{"id":16933,"date":"2011-02-13T07:16:24","date_gmt":"2011-02-13T05:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=16933"},"modified":"2011-02-13T11:22:30","modified_gmt":"2011-02-13T09:22:30","slug":"restaurant-review-glen-carlou-restaurant-full-spectrum-from-grape-to-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/restaurant-review-glen-carlou-restaurant-full-spectrum-from-grape-to-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Glen Carlou Restaurant full spectrum, from grapes to wine!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I experienced one of the cleverest wine marketing\u00a0ideas when I had lunch at Glen Carlou Restaurant\u00a0on Friday. \u00a0The Restaurant Manager\u00a0Janine came to\u00a0each table with a\u00a0washed bunch of freshly picked Malbec grapes, so that one can experience the taste of a more unusual\u00a0grape variety.\u00a0\u00a0 This brought the vineyard, in which we could see the Glen Carlou staff picking grapes below us, straight to the table, and stimulated an interest in tasting the wines after the lunch, even though I had decided against wine-tasting initially.<\/p>\n

Glen Carlou has been owned by\u00a0 Donald Hess\u00a0for the last six years, and he is an entrepreneur with international interests, such as we have seen at Delaire Graff<\/a><\/span><\/strong> and Grande Provence<\/a> – international owners of multiple properties around the world, and lovers of and investors in art.\u00a0\u00a0Janine\u00a0reminded every table about the Hess Collection art gallery, which is behind closed doors in an airconditioned room, containing some interesting works of art – not the place to bring one’s teenage daughter!\u00a0\u00a0 Hess has\u00a0wine interests in Argentina, California, Australia and in South Africa.\u00a0 \u00a0The Hess Family Estates had its first beginnings in Switzerland in 1844, \u00a0when Johann Heinrich Hess founded a brewery in Berne.\u00a0 The current owner Donald Hess grew the company, in that it diversified into mineral water, Valser Water becoming Switzerland’s leading water brand.\u00a0 He loves wine and art, and married these two passions with his first wine estate purchase on Mount Veeder in the Napa Valley in 1978.\u00a0 Then followed wine estates in Argentina (the highest vineyard in the world), in Australia, and then in South Africa, with the purchase of Glen Carlou (making wines since 1985).\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Hess is one of the world’s major collectors of contemporary art representing the last fifty years, and his collection includes 1000 works by 65 international artists.\u00a0 Hess only acquires pieces that challenge or touch him personally.\u00a0 “When I have seen an art piece which keeps me awake over several nights, I know that this art piece has touched me deeply and this is one of my most important criteria to buy an art work”, he says in a profile on\u00a0the Hess Art Collection.<\/p>\n

The building is an all-in-one wine cellar (on the lower level) and one can see very little of the wine production side, save for a glass floor section allowing one to see some barrels below, tasting room, art gallery\u00a0and restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One enters a lovely air conditioned room, which has the wine tasting counter closest to the door,\u00a0and the rest of the space is taken up by a very spacious restaurant, with a small lounge section too.\u00a0\u00a0 It has a homely thatched roof ceiling.\u00a0 The terrace has shading so that one can sit outside and enjoy the lovely view onto the vineyards below and the Paarl Mountains in the distance.\u00a0 I could have sworn that I saw a little buck dashing from one vineyard to the other.\u00a0 There is attractive white garden furniture outside, with a glass top and aluminium table.\u00a0 The cork placemats and the old-fashioned wooden salt and pepper grinders seemed out of place with the international character of the wine estate (Peugeot is very in, I have noticed on my restaurant travels), and there is no table cloth, yet there is a material serviette, into which is rolled two forks and two knives, on the assumption that one will have\u00a0a starter and a main course.\u00a0\u00a0Two big glass containers contain olive oil (from House of Olives down the road) and balsamic vinegar (from Serena, according to the waiter).<\/p>\n

