The first bottle was a Reserva Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Elqui Valley. The Sauvignon Blanc is made by the San Pedro group whose base winery is in Molina, just south of Curicó hundreds of miles south of the Elqui Valley.

Viña San Pedro has been crafting wines in Chile for nearly one-hundred and fifty years. Once a pioneer, today a New World innovator, in between San Pedro helped build an industry stretching from the Elqui Valley to the Bío Bío Valley.

Castillo de Molina was San Pedro’s first Reserve line of wines and has become a renowned Chilean reserve wine the world over. Its current direction is to identify the best Chilean terroirs for each variety, and thus obtain the highest individual expression for every single one.

Castillo today offers eleven varieties, stemming from the most diverse viticulture regions in Chile, including Carménère from Maule, Cabernet Sauvignon from Alto Cachapoal and a smashing Sauvignon Blanc from the Elqui Valley.

Back to the Sauvignon Blanc – this, clear, pale greenish-yellow wine has the most devine nose; fresh, fruity and mineral notes, reminding one of citrus peel and peppers with a hint of minerals. The wine is more acidic than South African varieties, with a nice long finish and delightful herby aftertaste.

Because we are used to South African Sauvignon Blanc, my assistant wasn’t to keen on the initial acidic taste, but she actually liked it after getting used to the difference in taste. I liked it and would definitely recommend it as I prefer dry wines and as Summer is not too far off, this could make a nice addition to any wine cellar.

For more information about this wine, go to   www.melgabinternational.com

Photo by Sacha Fernandez

A few hours drive north of Sydney, Hunter Valley offers wine lovers a unique opportunity to taste some of Australia’s premium wines.  There are so many wonderful vineyards to choose from in the Hunter Valley it is a difficult task narrowing them down into a short list. Luckily, there’s a huge range of accommodation to choose from, so at least that choice is taken care of.

There is something romantic about driving through a wine region, and it doesn’t matter what time of the year you do it.  In spring the vines are glossy green and full of promising fruit, whilst in winter there is a stark beauty in the stripped backed vines waiting to deliver on their promise.

Most wine lovers prefer to visit boutique vineyards and to stay away from the more commercialised bulk suppliers.  So let’s take a look at five of the more unusual yet high quality vineyards in the Hunter Valley.

De Iuliis Wines. One of the first things that catches your attention at this boutique vineyard are the stunning art works which adorn the walls adjacent to the panoramic windows which look out across the vineyard.  As well is enjoying the fine wines, tourists can relax over lunch at the restaurant and then browse the gallery.  This venue was only established in 1987 and has been producing outstanding wines since the first vines were planted in 1990.  The winery has won many awards by producing classic Hunter styles such as Semillon, Shiraz and Chardonnay.

Emma’s Cottage vineyard.  Emma’s Cottage is located in one of the more picturesque valleys in the Hunter region. Operating on a comparatively small seven acres, this small vineyard produces seven different wine varieties with production overseen by an award-winning winemaker.  The staff is proud of their handmade approach to winemaking to guarantee a true Hunter quality wine.  You’d better pick up a few bottles at the cellar door because you are unlikely to find them at any bottle shops.

Bimbagden Estate. Famous for their more complex award-winning wines as well as the outstanding restaurant located on site, tourists will find a visit to Bimbagden Estate something to remember.  This is a great place to have lunch because you can choose your wines over a leisurely tasting before settling down to a sumptuous lunch accompanied by the wines you have already chosen.

Calais Estate. If you are looking for a quality vineyard that produces all their wine at the vineyard itself, then Calais Estate should be on your must see list.  Naturally, the grapes are grown and harvested here and from there on every step in the winemaking process takes place on the estate itself.  From picking right through to bottling.  These vineyards are truly first-class and demand a visit from all wine lovers.

Constable Estate. If you are looking for the complete day out in a vineyard, then Constable Estate is sure to attract your attention.  Not only will you enjoy fine wines but you will also immerse yourself in what are claimed to be in the most beautiful gardens at any vineyard in Australia.  Constable Estate vineyards also have a reputation of being one of the most beautiful and successful vineyards in Australia, producing outstanding Australian wines.

After reading these short reviews is there any reason to stop you from jumping into your hire car and heading off to the Hunter Valley straight away? Simply book your accommodation and away you go!

Article by Marcela Dias

I received a Woolies supplement in the mail and lo and behold – Justin Bonello and Bill Granger featured prominently and as a bonus, they gave a recipe for Ayrshire milk Tart – which I skipped because I actually know how to make it – and a recipe for Bill Granger’s Tomato and Onion Tart.

