No.6 Restaurant Opening at Welbedacht Estate

The other night we were invited to the opening of the revamped No.6 restaurant at Welbedacht Estate (Schalk Burger & Sons) in Wellington.

It was the perfect summer evening for an outside affair in the courtyard between the wine tasting area and the restaurant.  They have now extended the tables of the restaurant outside into the courtyard so you can enjoy their delicious food and wine whilst admiring the stunning view. 

The new chef has previously worked in Spain and thus brings a Mediterranean flair to the menu.  Lamb burgers, spanakopitas, calamari and more delicious mini versions of the menu were served to us as the sun went down.  And later some delicious profiteroles and blueberry spring rolls came out!

We were welcomed with a delicious glass of Mon René Champagne (named after the only daughter on the farm).  Bubbles always get the evening off to a good start, and were thoroughly enjoyed while Tiaan welcomed everybody, introduced the new restaurant Chef and staff, and explained the origin of the No.6 name.

No. 6 is Schalk's rugby jersey/position (Springboks & Province) and the one in which he won the "International Player of the Year" award in 2004.  Tiaan also played in the same number growing up and Schalk senior apparently began his career in the No.6 jersey too, before moving positions.  So it runs in the family!

The No.6 wine is also named after the above and is a blend of 6 different grape varieties namely, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Mourvedre, Pinotage and Viognier all of the 2006 vintage. Only a limited quantity of this wine has been produced.

The Meerkat range of wines is apparently named after Africa's most gregarious animal (and the only one with the same name in Afrikaans & English), hence the "Gregarious people" mentioned in the restaurant slogan.  Overall, they really have tried to create a relaxed environment of good food and wine.

A number of the Meerkat and Welbedacht wines were available on the opening night.  I enjoyed a glass of the Welbedacht Sauvignon Blanc which, with it's grassy notes has lovely lemongrass and gooseberry flavours.  My other half chose the Welbedacht Chardonnay which had lovely apricot and honey flavours, not too heavy either.
We switched later to red and the Welbedacht Merlot was delicious, very berry, but with some dark chocolate and cloves in the mix there, it was definitely a favourite - I heard a few people requesting "more of that one".  I had a sip of the Welbedacht Pinotage too, but that wasn't my favourite, personally, it was a little acidic somehow.

They have some great pizza specials at the moment and the setting is really beautiful.  Open from Wednesdays - Sundays for both Lunch and Dinner.  Pop in when you are next in the area.

WELBEDACHT ESTATE (SCHALK BURGER & SONS)
Oakdene Road, Wellington.  Continue through Wellington on the R44 and follow the signs.
Tel: +27 21 873 1877

Wine and Holidays

I hope you're enjoying the long weekend... and if you are at work today - at least you know, tomorrow is a holiday!
For South Africans tomorrow is Heritage Day, more commonly known as National Braai Day, so people across the country will be coming together to enjoy some good wholesome homegrown specialties on the coals (wood if you are serious about braaiing) and a relaxing holiday with family and friends.

Canola Fields of the Western Cape

 

Kleinmond, Western Cape

This weekend was an awesome time with friends in Kleinmond, braaiing for just about every meal - ribs, chicken, steaks, you name it.  Between the group we managed to produce some great wines to  with our delicious meals.  Beyerskloof Pinotage a perfect match for a relaxed Sunday evening, with its easy drinking, always enjoyable full fruit flavours.
The Hidden Valley Hidden Secrets and Mischa Wine Estate Cabernet Sauvignon followed on from one another complimenting the ribs, braai broodjies and salad.  Lovely spice in the Hidden Secret coming through from the Shiraz and softened by the Tannat and Mouvedre.  The smooth sophistication and well rounded black cherry, nutmeg flavours of the Mischa Cab Sav were thoroughly enjoyed by the whole table.
And of course, what would the weekend be without some bubbles from JC Le Roux, La Vallée (the gold bottle) for the girls while enjoying a leisurely game of boules on the lawn.  It tastes like apple juice with the soft bubbles creating the dry finish.... delicious!

