The Sweet Service Award goes to Pick ‘n Pay Camps Bay and its Manager Gavin Grobler, for his assistance in the purchase of a watermelon. The Garden’s Centre branch, which supplies our grocery requirements, did not have watermelons in stock. I called the Camps Bay store, and received prices for whole and cut watermelons. I told him that I would send my housekeeper Teresa to him, to buy a whole watermelon. Gavin was concerned that the watermelon was too heavy for her to carry, and sent one of his staff to carry it back to our guest house for her. I Tweeted a thank you to Gavin and his branch, which message was passed on to him via their head office, resulting in him calling to thank me. This excellent service came from a branch that has had a terrible service reputation in the past, prior to Gavin heading up the branch. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: Teresa
Ken Forrester has Noble Late Harvest down to a ‘T’!
Earlier this week I was one of a group of bloggers and wine writers invited to attend the launch of the 2009 ‘T’ Noble Late Harvest of Ken Forrester Vineyards, on a sunny afternoon on the terrace of the Mount Nelson Hotel, ‘paired’ with the Nellie’s famous High ‘T’!
We were welcomed with a glass of Billecart-Salmon, which is distributed in South Africa by Ken Forrester Vineyards. The latest 2009 ‘T’ vintage, and the celebration of ten years of its production, was presented as a vertical tasting of six ‘T’ vintages, going back as far as 2000. Produced from his Stellenbosch vineyard, Ken Forrester said that they have used ‘fresh’ botrytis grapes from a 32 year old Chenin Blanc bushvine block, which is only 6 km from the Atlantic Ocean, with a moderate and cool climate, and good humidity in winter. It is low-lying, with autumn morning mist, ensuring ideal botrytis conditions. The block is picked eight times or more during the harvest, an aerial photograph technique identifying which pockets of grapes have optimal ripeness. It is a ‘concentrated essence of Chenin Blanc’, reflecting what this grape variety is about, Ken said.
Ken named this noble beverage in honour of his wife Teresa, known to her friends and family as ‘T’, for the first time in 1999, as a gift to her. The bottle shape and design was chosen to resemble a perfume bottle, and was designed by Mark Ransome of Fireworks.
Only the very best botrytis grapes are used to make ‘T’, and the Noble Late Harvest has not been made every year, out of quality considerations. The 2009 ‘T’ has 12% alcohol, while the 2008 had 11%. The older vintages have an alcohol content of 13% or more. The juice was fermented in French oak for 18 months, with peach, apricot, melon and pineapple notes. It is recommended to be drunk with fruit tarts, wild berries, ice cream, and full-bodied cheeses. A 375 ml bottle of the 2009 ‘T’ Noble Late Harvest costs R195.
Ken Forrester is a great story-teller, with a successful career in the hospitality industry, before he ventured into wine-making, and is co-owner with his brother of 96 Winery Road just down the road from his wine farm. He is ‘Mr Chenin Blanc’ in South Africa, and heads up the Chenin Blanc Association, promoting this variety ardently. He is also Chairman of the Stellenbosch American Express Wine Routes.
After the vertical tasting of the 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2001 and 2000 vintages of the ‘T’, we were invited to partake of the Afternoon Tea, and the table was filled with sandwiches, quiches, cakes, flapjacks, macaroons, and a large variety of other sweet treats.
Disclosure: All guests received a gift of a bottle of 2009 ‘T’ Noble Late Harvest.
Ken Forrester Vineyards, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 855-2374. www.kenforresterwines.com Twitter: @KFWines
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
Allora! WineStyle goes Italian and cheesy for Autumn!
I have the highest regard for the new WineStyle magazine, which was launched late last year as a wonderfully impressive coffee-table quality food and wine magazine. The latest issue has just been sent to subscribers, and once again impressed with its fantastic quality photography and print production.
The theme of the Autumn edition is Italy, and the magazine introduces the theme with a trip to “Under the Tuscan Sun”, a lovely travel report by Karen Wright, with a clarification of the Chianti wines from this region. I did this journey a few years ago, after I had read the book with the same title by Frances Mayes, travelling to Florence, Sienna, San Gimignano, Montalcino, and Montepulciano, and following in Mayes’ footsteps in Cortona. Then follows a tasting of affordable Italian wines, none costing more than R100, and included Lamberti Santepeitre Valpolicella Ripasso, Zaccagnini Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, Teresa Rizzi Prosecco Brut, and Medici Sangiovese Rubicone.
The magazine focus then returns back ‘home’, and award-winning wine writer Joanne Gibson focuses on the allowable levels of lead, mercury and even arsenic in South African wine! She asks why sulphur dioxide must be declared on local wine labels but not the fourteen other ‘restricted substances’ listed in the Liquor Products Act 60 of 1989. The article describes the effect of sulphites on those with an allergy to it, and Gibson writes that often it is not the allergy to sulphites but rather to wine generally. She lists low-sulphite wines as including Anura Brut, Krone Borealis Brut, Reyneke Reserve White, Stellar Organic Winery, Villiera Brut Natural Chardonnay, Waverley Hills, and Woolworths Brut Natural and their Chenin Blanc.
The article on cheese and wines, by Diane Heierli, with photography by Christoph Heierli, is good enough to eat. The photographer impressed in the first edition already. The article highlights that our local cheeses are excellent, and that we do not have to import them to enjoy good quality cheese. In fact, a next article highlights six ’boutique cheeseries’, being Dalewood Fromage, Goat Peter Cheesery, Belnori Boutique Cheesery, Foxenburg Estate Cheesery, Hijke Cheese, and Buffalo Ridge. Each of the cheesemakers recommend a suitable wine to pair with one of their cheeses.
From cheese and wine, the magazine moves to mushrooms, the article produced by the Heierlis as well, and providing recipes such as “Moreish mixed mushroom risotto”, “Super simple creamy mushroom sauce”, “Mushroom and pecorino pizza”, a beautiful looking “Spicy Asian enoki broth”, and “Balsamic glazed brown mushroom and steak”.
What seems out of place, relative to the theme, is the last article on the Route 62, although ‘cheese-lovers paradise’ Gay’s Guernsey Dairy in Prince Albert is mentioned. The cover photograph of the magazine, linked to this article, does not reflect wine or food at all, and I would question if it was the best photograph to use, given the many lovely photographs in the magazine. Right at the end, the magazine goes back to its Italian beginning, with a recipe for ‘La Limoncello’.
Every week WineStyle sends a newsletter to its subscribers, to bridge the three month gap between issues. In this way the brand interest is kept alive, and the editor can provide ongoing food and wine news. The new newsletter design is perfect, in now creating synergy between the magazine design, and that of the newsletter. Once again, the concept of WineStyle being environmentally friendly, in being print-on-demand, and only posted to its subscribers at no charge, is saluted. It is not commercially available.
WineStyle has set an incredibly high benchmark in food and wine publishing, with editor Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright at the helm. The advertisers are demonstrating their support already, being Glen Carlou, Pongracz, Hermanuspietersfontein, Constantia Glen, Highlands Road Estate, Kleine Zalze, Klein Constantia, Bouchard Finlayson, Fleur du Cap, and Paul Cluver, and that is just mentioning the wine advertisers.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage