Lynne
asked Cellar master Thys Louw if he had ever considered adding any Semillon to
his excellent Sauvignon Blanc. "Heavens, no", he said ..."then I
would have 10 Sauvignons!". The Wild Horseshoe is his 9th iteration and it
is a cracker. It's their first skin-fermented natural wild yeast Sauvignon
Blanc; fermented on the skins for 96 hours and kept on the lees in 3rd and 4th
fill barrels for 10 months. It tasted disgusting until they transferred it into
tank and then it got itself together and changed in style to produce this clean
crisp elegant wine. (Our wine of the Week this week) All Diemersdal wines are
grown on the Estate and Sauvignon Blancs make up 50% of their production. The
grapes come from a vineyard planted in 1982, older than Thys. The launch was
followed by a wonderful lunch, at a restaurant to add to your list to visit
Cellar master Thys Louw of Diemersdal in
Durbanville
The tasting and lunch which followed took place at
the long tables in the restaurant
The wine about to be launched
The bottle has only horseshoes on the front, all
the information is on the back label
The label inspiration was drawn from
the collection of horseshoes collected in the vineyard by Thys’ wife which hang
in a frame in the restaurant
After the wine tasting, we were presented with a
very, very good lunch cooked by Diemersdal Farm Eatery chef Martin de Kock. He
has worked under top chefs George Jardine and Peter Tempelhoff. He is producing
very fine food. This is the menu
Other Diemersdal Sauvignon Blancs were served with
the lunch, including the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve. The canapé on a spoon
was duck three ways: duck breast, creamy duck parfait and crisp duck skin
The starter of 3 experiences: Cauliflower 'cheese
cake with chimichuri, topped with dehydrated onion; , a rich thick and creamy mussel
chowder and a pan fried monkfish tail on sweet corn purée, topped with a piece
of crisp cured pork
Thys telling us how he made the wine
On offer with lunch
A main course of slow cooked pork belly, crisp
crackling, a perfectly cooked Scotch egg, braised cabbage, roasted apple
slices, persimmon purée and pomegranate, came with a good jus
The other main course was a crown of free range chicken
with a real farm fresh flavour. It was cooked sous vide, so was perfectly moist
and came with a small chicken pot pie, braised baby leeks, fresh spinach, seared
onions, truffle and a good bordelaise sauce
Dessert: a crisp buttery thin pastry filled with
frangipane and quince with a chestnut and vanilla ice cream topped with an
almond tuile. Rich, fruity and very satisfying . We can't wait to return for
more excellent wine and great food
©
John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
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