Haute Cabrière

We had a fantastic time at the Bastille Festival this weekend. Blue, white and red ribbons were all over Franschhoek. As you walked down the main road you could feast on food and drinks that were supplied by all the shops, bars and restaurants on the strip. The majority of the people were dressed up in the French colours and wore cute berets. Something that was also prominent was the security that was present all over Franschhoek. This created a safe atmosphere as we all know the horrors of pick pocketing that occur as some of these events.

There was also a market you could browse at. Apparently the Franschoek Village Market is there every Saturday from 09:00-14:00. I was impressed by the variety as well as the prices of the produce.  You can buy a large piece of cheesecake for only R20.

We decided not to go the festival wine tent but to visit a wine farm and then soak up the atmosphere in town.

We visited Haute Cabrière and wow I was impressed. I regularly drove past the hobbit house looking cellar and was always intrigued . The weather on Saturday was perfect so we sat outside on the lawn to soak up the sun and the beautiful view.

Let the tasting begin!

Our host Luvuyo was extremely charming and hosted a great tasting experience. There are three tasting options to consider that are R20, R30 or R40.

We went for the "Classic tasting" which was 6 wines for R30.


Now all the MCC's are named after the original founder of Haute Cabrière, Pierre Jourdan. The still wines are named after the property. Haute Cabrière was the first place in South Africa to produce wine according to the correct methode cap classique style. All their wines are produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir cultivars.

Our charming host Luvuyo!

We started with the Pierre Jourdan Brut(R110). Now this is one of my favourite alcoholic beverages to drink. If it was possible I would request and IV infusion of this every Saturday :). It provides you with a refreshing and crisp explosion in your mouth. I bought a bottle which will be enjoyed next weekend! Can't wait!

Pierre Jourdan Brut

Next was the Pierre Jourdan Rose(R120). It's made with 100% Pinot Noir cultivar and has a beautiful blush colour and fruity taste. Not as refreshing as the Brut.

Pierre Jourdan Rose

We were very impressed with the Pierre Jourdan Tranquille(R55). This is a very 'dangerous' wine as you can easily finish a bottle on your own. It's a fresh and crisp white wine that will pair perfectly with light salads or seafood.

The other three we tasted were the Chardonnay Pinot Noir(R85), Unwooded Pinot Noir(R85) and Pierre Jordan Ratafia(R85). As a group we preferred the unwooded Pinot Noir over the Chardonnay Pinot noir. The Ratafia is a 'sweet wine' that would definitely warm you up during these cold winter evenings.


The tasting experience at Haute Cabrière is one I would return to. I have done a lot of wine tastings and always enjoy them but rarely I say that I want to return. Haute Cabrière is an exception as they offer a comfortable environment, excellent wine tasting hosts and a beautiful view. Even the parking guard was very charming. A great thing about Haute Cabrière is their education center where they ensure a prosperous future for their employees' children. It's overseen by a qualified teacher and children of school going age can do their homework here in the afternoon while the small kiddies come for day care. I take my hat off to an establishment that goes the extra mile for their employees!

Wine and food pairing wheel

Dining at their adjacent restaurant is also on my bucket list. They also offer cellar tours Monday to Friday from 11:00-15:00 and if you visit on a Saturday you can enjoy the cellerman's tour at 11:00.


Were you at the Bastille Festival? What wines or places stood out for you??

Cheers!

 

Visit them at the beginning of the Franschhoek Pass (R45)
Contact them at 021 876 3688 or restaurant@cabriere.co.za
For more information visit their website
Tweet them @HauteCabriere
Like them on Facebook

Take note: Haute Cabriere Restaurant is closed from 14th July- 5th August for their winter break.

Flocktober Festival in Stanford

If you are in the Hermanus/Stanford area early in October be sure to pay this festival a visit

 

 

For more information visit their Facebook-page

Hermanus Markets

Saturdays in Hermanus can be enjoyed by visiting two very different markets. I recently decided to visit both in one day to see which one I prefer. Both markets start at 09:00 in the morning.

Hermanus Country Market

This was my favourite market of the day! The market has a great variety of fresh produce, food, coffee and drinks to satisfy all taste buds as well as some pretty goods to buy.