It looked delicious and off I went into the kitchen with high hope that I would have the ingredients at hand – Hallelujah! I did! Here is the recipe and a photo of the rustic tomato tart that was inspired by the “abundance of fresh produce he came across on his travels through South Africa.”

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
600g onions, finely sliced
2 t soft brown sugar
1 T balsamic vinegar
½ t sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 x 375g packet of puff pastry
25g finely grated Parmesan cheese
800g sliced mixed tomatoes, such as cherry tomatoes cut in half or larger tomatoes sliced.
3 T pitted olives
2 large handfuls rocket, dresses in a little olive oil and lemon juice, for serving

Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Place the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion for 20 minutes.
Add the sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Cook for another 5 minutes or until the onion is oft and caramelized.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Roll out the pastry to a 20 x 40cm rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
Trim the edges with a sharp knife and place on a lined baking tray.
Score a 1cm border around the edge of the pastry, taking care not to cut all the way
through to the bottom.
Prick the pastry with a fork and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese within the scored edges.
Place the onion on the pastry base and arrange the tomato and olives on top of the onion.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Serve with rocket arranged on top of the tart.

Absolutely delicious and very very easy to make – my kind of recipe!

A treasury of nearly forgotten indigenous plants and trees is now firmly rooted at the new Dik Delta Fynbos Reserve, on Franschhoek’s Solms-Delta Wine Estate, thanks to the collaborative efforts of plant and cultural preservationists.  At the heart of the reserve is a Fynbos Culinary Garden, its beds yielding edible plants and herbs used in the heritage cuisine of the estate’s Fyndraai restaurant.

The vision behind the garden is that of farm owner Mark Solms, who wishes to preserve the Cape’s rich bio-heritage and that of its indigenous people, the Khoe, in a living and practical way.  The lives of the Cape’s first settlers revolved around some 400 plant species that nourished them and cured their ailments.  Thousands of years of valuable plant material and knowledge were nearly eradicated by colonization and European-style agricultural practises.  “We are attempting to go back, and hopefully regain some of the opportunities that short-sighted commercial farming took away from us,” said Solms.

The garden has been painstakingly cultivated, plant by plant, with botanical material sourced from Cape nurseries and identified in the wild.  Integral to this process was well-known food scientist, author and national treasure Renata Coetzee, who has spent 50 years studying South Africa’s culinary heritage.  An authority on Khoe food culture, Coetzee helped select the plants for the culinary garden based on their promise and adaptability in the kitchen of Solms-Delta’s restaurant, Fyndraai.  Ethno-botanist Alan Sonnenberg, who has spent most of his career studying indigenous plants, assisted by scouring the Cape for botanical treasures, many of which are on the verge of extinction.

Over 80 varieties of indigenous plants and trees now thrive on a 15-hectare parcel of land once used for grazing, fruit production, and even rubbish disposal.  Overgrown with alien vegetation, the land took several years to clear.  “It is now a living repository for real cultural goods,” says Hein Joubert, Dik Delta Project Manager.  Joubert is a Franschhoek resident and heritage enthusiast with an architectural background, and has unlimited enthusiasm for the reserve and its potential.  Visitors to the garden will be able to smell, feel and taste these precious plants on guided walks arranged through the estate’s Museum van de Caab.

The 2-hectare Dik Delta Culinary Garden is an area of the reserve devoted exclusively to cultivation.  At its centre is a circle — always the traditional meeting place within African culture — from which avenues lined with stones excavated from the site radiate outwards.  Edible plantings of buchu, spekboom and others fill the beds, which will eventually be outlined by shady kei apple and other trees from the Khoe landscape.  The main avenue directs the eye up towards the dramatic mountains beyond.  Old citrus trees planted alongside the garden have been resuscitated and are now awaiting organic certification – a process that takes up to two years. The garden is tended by a team of Solms-Delta workeers who were once unemployed farm residents.  They were part of the creative process from the beginning, contributing design ideas as well as labour.

After plants are harvested, Chef Shaun Schoeman of Fyndraai takes over, transforming strongly flavoured fynbos and succulents into heritage cuisine.  The menu pulls exclusively from the Cape’s genuine food traditions — mixing Dutch colonial and Malay slave with Khoe ingredients — in a way that excites the modern palate without over-stimulating it.

Schoeman plays with Dik Delta produce to create memorable dishes like a veldkos vegetable bake with bokmelkkaas, garden leaves and boegoe buttermilk sauce, and a lightly smoked ostrich fan fillet served with a waterblommetjie tart, honey roasted patat emulsion, buttermilk suringsous and spekboomslaai.

