Wine with dinner - Windmeul 'The Legend'

Another award winning wine from one of our favourite Co-ops - Windmeul's The Legend 2010.  A gold at the 2013 Michelangelo awards and 4.5 stars in the John Platter guide.

We were actually looking for some more of the delicious Cape Blend, but it was all sold out.  So we settled for a couple of The Legend bottles.  Named after Theuns Briers who was a former Windmeul Cellar Director and Springbok rugby player.

This wine is a classic Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux Blend.  A full bodied, strong wine with delicious blackberry and Cab Sav earthy, cedar wood flavours.  Went down like a treat, everybody thoroughly enjoyed it and agreed the awards are well deserved.

Together with some Saturday evening rugby and a family dinner - fantastic!  See you at the next market, 7 December, to stock up on this and of course some of the other award winners like the 2013 Chenin Blanc (Veritas Double Gold 2013). 

 A delicious red velvet cake to wash it all down at the end.  The November issue of the Taste Magazine, celebrating 10 years of the publication, had the most beautiful cakes adorning the pages.  I've been trying out a few of them and this time (celebrating my sister's birthday as well - in her absence) was their Red Velvet Cake.  Not as pretty as the magazine, but just as delicious!







WINDMEUL CELLAR
R44 off the N1 towards Wellington.  About 15km on the left-hand side.
Tel: +27 21 869 8043
Latitude:-33.671667  Longitude: 18.910278

Wine with dinner - Brampton & Rickety Bridge

  - DATE NIGHT - DRINKS & DINNER

It was supposed to be a progressive dinner - drinks and a starter, move on to the next place for mains and a final stop for dessert.  It didn't quite work out as planned, but it was an awesome evening anyway!

We started the evening at Brampton Wine Studio in Stellenbosch.  Brampton in fact do not have their own farm or vineyards, the brand was bought from Rustenberg a few years back and the wines are apparently now made by Boschendal Wine Estate.  
The wine studio in Stellenbosch serves as it's tasting room.  A unique concept and brilliant idea.  The studio is bright and fun with chalk on the tables encouraging a bit of artwork after a glass or two and has a great atmosphere - we were there on a random Tuesday evening and it was packed!  I booked a table (some poor guys had to move... but they knew it was reserved), but even if it's full there are a few bars or even just standing and being a part of the buzz is good enough.  Last rounds are at about 7:30, but they stay open until about 8:30 - A great spot for a pre-dinner drink.  I had a glass of BUBBLY which was DELICIOUS!!  Lightly pink in colour and soft as anything.... mmmm!  We got a bottle of the BRAMPTON SAUVIGNON BLANC which was really good, sweeter passion fruit and pineapple flavours, but lovely.
The garlic fries - our "starter" - were scrumptious!


Dinner was at Cafe des Arts in Franschhoek, a small unassuming homely restaurant just off the Main Road.  We chose the RICKETY BRIDGE SAUVIGNON BLANC thinking it would go well with the fish dish.  We opted for the Rickety over the other options because it was a reserve.  Unfortunately there were no descriptions on the wine menu and we realised within the first sip that it is obviously a wooded Sav B, making it quite a bit heavier than what we were expecting to enjoy with our fish.  Personally I wouldn't choose it again, it was complimented very well by the fish and the duck dishes, but I wouldn't drink a glass by itself.  It borders on Chardonnay flavours with the rich wood flavours, if paired well it will be lovely!

The food was amazing!!  The blackboard menu changes all the time, but the kabeljou pasta was the best fish I have ever tasted, melted in your mouth fish with beautiful flavours.  And the duck with the ginger and orange sauce was also fantastic.

Last stop - the Caltex for an ice-cream!

I think I quite like the idea of progressive dinner date nights...


BRAMPTON WINE STUDIO
11 Church Street, Stellenbosch
Tel: +27 21 883 9097
 
CAFE DES ARTS
7 Reservoir Street, Franschhoek (behind the FNB)
Tel: +27 21 876 2952
 

Wine with dinner - Leopard's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon

DATE NIGHT - we headed to NOOP restaurant in Paarl Main Street, well known for a great atmosphere and excellent food.