This past Friday night was also the 2013 Perold ABSA Cape Blend Top 10.
The Cape Blend is in fact still a relatively new blend, the requirements being a that minimum of 30% and maximum of 70% of this red wine blend needs to be our indigenous red wine cultivar Pinotage.
The top ten winners are listed below:
 
Top 5:
Anura LB Cape Blend 2012
Clos Malverne Spirit of Malverne 2011
KWV Abraham Perold Tributum 2011
Sumaridge Epitome 2009
Viljoensdrift River Grandeur Cape Blend 2011

Runner's Up:
Flagstone Dragon Tree 2011
Namaqua Cellar Door Pinotage/Malbec 2011
Warwick Three Cape Ladies 2011
Welbedacht Hat Trick 2010
Windmeul Cape Blend 2012

I am glad to say we have at least two of those currently on our rack and will be enjoying them with our Heritage day celebrations.  So, why not get yourself a proudly South African Cape Blend to celebrate this Heritage day or even an easy drinking Pinotage.  If the sun comes out and the weather is fine, perhaps you would prefer a white to welcome the back the summer... try a dry pinotage rosé, or a crisp peachy Chenin Blanc (Beyerskloof Chenin Pinotage), there are loads of great South African wines to choose from.

What are you drinking this Heritage day?

Franschhoek Valley from the top of the Pass

 

 

 

 

Fork & Cork Festival in Wellington

 - LOVELY FESTIVAL, SMALLER AND WELL ORGANISED!

It was a good friend's birthday over the weekend and he chose to invite everyone to attend the Fork & Cork Festival in Wellington for some celebrations.  Great idea!

The festival was held at Kleinevalleij event venue which has the most beautiful setting at the foot of the Bainskloof Mountains - even under the grey skies of this past weekend.  Being a smaller wine region, the festival was smaller and less crowded, which actually meant you could interact quite easily with the winemakers and farm owners and taste a number of exceptional wines from boutique farms which are not often open to tastings.

While you can try to taste everything, it probably won't be in your best interests later in the day, so we looked for the lesser known farms and those we hadn't tasted before and tried to find a variety.  Below are some of the farms and wines that stuck out for us on the day.

We started with a Welbedacht MCC, you can't go wrong starting with Bubbles!  Dry bubbles and apple flavours make this MCC, named after the estate owner's only daughter, a very enjoyable glass of Bubbly!

I tried to find some Rosés to broaden the summer wine options, but there are not very many made in this area, well at least they weren't available for tasting.  The Jacaranda Pinotage Rose was quite a lovely dry wine with the Pinotage berry flavours coming through.
 
Old School (Alkmaar Wines) have such a great concept going, with blackboard looking labels and the Old School theme of Masters, Professors, Mistresses and Reunions used to name their wines.  We actually had a long chat to the owners of the farm and being a smaller boutique winery, one can certainly taste the hard work and heart that has gone into each vintage.  
The Mistress was our favourite of the day, an SMV Blend (Shiraz, Mourvedre, Viognier). another reviewer was quoted as saying, "move over 50 shades of grey" here comes the Old School Mistress.
A delicious red blend, smooth as anything with some rich spice on the palate.
The Professor is a Pinotage also of great quality and The Master, being a Cab Sav / Merlot blend finds the best qualities of the two varietals and draws them out.  Each vintage is appropriately noted as "The Class of ...".
Really great wines, we will have to pay them a visit and stock up on some wine education.  Just as a note -  being a boutique, their wine tastings are by appointment only and wines need to be bought through the farm.

Now honestly, if I see a Chardonnay for R20 I usually run a mile because it will probably have that overpowering oak and honey combination with the sour aftertaste - not pleasant at all.  But the White Rhino from Linton Park Wines was actually not bad at all.  Not award winning, but certainly a Best Value.  The Red Rhino Pinotage was also very enjoyable for a whopping R30, I think.  My cousin and I bought one of each to enjoy on the grass outside with the live band, perfectly suited.  If you have a wine palate, but you're on a student budget and would rather go without than drink some old plonk, you might want to get in on these wines... and you can save the odd Rhino while you are at!  Everybody wins.  We did find their stand later in the day, but nonetheless while they may not be award winning wines, they certainly get a "Best Value" vote from me and I would definitely enjoy them at a casual braai with friends.  
The farm's Linton Park range is also very reasonably priced and pretty good, the Shiraz has won a number of awards, so too has the Merlot.  Next time you see their wines, you should give them a try and let me know what you think!

