Lesley Cox | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Yesterday Warwick wine estate launched its new Summer picnics, with a number of changes relative to last year. Earlier this week I was invited to a sneak preview of the changes, and was one of a panel of volunteer blogger tasters (with Nikki Dumas, Lesley Cox, Anel Grobler, Polly Howard, Cathy Marston, Maggie Mostert and Hennie Coetzee) to give feedback about the new picnic. I was critical of the picnic on a first visit last year, and was happy to see a number of improvements on my latest visit.

So what has changed?:

1. There is a new chef in the house! Mark Springhorn has left Vergelegen in Somerset West, to join Mike Ratcliffe and the Warwick team. Given that Chef Bruce Robertson, who designed the original gourmet picnic for Warwick, is on tour so frequently, he no longer is the consultant chef. Chef Mark has built on Bruce’s quirkiness, and added more of a “Spring-feeling” to the picnic.

The quirky picnic “basket”, consisting of a cutting board, a table cloth, a box with the food items, a baguette and the Warwick newspaper, cleverly held together with a handle so that one can carry everything, remains as is. The packaging containing the food is recyclable. The bread is certainly better than I remember it, and comes from Sweet in Stellenbosch. Inside the box is the following:

* Duo of cheeses: Simonsberg camembert and 12 month matured cheddar

* Charcuterie selection, including salami and coppa ham

* Chickpea fritters served with home-made tzatziki – this was the only dish that did not excite me

* Home-made rooibos and oak smoked Chilean salmon served with a buttermilk-dill dressing – oh boy, I have never seen such good looking deep-orange salmon cubes (looking like pumpkin), and with the most wonderful smoked taste – the absolute highlight of the picnic.

* Biltong, mushroom and brandy pate – more brandy and mushroom can now be tasted in this foundation element of the picnic

* Homemade apple, pear and pecan chutney

* Tricolour tower of basil pesto, sun dried tomato puree and hummus

* Honey cashew chicken salad with herb mayonnaise and orange slices – the oranges were a nice colour and taste touch

* Decadent chocolate brownies topped with white chocolate ganache and onto which was sprinkled cranberries and pistachios, incredibly rich, and looking like an early mini-Christmas cake.

* A box of Maynards wine gums.

The tasting panel ummmed and ahhhhed, enjoying all the elements. Chef Mark plans to change an item on the picnic menu every week, testing the customer response and reacting to it as the season goes along. When one books, special dietary requests will be ascertained. Vegetarian and kiddies picnic baskets are available too.

2. The price has stayed the same, costing R 299 for a basket enough for 2 persons. (One can order an extra baguette)

3. To address the congestion in collecting the picnic baskets inside the wine tasting building, a new outdoor picnic collection area has been created, which will also be where Jack Black beer can be bought on tap.

4. To address the issue of staff not checking on guests’ drinks’ requirements well enough in the past, a trolley with “flat tackies” and a bell will be wheeled around the vast Warwick picnic area, containing ice cream, Jack Black beer and Warwick wines.

5. “Picnic pods” have been built around the dam, shielded from the South Easter, with tables that have built-in ice buckets to keep the Warwick wines chilled. They differ in size, and can be booked to accommodate groups of picnickers.

6. The Warwick vineyards are hidden from the picnic area, but can be seen on a Big Five Safari (showing the five vine types grown on the wine estate). Grapes have now been planted close to the picnic area, and also at the entrance to Warwick.

7. A suggestion for Warwick to have a presence on Twitter, in addition to that of Mike Ratcliffe, was implemented the following day (@Warwickchef), demonstrating how responsive Mike and his team are in accepting feedback.

A picnic at Warwick on a gorgeous Winelands summer’s day is an enjoyable family outing, with good food and wine, and lots of safe space for the kids to play on the jungle gym, in the little shallow stream, and to just run around.