My favourite shopping stall was Helen Silverware Jewellery. All the jewellery are made out of antique spoons. They are not as tacky as those forks you see everywhere that people wear as bangles. These jewellery pieces are extremely well transformed from its original use to great rings. I did not realise at first that the rings were made from spoons. For more information and pictures visit her Facebook-page .

My favourite food stall was where we had the best breakfast for only R35. Two pieces of French toast topped with bacon, rocket, green figs and camembert! Delishes! I still want to replicate this at home. This market really is affordable with most food choices being less than R40.

This for only R35

Enjoying my surroundings and a very great cup of coffee

The market is also great to stock up with some gourmet sausages made by Sanity Farm that you can serve as a o'dourve at a braai. Think of sausages fill with ingredients such as blue cheese, cranberries and almonds.  Invest in some sweet treats or fresh loaves of bread for late Saturday afternoon.

Hermanus Country Market attracted all shapes and sizes. Children played on the jungle gym and loads of doggies were around to play with each other. There's enough seating to accommodate everyone and Piano Ben, a popular artist in Hermanus, was the entertainment of the morning.

Market was bustling with loads of people

This market really made me feel relaxed and was a perfect start to a lazy Saturday morning.

If you come a bit later to catch an early lunch you can do a wine-tasting from some of the local cellars that are there as well and enjoy some craft beers.

Raka wines was one of the local cellars visiting

Food ranges from Mexican to Polish cuisine. Something I did not expect from a "country market".

Mexican breakfast of tortilla topped with scrambled eggs, sour cream and avo and tomato salsa

Polish baguette of cheese and bacon

The market is open until 13:00 and during season time in December they also open on Wednesday evenings!

Locate the market next to the Hermanus Cricketfield!
Open during the summer months from 08:00 -12:00 and during the winter months from 09:00-13:00

For more information regarding the market and its traders...
Like them on Facebook
Follow them @HermanusMarket
Visit their website


Hermanus Pietersfontein Market

Now this market was more for the refined crowd. I did not feel as at home here as at the country market but they also have great food and wine to be enjoyed.

The seating here are long tables. People were not to happy to share so you would sometimes find three people sitting at a large table. In the end we got some seating and tried some sweet treats and dim sum. My only regret for the day was the dim sum. What you receive and what you pay for did not add up and the filling of the dim sum was very meagre.

Something I do looked forward to trying the next time I visit is the chauceterie platter. During a beautiful day underneath the umbrellas this will go perfectly with some bottles of wine and a group of friends or family. Here they also have sushi, perlemoen, pizza and baked goods.

Delicious custard cake for only R15

This stall had delicious brownies

Freshly baked bread

The options at this market are more limited but exclusive. Nothing at this market is repeated at the Hermanus Country market. Quality of all the produce are excellent!

Hermanuspietersfontein is the only wine here as they host the market and is available by the glass or bottle. We refilled our glasses a few times. They have a great variety of wines and the lovely gentleman that worked there the morning we visited had a great charm to him and explained the wines to us in great detail. When the market ends be sure to head to their wine shop to indulge in some more wine-tasting!

If you plan to visit both markets I would first start at the country market and then move over to the Hermanus Pietersfontein Market. Both are a real treat!

Located at the Hemel and Aarde village at the Hermanus Pietersfontein Winery and cellar
Open every Saturday 09:00 - 13:00
Visit their website for more information


During the coming long weekend you can enjoy the Hermanus Wine and Food Festival at the Hemel and Aarde Village. Tickets are R120 at computicket. The festival is the 9th and 10th of August. It starts at 11:00 and runs until 19:00. More than 250 wines will be there for you to taste and local chefs will be there to spoil you with delicious food!

Good Food and wine experience

So my visit to the Good Food and Wine show this year was just as successful as last year. I was pleased to see on all the social networks this year how the popularity of this festival has increased. Cant wait to see what's happening next year.
My highlights of the festival were...


Original Iced Cocktails

This brand first of all had the nicest staff. A smile really is a game-changer. This stall was extremely popular at the show as they had those vuvuzela type glasses filled with cocktails to the brim. Everywhere we went you could hear people enquiring from each other, " Where is the stand with the big glasses!!" When I arrived Sunday they only had 100 glasses left as the Saturday they sold thousands.

 Now in December last year I bought some premix cocktails in a box for New Years. I won't name and shame a brand as it's not my style, but honestly I could just as well have taken my mouthwash along to the party as it tasted disgusting.