Bosman Family Vineyards is another 'tasting by appointment only' farm, so we made a point of trying some of their wines while we were at the festival.  Great quality wines!  We did not get to their second tier brand - De Bos, but the the Bosman Family wines were really good.  The Adama Red 2010, a predominantly Shiraz based blend was very enjoyable, typical white pepper, mineral flavours with your dark fruits - lovely.  The Optenhorst Chenin Blanc was also a lovely silky blend of almond and apricots.  The Bosman Erfenis was another delicious Cape Blend, these blends are popping up more often and it is great to see.  With an almost equal combination of Pinotage, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Shiraz (a little Cinsaut in for good measure), this wine's red berry fruit and spicy oak flavours are fantastic.

After all the Shiraz based and spicy wines we had tasted the Doolhof Minotaur, which has many awards and we absolutely loved last time, actually seemed a little too rich on the fruity side this time around.  Still an awesome wine, but worth noting the intense juicy berry flavours one gets when blending Pinotage, Malbec and Merlot.  Shiraz, Cab Sav and Petit Verdot are also in the blend, but you can certainly taste the full fruit flavours of the first three varietals.  A note to self for future reference and food pairing.

I am sure there were other fantastic wines we didn't get to, but like I said, it is not in anyone's best interest to attempt everything on offer.  These were some of my favourites.  What are your favourite Wellington wines?

There were a handful of small foodstalls to keep your bellies full.  The roosterbrood which we had from Festa was DE-licious!  I really want to go back to TWIST deli and restaurant in Wellington sometime, their food looks amazing.  
Even with the grey weather, it was a lovely afternoon, a very well put together festival and great atmosphere outside under the tent with the live band.  

KLEINEVALLEIJ VENUE
On the way up Bainskloof Pass
Tel:  +27 21 873 0075

Welbedacht Farm - Schalk Burger and Sons.

  - JUST OUTSIDE WELLINGTON, LOVELY VIEWS AND GOOD WINE!

A friend told us we had to taste the Welbedacht Hat Trick next time we were there because it really is quite impressive!  And so I made sure to pop into the tasting room.

Welbedacht is home to Welbedacht, Schalk Burger & Sons and Meerkat wines.  The tasting room is small, but you can always ask to sit on the tables outside, or even buy a bottle and go lounge on the grass.  The views are beautiful overlooking the dam and across the valley. 
The rugby paraphernalia adorning the tasting room walls is also a nice personal touch and a little insight into the family history of the farm owners and their rugby achievements.
 

The next time we visited the farm was actually to watch some rugby on a big screen in the No.6 restaurant with boerewors rolls, wine & beer.  (No. 6 restaurant is closed now for the winter months and should be opening again sometime in August, I think) . So, while we were there, I quickly hopped across to the tasting room, during the half time of the British Lions game, to taste the Welbedacht Hat Trick and Cricket Pitch wines.  I must say, I was quite impressed! 
Most of the Welbedacht wines, I read later, actually have 4 stars in the John Platter guide.

The Welbedacht Hat Trick 2007 is a Cape Blend (I was surprised that I hadn't heard of this more often living in the Cape, but I don't think it is a very common blend).  This blend is made up of 50% Pinotage, 35% Grenache and 15% Merlot.  It is a lovely smooth blend with the berries in the Merlot perfectly complimenting the bitter choc and coffee of the Pinotage.  Very enjoyable.

The Welbedacht Cricket Pitch 2008 is a typical Bordeaux style blend with 45% Cab Sav, 40% Merlot, 11% Cab Franc and 4% Syrah which gives that tiny bit of extra smokiness to the wine.    Also a smooth, very good blend, although you can distinctly taste the Cab Sav influence and flavours compared to the Cape blend above. 
The farm actually has a cricket pitch behind the winery, which is regularly used and from where the name of this wine comes.

Both wines are older vintages and therefore smoother having aged somewhat.  Having said that, now is probably the perfect time to be drinking these wines.  Both of these wines are very good and reasonably priced at R155.  We took a bottle of the Hat Trick home with us that day. 

I will definitely be back again to taste some of the other Welbedacht wines, probably again during a half time of a rugby game.

Their Meerkat second tier range is not a favourite of mine, I have previously tasted the Sav Blanc and Chenin Blancs.  While it might be good value and reasonably priced easy drinking wines, are don't find them so enjoyable - a personal preference.

Welbedacht Farm, Wellington
Follow the signs from the R44 as you leave Wellington towards Tulbagh / Riebeck Kasteel

021 873 1877