POSTSCRIPT 20/5: For winter Warwick has introduced a good value Tapas menu, and I popped in for lunch to try it on my way to Franschhoek today. There was very little happening there, and therefore it was a surprise to not see anyone in the Tasting Room nor in the next door restaurant/shop/picnic counter. I called, but no one responded. Luckily the waitress Vanessa came back inside, and showed me to a table outside – it was such a lovely warm day. A material serviette and excellent quality St James cutlery is brought to the table, and the lack of a tablecloth is a disappointment therefore. She brought a blackboard with the Tapas menu to my table, and the handwriting on it did not reflect the stature of this wine estate. Chef Mark Springhorn was on leave and owner Mike Ratcliffe is travelling overseas, so it was disappointing for me. I chose the Mixed cold plate (R35), which was only ‘mixed’ because it contained two slices each of cold meat (coppa and salami), two blocks of cheese and a sundried tomato relish. It was served with a basket of ciabatta bread, which was wonderful. Other Tapas options are: cheese soufflé, smoked camembert and chef’s soup, each costing R25; sole paupiettes, and chef’s salad, all costing R35; Venison samoosas and denningvleis each cost R 45. Sweet treats cost R25, for Persian love cake, and Brownies. Children are also catered for, with salami pizza, a cupcake that the children can make themselves, and ice cream, at R25 each. I enjoyed the LavAzza cappuccino. One can still enjoy picnics at Warwick, but must pre-book them in winter.

Warwick wine estate, R44, between Klapmuts and Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 884-3144 Twitter: @WarwickChef www.warwickwine.co.za On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com. Twitter: @WhaleCottage

A lively entertaining debate about how opinionated bloggers can be in their blogs about their restaurant experiences was created when well-known food alchemist Pete Goffe-Wood, owner of Wild Woods Restaurant, Eat Out Top 10 restaurant judge, restaurant consultant, and owner of the Kitchen Cowboys cookery school for men addressed the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting at the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School on Thursday.

Goffe-Wood said that he started blogging about a year ago, as an extension to his writing for the Food page in GQ magazine. He does not rely on his Kitchen Cowboy blog to make money, but instead he uses it to express his passion about food, and his opinions about issues relating to the restaurant industry, e.g. pricing of wines, corkage, restaurant reviews. He does not blog every day, but rather when he needs to “vent” his opinion about something that is an issue for him.

It is clear that Goffe-Wood enjoys opinionated bloggers, who do not shy away from expressing their views, and who stand by what they write. Some of his favourite blogs are “Diary of a Food Whore”, “Eat Asia”, as well as “JamieWho”. He singled out attendee Kim Maxwell as a good reviewer, and mentioned the controversy about JP Rossouw’s review of La Mouette. If one critiques a restaurant, one must be able to substantiate the reason for the criticism, he said. A blog that did not carry criticism about restaurants, and that only said good things about good restaurants would not have depth, in his opinion, and would not be a benefit to the restaurant industry.

Goffe-Wood clearly does not like food blogs with recipes, which he disparagingly described as having beautifully styled photographs, but with “inane writing and inane recipes”. He himself would never write about recipes on his blog. He also criticised bloggers who had nothing new to say, and who cut and paste the work of other writers. He discussed the value of blog comments, and felt them to be a beneficial in that they get a discussion going, even if commenters can be harsh in criticising each other. Another question raised was how polite one must be in expressing a negative opinion.

Pieter Ferreira has been making MCC sparkling wines at Graham Beck for the past 20 years, and is called “Pieter Bubbles” by his friends, and writes a blog called “Bubbles on Wine”. His blog grew out of his Tweeting, which he does during his day to day activities on the Graham Beck Robertson and Franschhoek farms. The Tweets become a reminder for him about his experiences during the day, and these he can put into his blog on a later occasion. He likes to put other writers’ interesting stories on his blog, and also to share exceptional experiences at restaurants, or about a special bottle of wine. While his blog is a personal one, he is blogging mainly about Graham Beck brands, and therefore it benefits the wine estate as the blog posts will be found via Google searches.

Ferreira’s bubblies are so outstanding that Nelson Mandela chose Graham Beck Cap Classique for his inauguration. Many years later, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle celebrated their inauguration with the same brand. Ferreira told the story that the cellar at the White House may only stock American wines. The Graham Beck wines are stored in the kitchen, to get around this sacred White House rule. Ferriera brought the Graham Beck Brut Blanc de Blanc, Brut Rose, Coffeestone Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamekeeper Reserve Chenin Blanc for the Bloggers’ Club members to taste.

Due to space constraints at the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School, the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings will be held at a larger venue in future. Please contact Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com to obtain more information about the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com (Photograph by Lesley Cox)