour and texture, with warmth and full on berry fruit. Chill this in summer
The 2021 Equilibrium has lovely red berries and spice on the nose and palate, full of texture and layered fruit

Two wines from Bizoe really impressed
The 2020 Idioglossia Malbec was served chilled, A dark heady red, full of black and red berry flavours with umami notes
A Wow!

The 2018 Semillon from Robertsvlei Road in Franschhoek was, as expected, excellent, full and layered
with wonderful mouthfeel and long flavours

Rikus Neethling, Bizoe

Juliette Torr, daughter of Clive Torr and Tanya Beutler, following in her parents' footsteps,
She is studying viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch and already producing her own wines labelled Conviction
The Cabernet is from Elgin and has umami on the nose and palate
Fermented in barrels for 15 months. Pure cassis fruit delights and wood just supports
The C3 Cool Climate Cabernet has fruit to the fore and spent 15 months in new French oak
It is concentrated, the wine has been supplied with everything it needs and the wood is present,
it just needs time and cellaring to show its full potential

Marcus Nel and Juliette Torr

The Swanepoel wines
The SMG Rosé has perfume, rhubarb and chewy fruit
The 2021 Grenache Noir has roses and berries on the nose; the chalk bites, the rose continues
The 2020 Mourvedre has licorice umami, a good rush of red berry fruit and is a good food wine
THE 2022 SMG has a complex nose, hints of all three varietals, this wine has quality and needs time

Dirk Swanepoel

Terre Paisible from Franschoek

It was too busy at the counter, so we did not get to taste these

All our stories can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email

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