I had the most delicious Slow roasted deboned lamb neck stuff with cranberries & feta, sweet potato risotto, Merlot jus & baby vegetables - is your mouth watering?  It was amazing - I love lamb!  And all the flavour combinations together... after watching too much Masterchef, I can say it was perfectly balanced, textured and DE-licious! 

My husband's rib-eye was excellent as well, melt-in-your-mouth tender.  So too was the West Coast Crayfish bisque we shared as a starter, silky seafood flavours - tastes like more! 

All of our food choices worked superbly well with the bottle of Leopard's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 we took with us.  My husband coaches a bit of school boy rugby on the side and their team managed to have a great season this year.  So either for this reason, or a great group of parents to his team, he has received quite a few bottles of wine recently in thanks.  This was one such bottle.


Given the quality of the wine, we were guessing the price to be around R100 - R120 and found out later it is in fact more in the region of R45.  Impressive.  A rich, dark red wine with your typical mocha cigar flavours but a smoothness I couldn't quite put my finger on until I read the tasting notes.  Toffee undertones, perfectly describe the smoothness of this Cab Sav's palate, behind the dark berry and mocha flavours.  A very enjoyable red wine at a very reasonable price.  They say it can spend more time in the bottle, but being a 2011 vintage it has already, so anytime from now is a good time to enjoy it.

I know the farm revamped their tasting room and restaurant at the beginning of the year, but we are yet to get there.  I here the restaurant is usually quite full, so book in advance.  I also love their "leaping leopard" statue that hovers across the grass and over the entrance to the farm in Franschhoek.  We will have to pay them a visit sometime and taste a few more of their wines.

LEOPARD'S LEAP FAMILY VINEYARDS
R45, Main Road Franschhoek
Tel: +27 21 876 8002
Latitude 33° 52’58.8″ Longitude 19°04’50″

NOOP
127 Main Road Paarl
Tel: +27 21 863 3925

Wine with dinner - Under Oaks

With no food in the house and a few matters to discuss, we thought pizza and wine would be the perfect solution!
 
Under Oaks is a lovely little wine farm just outside Paarl with a Pizzeria open until about 9pm in the evenings.  It is the most beautiful farm, when it is not too cold you can sit at the tables outside under the huge oak trees and enjoy the view of the dam, mountains and cows nearby.
It's your typical homestyle / family Italian restaurant with a simple menu, red & white checked table clothes and of course their own Under Oaks wines.


The walls are lined with artwork from the well known Frans Groenewald - Love his stuff, it's definitely going to feature on my wine cellar walls one day, when I'm big! They are such fun, quirky pieces with a play on wine & food words and characters.
Check out more of his work on his website - www.vespaghetti.co.za





The cows were right up at the entrance to greet us when we walked in.  We started with a Garlic Foccacia and a bottle of the Shiraz Reserve 2010.  The pizzas are always fantastic and we usually have a Sav B or Chenin, but given the chill in the winter air we opted for a red. 
What a great wine, so smooth, quite dark in colour (although that could have been the lighting).  Like the tasting notes say, a rich berry flavour with a long smooth finish - spot on!  A great wine, even better with our pizzas.

Their other wines are also very enjoyable, reasonably priced and definitely above your average easy drinking wines.
The three leaves on the label represent the Oak trees under which the vineyards lie, the vine for the grapes and the cork which brings the hand picked, carefully crafted boutique wines altogether.



Of course you can't go home without dessert and you have to have Italian kisses at a restaurant like this - nougat ice-cream with a chocolate shell was our choice - yum yum yum!

Great wine, delicious pizza and a lovely chilled out dinner.  A local favourite!



























UNDER OAKS
Through Paarl Main Road and out the other side for about 4kms, it will be on the right
S33°’ 40′ 40″ E018°’ 56′ 24″
TEL: +27 21 869 8045

Wine with dinner - Windmeul Cape Blend Reserve

 
 Just an ordinary sun filled Wednesday in the middle of the Cape winter and so what better excuse could you have for a braai and great bottle of wine?
With 10% discount at the Windmeul market on Saturday of course we were going to get a Reserve bottle for our friend's birthday (and one for the rack). 
One of the reasons we liked the wine was the number of awards stickers all over the bottle and the reasonable price considering it is a reserve with so many awards. And well deserved awards at that!  Just look at all those stickers.

Our braai guests had the choice of any bottle on the rack and settled for the Windmeul Reserve Cape Blend.  So, a Cape Blend by in general is a red blend with a significant percentage of Pinotage in the blend.  Pinotage being a varietal founded and bred in South Africa, a cross between a Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (Hermitage).  The blends are usually similar to a Bordeaux style with the exception of the Pinotage which adds more berry flavours to the blend and less spice from the Cab Sav.
A blend we can be proud of here in the Cape!

We will definitely be getting a few more bottles for the wine rack at the market next month.

My other half's notes in the little black book...

WINE:  Windmeul Reserve Cape Blend
VINTAGE: 2009
PRODUCER:  Windmeul Cellar 
REGION & COUNTRY: Agter Paarl, Western Cape
GRAPE VARIETY:  Cape Blend - 60% Pinotage, 30% Cab Sav, 5% Merlot, 5% Tannat
BOUGHT: The Market at Windmeul, first Saturday of every month
PLACE TASTED: At home


APPEARANCE:A dark red, almost purple colour.
NOSE: Earthy and fruity. Coffee beans.
TASTE: It has the smoothness of a blend, it is fruity with an edge and not too earthy. It has a subtle coffee flavour when you are drinking it, but none of the bitterness.
FINISH:A slight dark chocolate, like 85% Lindt dark chocolate finish. A smooth and soft finish.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Excellent! It is actually quite reasonably priced considering
OVERALL VALUE: Exceptionally well priced for a fantastic uniquely Cape blend.


A fantastic wine which complimented our lamb ribs and roasted vegetables beautifully!


WINDMEUL WINERY
+27 21 869 8043
Off the N1 onto the R44 towards Wellington
Latitude:-33.671667 Longitude: 18.910278

Wine with dinner - Diemersfontein Pinotage

Another occasion and another great bottle of wine!

 The wine was actually one of my birthday presents, a gift box containing one Pinotage and one Carpe Diem Pinotage Reserve.  Seeing as we were eating a gourmet meal of KFC, we opted for the Pinotage and decided to save the Reserve for something a little more sophisticated.  (We ate first and then enjoyed the wine, so as to not tarnish any flavours - obviously!).


Diemersfontein is well known for being one of the first  (if not THE first) coffee / chocolate Pinotages.
Just to check how "coffee" the coffee hints are, we compared the smells of the wine to a bag of ground beans from our local roastery (Bean in Love, Main Street, Paarl).  While you can smell the coffee, the nose of the wine is softened by the berry aromas and is definitely not as harsh or bitter as the ground coffee.

We also tested the difference an aerator (an awesome, very smart gift from my sister) made on the taste of the wine.  My other half tasted both glasses without knowing which had been poured through the aerator and commented that one (the aerated one) tasted significantly better, less heavy, like it had breathed.  Interesting, so breathing does make a difference to your wines.
 

A most delicious wine, thoroughly enjoyed!

Our wine notes...

WINE:  Diemersfontein Pinotage
VINTAGE: 2012
PRODUCER:  Diemersfontein 
REGION & COUNTRY: Wellington, Western Cape
GRAPE VARIETY:  PinotageBOUGHT: At the farm
PLACE TASTED: A birthday present paired with an anniversary celebration.  Enjoyed at home with a gourmet meal of KFC and some homemade bread (Nigella style).


APPEARANCE: A dark red, almost purple colour.
NOSE:  Earthy and fruity.  Coffee beans.
TASTE:  It has the smoothness of a blend, it is fruity with an edge and not too earthy.  It has a subtle coffee flavour when you are drinking it, but none of the bitterness.
FINISH: A slight dark chocolate, like 85% Lindt dark chocolate finish.  A smooth and soft finish. 
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Excellent! It is actually quite reasonably priced considering the quality.  There is a reason this wine is so well known, it is definitely the best Pinotage we have had, in a league of its own. (And it won't break the bank).  A well rounded delicious wine!
OVERALL VALUE: 4 out of 5




Bottle Quote:
"The original coffee chocolate Pinotage in its 12th Vintage - It befriends, it converts, it seduces!"


Diemersfontein Wine Estate
The farm is along the R301 between Paarl and Wellington, on the right hand side.
WGS84: S 33 39 33.7 E 19 00 15.8Tel: +27 21 864 5050
 

Mother's Day Food & Wine Pairing

 - WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA AND AMAZING EVENING!!


In order to fit all the moms, grandmoms, mom-in-laws and their schedules in we ended up with one of the Mother's Day celebrations being on the Friday night.  My sister-in-law came up with the brilliant idea of having a food & wine pairing.  Brilliant, I thought, until I received the e-mail listing 11 different pairings highlighting 5 of which were my responsibility!!  Never to back down from a cooking and wine challenge I researched all the recipes I needed, sent my other half to get those wines that we couldn't find on our rack, donned my apron and got stuck in under masterchef time restrictions (after traffic and the shops, to be ready by 7pm)!

 

Everything turned out very impressive, we even had individual plates/tiles to serve each canape on, the table was beautifully decorated, the food was all delicious and quite gourmet if I do say, the wines were most appropriately paired and the time seemed to just disappear before we realised it was well past 1am and we should probably get some shut eye.



No wine notes tonight (that would be rude), but a snippet of the pairing menu below and a few photos of the canapes we were most proud of.




MOTHER'S DAY PAIRING MENU
 
1. Bruchetta with goats cheese and roasted aubergine paired with Windmeul Sauvignon Blanc.

 

2. Chicken Curry on a sweetcorn blini paired with Tulbagh Winery Colombard.



  3. Avocado Ritz on Choux Pastry paired with Creation Chardonnay.

4. Salmon roulade with potato crisps and apple mousse with Darling Reserve Chenin blanc.


5. Wild mushroom and pesto tart with Tulbagh Winery Pinotage/Shiraz.

6. Butternut soup with Barefoot Merlot.

  7. Thinly sliced beef with Balsamic reduction and beetrootmicroleaves with Windmeul Cabarnet Sauvignon


   8. Lamb Riblette with Tamato Chilli Jam and   Porcupine Ridge Syrah.

   9. Pear & Chocolate Cake dessert (Tart Belle Helene - http://tuis.co.za/nuus/bon-appetit/) with Windmeul white muscadel.



 

 10. Chocolate truffles and rose nougat with with Laborie Rose MCC.

11. and last but not least 15 year old KWV served with ginger nougat.





Honestly, the food was amazing and so well paired with each of the wines. It seemed like a bit of an effort, but what a fantastic idea and evening. We will definitely be doing this again,perhaps next time with not as many pairings.







Truffles and MCC



Chocolate and Pear Tart




 



Wine with dinner - Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc

We had a few "Cupcake & Cocktail" evenings which were just an excuse for the girls to get together.  Having said this we actually managed to make some pretty impressive cocktails and as you can see, all kinds of creative talent came out in the cupcake decorating!

This wine was brought by one of the girls thinking the name was spot on, but we didn't actually get around to pairing it with one of the cupcakes it was rather enjoyed on another night of girls watching "So you think you can dance". 

My wine notes...

WINE:  Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc
VINTAGE:  2011
PRODUCER:  Cupcake Vineyards, California, USA
REGION & COUNTRY: Marlborough Valley, New Zealand
GRAPE VARIETY:  Sauvignon Blanc
PLACE TASTED:  A friend's house while watching So you think you can Dance with the girls.

APPEARANCE:  A fresh yellow hue, enhanced somewhat by the yellow border on the label.
NOSE:  Fruity, like citrus fruits, your oranges and lemons.
TASTE:  Very crisp and almost creamy, like a lemon chiffon cake.  It would go excellently with a victoria sponge. 
FINISH:  A lovely smooth finish, not tart at all, quite light actually.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: A delicious, excellent Sauvignon Blanc.
OVERALL VALUE:  4 out of 5

Perhaps a lemon chiffon cupcake or a victoria sponge with peaches would go well with this Sav Blanc. 

See one of my previous posts for more information about Cupcake Vineyards - Wine with dinner Cupcake Red Velvet.

Wine with dinner - Juno's Pizza & Wine Special

 - TUESDAY NIGHTS - R65 FOR A PIZZA AND A GLASS OF WINE!


Juno's wine bar and art gallery is in Paarl.  Even though it is on the Main Street, you somehow feel like you are in the courtyard of the Manor house at a wine farm.  With a short hedge closing in the gravel garden, wooden tables, chairs and barrels under big outdoor umbrellas it really has an awesome vibe. 


The owner is an artist and her work is on display as well as seen in all the Juno branding.  There are lovely aprons, canvases, magnets and all sorts portraying the "Juno Ladies", which are available for purchase.  Being a deli too, there are fresh artisan breads and pastries available all day.

Open all day for wine tastings or simply a glass of wine or beer.  They have their own brand of Juno wines available and Craft beers as well as a great breakfast and lunch menu.  They are usually don't stay open very late in the evenings except on Tuesday when they have their pizza & wine special.  The pizzas are served on wooden squares and are delicious!  The toppings change each from week to week and there are only two different pizzas to choose from.  We are there more often than not and most definitely recommend getting one of each and going halvies...  The combination of flavours is always delicious and there is such a great atmosphere.
 
Definitely a local favourite, we have spent many a Tuesday pizza evening, Friday evening and even Saturday morning (amongst the cyclists) for breakfast at Juno's!

Wine with dinner - Cono Sur, Alamos, Catena

From time to time I get a friend to fill out the tasting details of a wine in my Little Black Book just to get some interesting descriptions and opinions going, and of course be a reminder of the times spent with them. 

A bunch of us organised a cheese and wine evening so we could sit down together and watch the Olympic Games opening ceremony (replayed obviously with the Caribbean time difference).  What an amazing spread of cheese and preserves we ended up having, with some homemade rosemary flatbread (Nigella's Domestic Goddess cookbook fail proof recipe!).  A lovely evening!

Some friends' wine notes below...

MIGNON

WINE:  Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc (Organic)
VINTAGE: 2012
PRICE:  CI$13
PRODUCER:  Vino Cono Sur S.A
REGION & COUNTRY:  Santiago, Chile
RECOMMENDED BY:  Mignon
PLACE BOUGHT:  Premier, Cayman
PLACE TASTED:  Grapetree Cheese & Wine evening

APPEARANCE:  Nice bottle & label, plain and stylish.  A greenish tinge to the wine.
NOSE:  Citric
TASTE: Easy drinking
FINISH:  Defined taste with a light finish.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Fan-tas-tic!  Great evening!  The wine went very well with the Brie Cheese!
OVERALL VALUE:  5 out of 5

ANDREA

WINE:  Alamos Pinot Noir
VINTAGE: 2012
PRICE:  KYD$ 12.15
PRODUCER:  Alamos
REGION & COUNTRY:  Mendoza, Argentina
RECOMMENDED BY:  Andrea
PLACE BOUGHT:  Blackbeards
PLACE TASTED:  Grapetree.  Watching the London 2012 open ceremony with the girls
 
APPEARANCE:  Light red, bordering on pink
NOSE:  Sweet, coffee
TASTE:  Delicious, light, smooth
FINISH:  Coffee, light red wine, easy drinking
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Easy drinking.  So much fun watching the Olympics with great red wine and cheese! 
OVERALL VALUE:  4 out of 5

ALICIA

WINE:  Catena Cabernet Sauvignon
VINTAGE: 2008
PRICE:  Can't remember
PRODUCER:  Bodega Catena Zapata
REGION & COUNTRY: Mendoza, Argentina
RECOMMENDED BY:  Alicia
PLACE BOUGHT:  Cayman Islands
PLACE TASTED:  Cheese & wine evening at my house

APPEARANCE:  Red, sign of brilliance
NOSE:  Currant
TASTE:  Lovely and smooth (for a non SA wine)
FINISH:  Aromatic
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Mixed with great company, what else but lovely! 
OVERALL VALUE: 4 out of 5


Everyone seemed to have an awesome evening!  I think its time to organise another one of these evenings...

Wine with dinner - Groot Eiland

I have an array of cookbooks at home and decided I should start putting some of them to use.  So I started with Jamie's 30 minute meals and whipped up the Beef Hash, Baked Potatoes, Butter beans & Bacon and goddess salad.  All of which I am glad to say come out pretty darn well, with not too much effort and not much longer than 30 minutes - delicious wholesome food!!
Because the evening marked a special occasion we opened a bottle of RED to celebrate and compliment our delicious dinner.

My wine notes below...