I was seated by\u00a0Janine, who was very friendly, but I felt her\u00a0Capri pants to be out of character with the stature of this Hess winery.\u00a0 The chef Hennie van der Merwe has been at Glen Carlou for about two years, and previously owned The Red Hen restaurant on Wildebraam outside Swellendam.\u00a0\u00a0 He has also worked at Umami in Stellenbosch, on the QE2, and on the Queen Mary.\u00a0 I was surprised (and impressed) that I was welcomed by Georgie Prout, the Public Relations Manager, who recognised me from the Winestyle<\/span><\/strong> <\/a>launch at Warwick a few months ago, she said.\u00a0 She was very helpful in providing information about the other Hess wine farms.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The menu is presented in a black leather menu holder, and in fact there are two menus.\u00a0\u00a0While I had a look through the menus,\u00a0introduced two weeks ago, the waiter brought two bread rolls (looked like mosbolletjies to me, but topped with sesame seeds), which again did not match the stature of the wine estate, in my opinion.\u00a0\u00a0Each item on the menu has a Glen Carlou wine recommendation.\u00a0 \u00a0As I was just passing through, I ordered two starters, the first being a Caprese salad with Bocconcini (an imported buffalo mozzarella, \u00a0I was told),\u00a0‘baby plum tomatoes’, tiny drops of basil pesto, and rocket – the chef seems to like rocket, as both starters had lots of it on the plate, and it had a really bitter taste (R40).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was served with two tiny triangles of toast (what is it with tiny toast triangles?\u00a0\u00a0I had them at Mange Toute<\/a><\/span> <\/strong>as well), which were not enough to eat with the cheese.\u00a0 I would have preferred the basil fresh and not in pesto form.\u00a0 Much more exciting was the seared duck breast served with duck liver mousse, and I\u00a0loved the orange honey sauce that was served with it (R60).\u00a0 I thought the rocket and grapefruit distracted from and clashed with the lovely duck and sauce, both being too bitter, even though they added colour to the starter.\u00a0\u00a0I would like to see this dish become a main course, so good was the duck and sauce.\u00a0 The duck liver mousse was on another tiny toast triangle.\u00a0 Starters cost between R 40 – R65, and other options include smoked trout and asparagus, mussels, and an interesting sounding\u00a0trio of Kudu carpaccio, steak tartar with\u00a0poached quail egg and rooibos smoked springbok loin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Main courses are reasonable in price, costing R85 – R105,\u00a0and include roasted pork fillet and mushroom fricassee, sirloin steak, roasted quail, kingklip, duck, and trout.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Georgie told me that Chef Hennie is known for his wonderful sauces.\u00a0 \u00a0The second menu has further options, mainly salads and burgers, costing R60 – R85.\u00a0 The cappuccino (R16) took long to bring to the table, but was in a large cup, and very foamy.\u00a0\u00a0 It was while I was waiting for the coffee that Janine came with the bunch of grapes, so it served as a dessert.\u00a0\u00a0 Dessert choices are Malva pudding, Cr\u00e8me Brulee, and chocolate mousse, all costing a most reasonable R30,\u00a0 ice cream at R12 a scoop, and a Boland cheese platter at R85 – they are not on the menu one receives on arrival, but on a menu list which includes side orders, drinks other than wines, and the Kiddies Menu.\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had a large jug of farm water and lemon to drink, and was surprised at the saltiness of the water.\u00a0 The waiter said something about putting lemon into the water because of that, but I did not understand this.\u00a0 The wines are listed in a similar black leather holder.\u00a0\u00a0 I was very impressed that there was no mark-up on the Glen Carlou wines on the winelist at all!\u00a0 This makes them very reasonable to order\u00a0: Sauvignon Blanc (R18\/R65), Tortoise Hill White (R12\/R42), \u00a0Chardonnay (R25\/R90), Quartz Stone Chardonnay (R25\/R90), Pinot Noir (R36\/R130), Tortoise Hill Red (R16\/R49), Syrah (R34\/R120), Zinfandel (R36\/R130), Cabernet Sauvignon (R25\/R90), Grand Classique (R34\/R120), Gravel Quarry Cabernet Sauvignon (R80\/R375) and The Welder (R22\/R89).\u00a0 In addition, one can\u00a0buy Hess wines from Argentina (Colom\u00e8), Peter Lehmann (Australia) and the Hess Collection from California, ranging in price from R140 – R 395, at Glen Carlou.\u00a0\u00a0I was encouraged via Twitter to try Glen Carlou’s Zinfandel, and having been to a Blaauwklippen Zinfandel tasting a week ago, I tried a small glassfull, and liked it very much.\u00a0 Janine wanted me to know that the Zinfandel is seen as a ‘hobby wine’, and only 6000 bottles are produced.\u00a0\u00a0 She said that the Hess Zinfandel from Napa has a very different character to that\u00a0of Glen Carlou, even though both have 15 % alcohol.\u00a0\u00a0 I then tried a small glassful of the 2006 Shiraz, and it is one of my favourites.\u00a0 The winemaker is a low profile Arco Laarman, whose name I did not know – Janine said he worked alongside the previous cellarmaster David Finlayson, and has been at Glen Carlou for ten years.<\/p>\n

The invoice came in a soft black leather holder, and I was irritated when the waiter came to my table with the credit card machine – I had not put down my card, was still having my grapes and water, did not show signs of leaving, and had no intention to pay by card.<\/p>\n

As I drive past Glen Carlou whenever I go to Franschhoek, I will certainly pop in for lunch again.\u00a0 I used to love their prawn salad, but that dish is not on the new menu.\u00a0 There are a number of interesting dishes to try at Glen Carlou on future visits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Glen Carlou Restaurant,<\/strong>\u00a0 Simondium Road (R 45), Klapmuts.\u00a0 Tel (021) 875-5528.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.glencarlou.co.za<\/a>\u00a0 (The new menu is not yet on the website.\u00a0 Innovative is that recipes are listed on the website, but they are for dishes no longer on the menu).\u00a0 Tuesday – Sunday.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I experienced one of the cleverest wine marketing\u00a0ideas when I had lunch at Glen Carlou Restaurant\u00a0on Friday. \u00a0The Restaurant Manager\u00a0Janine came to\u00a0each table with a\u00a0washed bunch of freshly picked Malbec grapes, so that one can experience the taste of a more unusual\u00a0grape variety.\u00a0\u00a0 This brought the vineyard, in which we could see the Glen Carlou […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,362,20,21,19],"tags":[9929,3512,547,9928,9922,1806,2881,32378,9925,9916,9930,1736,9910,32369,9921,2645,9906,140,9908,9924,9917,9927,9911,9913,9912,6488,7144,9915,375,2624,32384,9926,1680,9923,9920,3625,145,9907,32388,2470,9918,5280,1587,3258,9914,3598,32373,9919,365,5433,7967,9909],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t