I spoke to Morné Vrey, winemaker at Delaire Graff and winner of the annual Paardeberg/Simonsberg Potjie cook-off.

Sex god Morné Vrey

Q: Your Pastis palate cleanser was a winner. How did you come up with it?

A: It was while we were filling the press for the 2010 Cabernet Franc Rosé, I use a lot of dry Ice in the press while it’s filling. I was sitting on the press waiting for it to fill and saw this pink blob of ice, it was quite a treat on the hot day of vintage. It became a regular thing in the cellar to mix clear press juice and dry ice for instant sorbet. Cabernet Franc juice is still the whole teams favorite. With bouillabaisse and boules, pastis was a no-brainer.

Q: Your Potjie was the only one out of twenty to feature fish exclusively. What was the winning recipe?

A: 45 minutes for the fish sauce, 10 minutes straining off the solids, bring sauce to boil, add chunks of fresh fish, cook for 5 minutes, and serve. Total cooking time: one hour. Looking back, I think Saturday’s potjie was the fifth one in my life, the common rule of “at least four hours” I never understood. After cooking so long you don’t know if the meat tastes like carrots or the carrots like meat, and not even at al bulli they can reconstruct your deconstructed potjie. After all Francois Conradie (Muratie), Andrew Baker (Wild Peacock) and myself had a boules game to win.

Q: What wine would you drink with your Potjie?

A: While you make it, Delaire Rosé 2010, to get inspired to get the color of the sauce right. With the meal, Delaire Chardonnay 2009.

Q: Delaire has an outstanding restaurant. Is a restaurant necessary for a modern wine tourism offering?

A: I don’t think it is a necessity, but certainly helps increasing the awareness of Delaire wines within the trade as well as local and international market. Further it helps creating the perfect experience for visitors to the estate – enjoying good wines and wonderful food within a breathtaking setting.

Q: Wine competitions judge wines on their own, without food. Does this make sense?

A: Logistically it will be a miracle to pull something of like that on great scale. But what would be great is to have a competition where not just wine and not just food is awarded but a combination of both. I know it is done at the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition. There has been food and wine pairing evenings done for decades but no real competition. There are so many outstanding restaurants on wineries like Delaire, Rust en Vrede, Waterkloof to name just a few.

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