The Dik Delta project also involved the extensive restoration of a natural river bed, which now flows gently in winter and is dry in summer.  Its banks are lined with stones, reedy restios and acacias.  Rejuvenating the river bed has stimulated a return of this landscape to its previous glory, according to Joubert, who notes the symbiotic return of other long-lost plants, as well as a profusion of frogs, badgers, porcupines, cranes and hawks.

Herds of fat-tail sheep, Sanga cattle and ostrich have also been more formally introduced to another section of the reserve.  The sheep’s high fat content helped sustain Khoe farmers thousands of years ago, and the Sanga, with their magnificent spotted hides and graceful horns came here with the Khoe from central Africa two thousand years ago..  Both sheep and cattle are flourishing at Dik Delta, and even reproducing in their authentic kraal.  Joubert hopes that, like the plants, the animals will “jumpstart a conversation about how the first South Africans once lived.”

“Whether visitors are strolling along the reserve’s fynbos-scented avenues or tasting the fruit of the gardens at Fyndraai, the educational element must always be fun and meaningful to adults and children alike,” says Solms.  Also planned are stargazing evenings which will bring astronomy to life.  Under the night sky in Dik Delta’s large boma, participants will tap into the celestial beliefs of the early Khoe and San, which played such a critical role in how they conducted their lives.

It’s only natural that Dik Delta will extend its culinary reach beyond Fyndraai Restaurant.  Several food products handmade from garden produce are currently under development.  Look for honeybush tea, traditional jams, atchjars and syrups with the Dik Delta label, in the months to come.

All arrangements for visiting Dik Delta should be made through the Museum van de Caab at Solms-Delta Wine Estate. Email; tel: 021-874 3937

I took the drive through to Somerset West for the SA Young Wine Awards and after meeting up with some friends, decided to do the Workshop – a first for the awards. Charl Theron is always great as a lecturer and I found the workshop very interesting, as we got to taste and judge some of the winners’ wines without knowing who they were or how they did in the competition.

After the very informative workshop, we made our way through to the tasting area where it was a treasure hunt of sorts to find the wines that we just judged! What a great way to find out who won what and definitely the odd surprise because of preconceived ideas about who makes what best!

With Charles Hopkins as Master of Ceremonies, lunch got underway and the SA Champion Trophies were presented with Duimpie Bayly doing the final honors in presenting the Genl Smuts Trophy.

Following is the Media Release:

SÉMILLON COMES UP TRUMPS AT SA YOUNG WINE AWARDS

A Sémillon from Flagstone Winery beat more than 2 000 contenders to clinch the title of 2010 SA Champion Young Wine (Thurs 19 Aug). This cultivar was honoured with the sought-after General Smuts Trophy – the highest honour to be bestowed upon a young wine – for the first time since 1952.  This wine was also crowned SA Champion Sémillon.

Badsberg Wine Cellar in Rawsonville scooped the Pietman Hugo Trophy for the highest score for the five best entries for the second consecutive year.  Cellar master Willie Burger and his formidable team also have a SA Champion Pinotage and a SA Champion Naturally Sweet White Wine to their credit.
Other cellars from the Worcester/Breedekloof area that took a bow as SA Champions were Alvi’s Drift Private Cellar with a SA Champion Chardonnay (wooded), Breëland with their SA Champion White Blend (Sauvignon Blanc/Colombar) and Merwida with a SA Champion Muscadel (White Muscadel Jerepigo).

A trio of young wines from Paarl cellars flew this region’s flag at the awards. Landskroon Shiraz (wooded), Windmeul Cabernet Sauvignon (wooded) and Perdeberg Petit Verdot (wooded) were capped as SA Champions.

Carel Nel Wines demonstrated their versatility with trophies for the SA Champion Port (intended for tawny port) as well as SA Champion Sauvignon Blanc. Calitzdorp Wine Cellar – also in the Klein Karoo – won the trophy for SA Champion Dessert Wine with a Muscadel/Hanepoot.

Namaqua Wines from Vredendal secured their position on the scoreboard with trophies for the SA Champion Merlot (wooded) and SA Champion Other White Cultivar (Verdelho).

Kleine Zalze and Neethlingshof put Stellenbosch in the spotlight with the SA Champion Chenin Blanc (wooded) and SA Champion Noble Late Harvest (wooded) respectively.

From the Robertson area Viljoensdrift showed their prowess with a SA Champion Red Blend (Pinotage/Shiraz).

Of the 2 028 young wines from the 2010 harvest entered this year, 17 won SA Champions trophies and 52 achieved class winner status.
The 2010 SA Young Wine Awards ceremony was presented at the NH Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West by the South African National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) and Agri-Expo. This organisation’s relationship with the South African wine industry dates back to 1833 when the former Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society (now Agri-Expo) took the lead and created a competition platform for the country’s best young wines.

