Noble cultivar

A lazy Sunday lunch in the winelands. Cosecha Restaurant and some wine-tasting on Noble Hill estate.

A taste of Heaven

Last Friday we lunched at Jason's Hill Bistro on the wine estate of the same name in the Slanghoek Valley near Worcester. It was a really hot day and we sat on the balcony under the umbrellas - the most spectacular view spread out below us. The food was good - particularly the creme brulee - and we thought the price of the wines was per glass but it turned out that it was per bottle! We had the Viognier, described as "an elegant wine with spice, orange peel, citrus and honey flavours complemented by four month French Oak maturation", and it was divine.
The only thing that brought us down to Earth again was when the neighbouring table lit up and started fouling the air with cigarette smoke. They should have been told to stop, but we had nearly finished and did not want to create a fuss.
So we went downstairs and bought a few cases of the award winning wines, and took them away to enjoy in the Cederberg where we were headed.

Picnic at Allée Bleue

Driving up to the picnic lawns of the Franschhoek wine estate, Allée Bleue, you are aware of layers of history, layers of vines, and layers of fences. White iceberg roses ramble over the fence that lines the driveway, each row of vines has its own fence to climb along, and the white wall of the original homestead is the final fence - and behind that whitewashed wall is your destination - a fabulous picnic place. And it takes just under an hour to get there from Cape Town.
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Icing sugar mountains

Heading out last Friday on the N1 to the Cederberg for another long weekend - lots of snow on the mountains of Franschhoek in the distance. The vineyards looking rather wintry too. But hopefully the cold and wet might produce a good season for wine. Certainly will for cherries and other berries that like a little icy chill.

Bountiful Garden

Tuesday we spent taking in the sights and tastes of Greyton - a leisurely two-hour drive if you stop at one one of the famous "farm stalls" like Houw Hoek or Dassiesfontein along the way, or one and a half if not. We started out with the most glorious wine-tasting at Lismore Estate Vineyards about 7 kms from the village of Greyton. This is a fairytale estate owned and run by the capable and utterly charming Samantha O'Keefe (centre) who hails from California and is the wine maker too. All has not been a bed of ro ... er ... cabernet though, and you can read about her early days here. After years of hard work and courageous decisions, it deserves its name Lismore which is Gaelic for 'bountiful garden".
Seated around a large table on the veranda of Samantha's beautiful home on the edge of the mountain, with views that sweep almost to the sea on the far distant horizon, we settled in for a morning of heavenly wine and fascinating conversation about the intricacies of making wine and cider in this youngest of the Cape's wine districts.

These cool climate vineyards are perfect for white wines like 2009 Lismore Sauvignon Blanc with its passion-flower and gooseberry notes on the palate and the gorgeous whole bunch basket pressed and barrel fermented 2008 Lismore Chardonnay with citrus and honey crisp acidity. My favourite white was the 2009 Lismore Viognier with its dried apricot flavour and the most amazing lingering citrus aftertaste. Here, where the vines are not irrigated and the harvest is not fiddled with to produce a taste that is exactly the same as the previous year's wine, each harvest produces a distinct wine that captures the essence of the season passed. Listening to Samantha's soft Californian accent, I could understand why wine journalists go so soppy and romantic about wine!

Anyway, the reds were next, and the 2006 Lismore "The Long Road" Red proved to be a delicious "easy drinking" shiraz (syrah) and Cab Sav blend(75/25). The 2006 Lismore Syrah was spectacular - its smooth and silky cherry and chocolate/tobacco and leather undertones nearly causing me to forget my resolve not to drink too much before the drive home.

But enough for now! Up in the hills of the Riviersonderend mountains you can just see Samantha's beautiful home. She used to make the wine in the cellars under the house, but space soon ran out, and she now makes it in Elgin.

Weekend at Agulhas: The wine

Just outside the enchanting village of Elim, near the southern tip of Africa, the vineyards produce surprisingly good wine. Apparently the cool breezes that blow off the nearby ocean allow the grapes to remain on the vines just that little bit longer to develop their flavour. We called in at The Berrio, to taste some of this wine. The Berrio has a stylish tasting centre with views over the beautiful Agulhas Plain. Children and dogs are there to welcome you, and Franchen Pratt came out to guide us through the Estate's gorgeous wines - each one more tasty than the next. She and her husband Francis are the owners of this magical estate and Francis is the winemaker. My favourite wine was the figgy flavoured Weathergirl 2009 (33% semillion and 67% sauvignon blanc blend).

Wine and disas

From mid-January to the end of February it is Disa time in the Cape. Watered by the winter rains and the cool, wet Southeaster wind in early summer, these stunning orchids begin to flower in the late summer as the days get hotter. If you visit La Motte wine estate in the Franschhoek valley (an hour out of Cape Town) you are bound to encounter some of these exquisite blooms - like these Disa hybrids in their wine tasting room. The estate purchased a large private collection of disas that was destined for the Japanese horticultural market, but luckily is now still in South Africa. There are some disas for sale too - so pop along and buy some wine and roses, er, disas.
They also have a fabulous museum - the pride of which is a collection of Pierneef paintings (which is also the name of their restaurant).

Lunch in the winelands

Our Walking (and Lunching) Group had its Christmas walk in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve followed by a fabulous lunch at the stylish Jordan's Restaurant in the winelands near Stellenbosch. The chef, George Jardine, uses seasonal, locally inspired, produced and sourced ingredients for his beautifully presented and tasty dishes. It was quite pricey and "nouvelle" (not for ravenous teenagers) but perfect for a special occasion. Although the day was hot, our table was under cool white umbrellas on the terrace overlooking the vineyards and a lake.