 When I had the opportunity to visit Original Ice cocktails I was weary because won't I have the same experience again? Luckily not! I sampled the Daiquiri and Mojito. Now the Strawberry Daiquiri tasted just like a cocktail a bar would serve you but it comes out of a packet! Can you believe it? It was delicious. I gulped down my glass so fast that I almost had to take a time out at the festival.

 Now the tricky one was the Mojito as this is the one cocktail most people easily get wrong. Lucky for me Original Ice delivered again and it tasted delicious.

Other cocktails they offer are Singapore sling, Margarita, Pina-colada and Cosmopolitan. They sell them in 300ml sachets for R18-22 and in big 2L boxes for R70-R75.


These cocktails are easy to make. You pop the sachet or box into the freezer a few hours before usage, take them out and shake them around and bit and voila you can serve up cocktails in the comfort of your home without breaking the bank!


To celebrate my 10 000 page view I will be giving away some of these delicious beverages so keep an eye open for the launch of the competition.


Original ice cocktails are available in most liquor stores and they will also be at the Durban and Johannesburg Good Food and Wins show as well at the Pride festival in Durban.

Like them on Facebook
Follow them on twitter @Original_Iced
Check out their website

 

Spar wine and canapé pairing

Now wine and food pairing is the new "it thing" in the foodie scene. I knew that this was one exhibition I would not miss and even waited for 40 minutes to make sure I secure a place. We were hosted buy a chef and sommelier. They took as through all the motions of how to do a pairing.

1. Smell your wine. They encouraged us to smell like we were glue-addicts.
2. Swirl your wine. Observe the line the wine makes on the side of the glass. This indicates the alcohol content of a wine and the more alcohol that is present in the wine the longer it will take for the line to disappear.
3. Taste the wine. Observe the acidity and flavours that you taste.
4. Taste the food. Yummy :)
5. Taste the wine again and see how this influences the original taste of the wine. Sometimes it will be more or less acidic or new flavours you previously did not taste will emerge.

We paired most of our canapés with Spar's Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and it was awesome to experience the influence food and wine has on each other.

 

Eric Lanlard  and Isabella from Australia Junior Masterchef

Myself and the flatmate were very tempted to partake in the kiddies baking session with Isabella. Luckily we did not embarrass ourselves and only observed at a distance as we made a game plan for next year to hire kids so that our enthusiasm will not be mistaken for anything illegal :)


We also observed Eric Lanlard at the Isabelina exhibition where he was busy creating a delicious chocolate cake. He was very entertaining and funny as he tried to say some Afrikaans words and explain egg sizes as in South-Africa our large eggs are equivalent to the UK's medium eggs!



Thank you to Lucy at Wonderland Collective for organising our tickets! What a treat it was :)




What was some of your highlights at the Good Food and wine show???

Good food and wine show 2013

If you don't have any plans for the weekend or you do, cancel them, because you must visit the Good Food and Wine Show at the CTICC this weekend. The event is already in full swing from yesterday. Famous chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Eric Lanhard and Isabella and her sister from Australia Junior Masterchef are a few of the Star attractions of the event. The event will be until Sunday.

Some of the highlights to look forward to are

• Checkers celebrity chef theater where tickets prices will differ with each chef that will be performing there. Gordon Ramsay -R250p/p,Bill Granger -R175p/p,Eric Lanlard – R150p/p,Isabella Bliss – R100p/p.
• The South African bar show which is free of entry where all types of alcohol will be on display and open for tasting and purchasing. I'm am especially looking forward to visiting Original Ice Cocktails (@Original_Iced) as there has a been a big buzz around this brand. Be sure to stop by there!
• The Spar wine and canapé theater where you can get your hands dirty and make some beautiful and tasty food free of charge :)
• The Brilliant Baking theater which is also free of charge and where the making of sweet treats will be demonstrated!
• Tafelpraatjies where Afrikaans food and culture will be celebrated. I unfortunately don't know the ticket prices.
• Creative Coffee theater where you can learn how to brew the perfect cup of coffee and be swept away by the beautiful aromas. Free entrance!

Standard Ticket prices are R110 for adults and R55 for children. Additional tickets will have to be purchased to enter some of the "speacial theaters" as I have mentioned above.

Furthermore there are stands for loads of kitchen aplliances and food produce. I got a great deal at Le Creuset last year where I received 25% of my purchase and we got to meet this cool person .....