Visit the SA Young Wine website at www.youngwineshow.co.za for more information.

To read more click here…

With a backlog of between 450 000 and 500 000 houses in the Western Cape, this is a step on the road to eradicate the backlog. This project of approximately R5,5 million funded by the owner of Napier Winery, will bring new hope to other farm workers waiting on housing. Western Cape Minister of Housing, Bonginkosi Madikizela was there to cut the ribbon and hand these beautiful houses over to the workers.

The houses consist of two bedrooms, a bathroom, open plan living, kitchen, dining as well as built in fireplaces and solar panel heating for the water. With lawns between the houses and plans for a vegetable garden in the pipeline, the workers were all smiles when they received their keys.

Napier Winery is already making a difference in the lives of their workers with a fund towards education of school going children and as no rent will be charged for these houses, just a minimum fee which will go towards general upkeep, the workers can concentrate on enjoying better lifestyle.

Well done to Napier Winery and their Management Team for making a difference.

With the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction taking place on 2 October at Spier this year, I thought it only fitting to plagiarise some of their info off their brochure and website to put them on the radar so to speak, and I quote …

“28 Years ago, the Cape Winemakers Guild started a process that would raise the quality bar for the South African wine industry for ever.

Eight independent winemakers with a singular vision pooled together their resources and created a groundbreaking association. They wanted to ensure that great South African wines would stand out amongst the best in the world.

With stringent membership criteria and objective measurement of wine making progress along with continues collegian support, the Guild constantly improve and innovates with outstanding results.

Today a significant number of top winemakers in the country are part of the Cape Winemakers Guild. They continue to raise wine standards higher than ever before, single-mindedly striving to extract the full potential from our unique South African terroir and to set new world-class benchmarks for South Africa and the rest of the winemaking world.”

“Membership of the Guild is by invitation only and South African winemakers who have been responsible for making outstanding wines for a minimum of five years and continue to do so, are eligible for nomination, guaranteeing association of top end wine producers.

The members of the Cape Winemakers Guild support each other through the sharing of technical knowledge and winemaking experience, ensuring that Guild members continue to produce the highest quality wines available in South Africa and some of the best in the world.”

Each year, the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction showcases the finest and most exclusive wines produced by its member. These wines are rare and limited and are produced in small volumes exclusively for the auction.

The auction wines are selected by the members of the Guild at a blind tasting where only wines are chosen that show technical excellence. Thus ensuring that each wine offered is of exceptional quality, which I can attest to as I tried some at the Showcase.

The Cape Winemakers Guild established a trust, Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust, in 1999 that provides social development investment for school children in the wineland areas, further education through the Protégé Programme Bursary Fund and mentorship through the Protégé Programme.

The Development Trust pursues social investment for sustainable future and the development of a thriving wine industry that is wholly inclusive.

The Cape Winemakers Guild has some events planned before the auction on 2 October and if you missed the Showcase in Cape Town, get yourself on a plane to Johannesburg for their leg of the Showcase on 2 September at the Nedbank Atrium in Sandton – this is not to be missed. For the rest of the 2010 Cape winemakers Guild Events and for some more details on the Cape Winemakers Guild, visit their website at www.capewinemakersguild.co.za

The Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme was launched in 2006 with the goal of bringing about transformation in the wine industry by cultivating, nurturing and empowering promising individuals to become winemakers of excellence.

Except for the obvious French choices of Champagne and then the favourite South African Cap Classique variety available, the Teddy Hall MCC was an absolute eye opener for me and not too strange as it had the room buzzing. The winos (okay, not that kind of winos) the wine writers, where talking and while I was doing the rounds, the buzz from the other attendees was actually quite wonderful to hear.

This lesser known (to me at least) winery makes the most wonderful crisp Cap Classique carrying the Chardonnay’s fruit and yeasty flavours on the palate. This is absolutely sublime to drink right now, but as Teddy Hall says, given time, will develop additional complexity and depth.

The Chardonnay vines which provided the fruit for this wine were planted in 1990 and the vines are rooted in broken shale soils which are topped with a layer of koffieklip. With lively acidity a prerequisite for good sparkling wine, the grapes were picked early in the 2005 season. The Chardonnay grapes arrived at the winery nice and cool. After going through the usual vinification processes, the final step was expelling the dead yeast cells and topping up the bottles before the final corking.

Already boasting a few years of bottle maturation, this sparkling wine will continue to evolve and gain in complexity and I quote Teddy “ I’m particularly proud of this and believe it might well become a benchmark bubbly.” And I completely agree that this is definitely going places!