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The final lap of blind tasting for Neil Pendock’s Winelands Guide 2013 kicked off at the upper cellar tasting room at Groot Constantia (below) this afternoon. After blind tasting nine Constantia Sauvignon Blancs, we couldn’t believe not a single one was included in the FNB Top Ten. The Klein Constantia Perdeblokke 2010 is totally amazing while the 2012s from KC, Buitenverwachting, Constantia Glen, and Groot Constantia are thrilling. Did subtlety play second fiddle to strident green peppers?
The leaky SA wine spittoon has been rocked by the news that a new portrait of the first governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel, had been found “in a dusty warehouse in Amsterdam.” A press release from the National Antiques Faire – not abbreviated to NAF for nought – makes interesting reading.
Sign o’ the times that the marketing mavens at Restaurant Magazine are launching Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants in Singapore next February. Any chance of an Africa’s 50 Best any time soon? Probably not, as Veuve Clicquot have yet to get around to including the continent among the 17 countries in which they run their Business Woman of the Year Awards. The Widow would not be impressed! Africa seems to have been abandoned by the gods of gastronomy.
Still, it was nice to see Alvin Leung and his Bo Innovation restaurant in Hong Kong storm into the S. Pellegrino Awards at #52. Alvin should adopt Love Shack by the B52s as his theme tune. So is Alvin better than any African chef? He’s certainly a sharper dresser than most.
Afrikaans speakers may think this funky Hong Kong restaurant is called Bo Innovation because it’s on the second floor as “bo” means above as in bo my vuurmaak plek – above my fireplace i.e. beyond my comprehension. Which is pretty much what Alvin Leung Jr.’s experiment in Extreme Chinese Cuisine is all about: tiny cannellonis covered in melted yak’s cheese, a single fat dim sum stuffed with foie gras, a solitary quivering globule of reduced pork essence with a red stripe, risotto made from cauliflower and black truffle…
Bo Innovation
The news that the country’s oldest wine estate Groot Constantia won the laurels at the Classic Wine Trophy Show comes as a bonus to CEO Jean Naudé who is increasingly turning his thoughts eastwards. As the March newsletter vouchsafes “Jean invited Chinese Consul General Hao Guanfeng and Mrs Kong Wei, Vice Consul General Song Lianjie, as well as Consul Mr Defu Xu to a traditional South African Braai at his home on the Estate. A wonderful evening was enjoyed by all. Groot Constantia has forged a strong business relationship with China; thousands of Chinese tourists visit the Estate every year.”
Jean in a striped shirt braais for assorted Chinese nobs
Was it the same Iraqi taxi driver who told Heston Blumenthal (or Hester as he’s called by WOSA on Twitter) “Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the world and the vineyards are only 45 minutes away” as the one who told the infamous British spy that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could reach London in 45 minutes?
Hester Blumenthal
In a review of Simon Hoggart’s Life’s too short to drink bad wine: 100 wines for discerning drinkers, the blogger By George (WINE, FOOD, CRICKET, ART AND OTHER UNIMPORTANT THINGS) makes the point “I have always believed that it is better to read somebody who knows a bit about wine and can write well than somebody who knows a lot about wine and cannot write. There are too many of the latter” as the Grape communal blog confirms on a bi-monthly basis when the site is updated.
How Much? R123;
Where? Groot Constantia Estate, Constantia 27 (0)21 794 5128;
Why? “Refrain from sexual activity” was the insulting advice from Fifa boss Sepp Blatter to gays wishing to travel to Qatar in 2022 for the World Cup where the love that dare not speak its name is illegal. After a disappointing World Cup 2010 in which the Winelands failed to attract the training camp of a single team in spite of many lavish overseas jollies by bureaucrats to drum up business, Cape winemakers should make sure they don’t miss out on the next likely international competition to be held in SA: Mr. Gay World 2012.
Boela Gerber
Boela Gerber makes wine at the oldest wine farm in SA (cue howls of outrage from other claimants such as Steenberg etc.) and his Groot Constantia Pinotage 2009, slipped into a tasting of top draw Burgundies last night, confirms just how close SA’s own USP is to the heartbreak grape of Burgundy. Of course it needs to lose all that sweet fruit and outrageously tropical nose to resemble its parent more, but that will surely come with time as happens to dogs and their owners. The secret of Burgundy seems to be one of taking away and that less is more. But as it stands at the moment, Boela’s 2009 is a perfect match for spicy Szechwan food, a fact that should be exploited more given the scores of buses bringing Asian tourists to the oldest wine farm in SA.
Boela Gerber
Andreas Rompel is an unusual wine commentator for five reasons: 1) he doesn’t live in Cape Town or environs; 2) he buys his own wine; 3) he has no formal wine “qualifications” except for an extensive track record of drinking the stuff; 4) he routinely tastes different wines from around the world and has no SA “cellar palate”; 5) he has no connections to any producer, retailer or restaurant.
As such, his opinion is about as unbiased as you can get. He is an everyman Bacchus, so I asked him for a report back on the various wine events held in Johannesburg this month.
Andreas Rompel PhD