Masterchef judge Pete :)

 

For more info visit the website of Good Food and Wine show

Buy tickets here
Follow then on twitter @goodfoodSA

Hope I see you there and let me know if you have been there and what awesome things I have to look out for!! :)

Happy weekend to all!

Taste of Cape Town 2013

I can't begin to describe the amount of fun we had at TOCT last night! This is an event that will from now on see me every year.

On arrival I was very jittery. Too much to see, taste, drink and enjoy!!! My first tip would be to get yourself a glass of wine and do a tour of the grounds to see what everyone offers and then prepare the spending of your crowns according to that. These crowns are the currency that's used at the festival. One crown will cost you R5 and you can purchase them all over the festival. Look out for the people with the pink shirts.

So we started with a glass of wine and some sneaky shooter tastings and then headed over to Signal restaurant from The Cape Grace. There we indulged in slow roasted beef short rib, grilled rib eye, goat cheese arincini, miso-roasted sweet corn, pickled beetroot and smoked BBQ jus. The goat cheese arincini was delicious and I especially appreciated how well seasoned everything was.

 

Signal restaurant

 

One thing of the festival you have to remember is that the portion are small but you pay for excellent seasoning and great flavour combinations. The festival really is a treat to your palate and will maybe expose you to food that you wont try everyday.

Then we quickly popped into the Lindt shop. There you can enjoy delicious Lindt hot chocolate (4 crowns), buy Lindt slabs(5 crowns), truffles or Lindt balls (2 for 1 crown)! The Lindt hot chocolate was so rich and chocolaty that a sugar-rush is guaranteed.

Lindt ball heaven

 

Truffles in the making

 

One dish I decided that I had try before we went to the festival was the parmesan and chorizo risotto with rocket, sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes(7 crowns) from 96 Winery. This was my favourite dish of the evening and the biggest portion of the night. The creaminess of the risotto and the dash of salt from the chorizo was heaven!

As you walk through the festival you can explore numerous traders that are also there to sell some products such as pesto's, salad dressings and olive oil. Some of the wine tastings are free and at other you will pay 1 crown. From all the wine stall vendors you can buy glasses or bottles of wine. All the individual wine vendors differ in price.

The boys then visited the free Jack Daniel's whiskey tasting area. I tried to enjoy the whiskey but unfortunately is does not sit right with me so we had some fun with Mr Jack Daniel's himself :)

The Pot Luck Club was one of the pop up restaurants of the festival. As there are 6 sessions during this weekend there will be a different restaurant at each session at the pop up stall. Lucky for us we chose the night The Pot Luck Club was there as this is one of restaurant that is on the top of my 'To do list' that I still want to visit.

We tasted the Pork belly with XO and red cabbage slaw (7 crowns) and the fried chicken (4 crowns). I enjoyed the Asian flavours alot and the pork belly was so tender I could eat it with a spoon.

Pork belly

Pork belly and fried chicken

 

Our taste buds now were on a roll and we strolled to the Asara bistro box. There you get a glass of wine with a burger for 5 crowns or a macaroon for 4 crowns. We enjoyed the mushroom and truffle burger.

The burger and macaroons are each paired with an Asara wine

 

Some live music :)

 

Asara bistro box

 

Mushroom and truffle burger



 After the vast amount of savoury we consumed it was time to treat the sweet taste buds and to our delight my favourite Queen of tarts was there. We enjoyed vanilla cupcakes(3crowns) and the best vanilla cakepops (1crown).

The highlight of the evening however was the wine pairing and canapés making at the Pick and Pay tent. When you get to the festival be sure to go and book yourselves a spot for 3 crowns. You are then treated to 3 glasses of wine and the making of your own canapés under the guidance of a chef. We made a pesto tomato puff pastry tart, seared poppy seed beef skewer and ginger and strawberry cheesecake. If was so much fun to be able to make everything  yourself !

 

Still finishing our Queen of tarts cupcakes and getting ready for the canapés experience

 

Excited :)

 

The Italian making sure everything is flavoured to perfection

 

The cheesecake, beef skewer and pesto and tomato tart

 

Proud chef :)

 

There are still two session today and one session tomorrow. You can find all the info here. Your weekend wont be complete without a visit! Below is the festival menu to convince you!