WINE:  Groot Eiland
PRICE:  This bottle we received as a gift
REGION & COUNTRY:  Breedekloof, South Africa
GRAPE VARIETY:  Cabernet Sauvignon
RECOMMENDED BY:   My other half received this wine as a gift at a rugby tournament
PLACE TASTED:  At Home.  Having a quiet celebration.

APPEARANCE:  Dark red, almost dark purple colour
NOSE: Earthy, with a limited dark berry smell.  Quite a tart smell that tingles the nose.
TASTE:  Definitely medium bodied.  Quite earthy, slightly wooded and a good mix of dark fruit flavours.  Definitely warms the throat on a cold night.
FINISH:  Very smooth.  A dry finish, but somehow fruity as well.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: An above average Cab Sauv, very very nice!  Very nice balance of fruit and tannins.   Lovely wine, we'll have to look out for other wines from this farm.
OVERALL VALUE: 4 out 5

Wine with dinner - Cono Sur Merlot

We used a voucher from a friend to go for a sunset sail around they bay, bidding farewell to the cruise ships, and then headed to one of the more touristy restaurants on the island, Deckers, for a light snack and a drink.  It was one of my favourites restaurants with a local Caribbean band playing, very nicely decorated, 2 feet tall walls lined with tropical plants and that slightly dimmed lighting to set the mood.  You really got the fully relaxed Caribbean holiday feeling there with great food and music.  We sat at the bar and couldn't decide what to order, so the bartender offered us a taster of a Sonoma Zinfandel which I did not think was that great.  In general I find American wines lack a bit of depth, they are often the more easier drinking wines.  So we scanned the wine list and opted for a Chilean varietal instead.

My wine notes...

WINE:  Cono Sur Merlot
VINTAGE:  2007
PRICE:  $49 (KYD) (The price you pay for wanting to be a tourist for an evening)
PRODUCER:  Cono Sur, a limited edition wine this, with only 20 barrels produced
REGION & COUNTRY: Colchagua Valley, Chile
PLACE TASTED: Deckers Restaurant, Cayman Islands

APPEARANCE:  Dark and rich in colour
NOSE:  Berries, with a sharpness
TASTE:  Velvety and full bodied, a lovely hint of chocolate mocha amongst the berries
FINISH:  Quite a dry finish and defined structure in this wine
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Very very nice wine and a great evening.
OVERALL VALUE:  3 out of 5 (It lost some points for being too pricey in the restaurant, it is actually quite reasonably priced in the store).

We actually enjoyed some of the Cono Sur Bubbly at a work function, a Wimbledon themed tennis tournament, which was most enjoyable as well.  As mentioned in a previous post we've tasted the Sauv B too which was very good.  I would definitely like to take a turn past this farm in Chile, if I am ever in the region.  Great wines!

Wine with dinner - Primitivo & Chenin Blanc

Bon Vivant, a kitchen store on the island, had cooking classes from time to time.  Sushi making and champagne tasting, Canape making lessons, Mediterranean platter ideas etc.  We signed up for the pizza making and wine evening.  It was fantastic, we had to make our own dough in groups of four and then split the dough to roll out a pizza base each.  While the dough was rising Chef Lloyd then demonstrated how to make your own homemade tomato sauce to use as the base on the pizza.  Also while waiting for the dough to rise, the wine rep, who had made a concerted effort to seek out and find suitable wines to pair with our homemade pizzas, poured us each a glass of WHITE. He asked for our comments and thoughts around the flavours, what varietal we thought it was and which region in the world we thought had been produced it - the questions made for some interesting conversation, a great idea for wine club.
Once rolling out our pizza bases and lathering them in tomato sauce we topped them with our personal preferences from the array of choices, roast chicken, brie cheese, parma ham, rocket, caramelised onions and more.  Again, interesting to see all the different combinations that people come up with.
While the pizzas were in the oven cooking our wine rep filled our glasses with a RED wine and continued with the same discussions and questions posed regarding the WHITE.

Once revealing all the answers to us we were allowed to continue drinking our preferred of the two wines together with our homemade pizzas.  Chef Lloyd also quickly whipped up a tiramisu for us for dessert. 
What a fantastic evening, and who knew homemade pizzas are actually not that difficult to make.  A great way of combining interactive cooking lessons with wine tastings.

My wine notes below...
(Bearing in mind most of the opinions were noted prior to knowing any information about the wine or even seeing the label.  So none of our notes could be swayed by the "typical" characteristics of a wine.)

WHITE
WINE:  Spice Route Chenin Blanc
VINTAGE: 2009
PRODUCER:  Spice Route
REGION & COUNTRY:  Swartland, South Africa
RECOMMENDED BY:  Blackbeards wine sommelier
PLACE TASTED:  Bon Vivant pizza making class.  Delicious pizzas with awesome Chef Lloyd

APPEARANCE:  More golden than a Sav B, but not as dark as a Chard.
NOSE:  Fruity like pears and baked apples, a hint of cloves in the nose too.
TASTE:  Delicious
FINISH:  Smooth and easy drinking
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Light and crisp, a GREAT white wine.  I chose to have this rather than the RED with my pizza.
OVERALL VALUE:   5 out of 5

RED
WINE:  Primitivo (the same grape as a RED Zinfandel)
VINTAGE: 2010
REGION & COUNTRY:  Italy
RECOMMENDED BY:  Blackbeards wine sommelier who mentioned it is a good pizza wine
PLACE TASTED:   With pizza at our cooking class
 
APPEARANCE:  A rich RED colour, not your dark and thick hue.
NOSE:  Slightly spicy, a bit of cherry
TASTE:  Buttery and fruity with a slight spice.  It tastes like it needs to sit for a year or two.
FINISH:  A bit watery, not a lot of tannins
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  A bit too Pinot-Noir-ish & Cote du Rhone-ish for me.  Not as "whole" as a Cab Sav or Merlot.  Having said that some of those in the class who were more familiar with American wines seemed to enjoy it quite a lot, as well as those who had travelled to France and enjoyed a genuine Cote-du-Rhone.
OVERALL VALUE:  3 out of 5

We actually wanted to look up the Spice Route farm when returning home to South Africa  after we enjoyed this wine and evening so much.  We thought we would need to make a trip up the West Coast into the Swartland, but in fact, while the grapes are all grown there the farm and tasting room are actually based just outside Paarl.  This farm is definitely one of our favourites with the beautiful views and number of different activities available.  My notes from our numerous visits have been documented in another post.

Wine with dinner - Cupcake Red Velvet

For those times when a delicious bottle of wine is bestowed upon us, or we find a gem at a local store and make an effort to cook a complimenting dinner, I've added some short post of times spent and notes made in my 'little black book of wine tasting'.  The layout here is the same as that of my Little Black Book, short and simple so more time can be spent enjoying the company you are with.

I spent time living in the Caribbean where you can find the odd South African wine and the more expensive European wines, but the USA and South American wines are much more reasonable (having to not travel as far) and have a wider selection of wines available in the local stores.  So, some of these notes may include foreign wines.

My wine notes below...

WINE:  Cupcake Red Velvet
PRICE:  $14 (KYD)
REGION & COUNTRY:  California, USA
GRAPE VARIETY:  Blend - Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah.
RECOMMENDED BY:  Ourselves after perusing the shelves and seeing their unique name and branding.
PLACE BOUGHT:  Big Daddy's
PLACE TASTED:  At Home.  On the beach watching the sunset before enjoying some homemade chicken pie.  I may have thrown a splash of wine into the sauce of the pie for some added flavour - delicious!

APPEARANCE: A dark hue, a very full reddish purple colour.
NOSE: Rich and fruity with a hint of coffee
TASTE:  Quite similar to a Pinotage with the berry flavours and chocolate mocha finish
FINISH:  Smooth.  Very nice!
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Definitely one of the better USA wines we have tasted.  I would definitely like to try it again together with a big slice of home made Red Velvet Cake.
OVERALL VALUE: 4 out 5

There is actually a great range of Cupcake wines.  The farm and vineyards are in California where a number of the wines are created.  The winemaker does however travel the world collaborating with other winemakers in Argentina, Australia, France and Italy to name a few, to develop wines.  The Merlot for example comes from Australia's Barossa Valley region and the Riesling from Mosel Valley, Germany. 

I think it would be awesome to have a wine and cupcake pairing evening with a number of these wines for tasting.  There are a whole host of cupcake flavours you could play with from chocolate and mocha to berries and citrus - yum yum yum!