SA Winery Visit #1 — Moreson

Posted on April 21, 2014 by melsmosaic

While in South Africa, one of the days was dedicated to a cycling winery tour. Sunny, 70s, paved and dirt roads, many grapes, heaven on earth!

Our first winery of the day was Moreson. To get there, we had about a 12K ride from our starting point. Wine was in order! It was a beautiful outdoor setting with fountains, ponds, little rivers and just a great atmosphere.

To start the tasting, we enjoyed some bubbly, their One Chardonnay Pinot Noir, which I would describe as a perfect balance between Champagne and Prosecco. Amazing! And of course you can only buy it in South Africa (for a rough R126 — about $12!)

We were given a second round of bubbly, this time Solitaire Blanc de Blancs. I would describe this as green apples, sharp and crisp, NICE! Another steal at R110.

We then progressed from bubbles to the regular stuff. Our first one was a white, the Dr. Reason Why Unwooded Chardonnay. Love the name! Though unoaked, there was a bit of light cream taste. R89.

Round 4 of the tasting brought about another Chard, this time the Mercator Premium Chardonnay. The nose had notes of lemon, lime and toast. The taste — NICE! It had a light toast taste but not like a ‘true’ chard (to me — saying this as not a big chard fan). R168.

Last but not least is what I love about South Africa the most — Pinotage. The sinful, powerful, delicious, perfect cross of Pinot Noir and Hermitage. Have your ever wondered how it came about? Here’s the quick history lesson on Pinotage. Thanks Wikipedia! This brought out all the characteristics of the varietal I expected — smoky and smooth…ahh, what a pour! R168.

This was a great start to the winery tour. Once done, we hopped back on our bikes to the next one…about 5K away.

Beers from SA and nearby

Posted on April 17, 2014 by melsmosaic

Not only does South Africa have amazing wine to offer but they have quite a few brews for one to enjoy. There were many opportunities to sample ales, lagers and more and add some names to my list.

My first, and ultimate favorite, was Carling Black Label. A bit dark and smooth. Apparently it’s the biggest selling and most awarded beer brand in SA.

The most common beer seen and available was Castle Lager. Light, crisp, refreshing. After that, Windhoek came around a lot. This one is from Namibia. Another light beer.

Beer has the same health notes as wine.

On a sunset cruise (while watching rhinos yawn and elephants swim across the river), I tried the Bohlinger’s Lager, made with maize, malt, hops and water. Pretty simple, just another light lager. This one is from Zimbabwe, and I was enjoying while in its country, near Victoria Falls.

The trip also brought a Golden Pilsener. The label says it’s Zimbabwe’s premier Pils, but per the site it’s brewed in Czech. It had a unique taste for a pils, just ‘off’ but still good.

There was also a Zambezi Lager to be sampled. Fairly traditional lager taste, but fairly light.

And finally, a cider, the Savanna Cider. Not super sweet, just dry, which was very nice!

Non-Domestic Flights/Airline = Free (Amazing) Wine

Posted on April 16, 2014 by melsmosaic

I have been MIA from blogging for a bit because I spent the last two weeks in South Africa (with a couple days at the end in Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls). Amazing! From scenery to culture…to food and wine (and some beer). I was already expecting an amazing trip but it got even better on the first flight (of 8 over the course of the vacation) with the wine. As many of us are used to paying for anything other than maybe water on flights (apparently some airlines charge for soda now), it was nice to have the hope of freedom when preparing for a long flight. So as the flight attendant came around and asked what I’d like, there were various selections, all from South Africa (darn!) and I opted for one of the reds, a Merlot. I don’t normally lean towards that grape, but why not, it’s free! So, out came the bottle. Oh, and before she moved on, she threw another one out there. Most people were handed several bottles of wine on round 1. Go South African Airways. The Merlot was from Stormhoek. WOW, that did not taste like a Merlot. Unreal. I wish I had scribbled some notes down but it just had some unique characteristics. Their website doesn’t have a ton of info on where we could attempt to find this stuff here. Darn!

All alcoholic beverages had messages on the container, which of course are for safety reasons (took pics of most of them). But this one is the best, and for good reason. It was on this bottle of Merlot.

Yes! Because it tastes SO GOOD!

Another wine sampled just labeled what the trip and the country brought/bring — JOY. It was a Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. Amazing, amazing. 14.5% alcohol — few SA wines go low on alcohol content. The winery works with a social upliftment project in a local town to improve the lives of residents (see label below). Can’t find any information on the web about the vintner. If you happen to come across something, please let me know!

As the flights progressed, you find out you also get free wine on domestic flights…ahh. So nice. So, while going from safari to Cape Town, it was mid-day and I opted for a white and received a Chenin Blanc, Flutterby. Nice and crisp, fruity.

Other mid-day flights brought the perfect time to sample some Chardonnay, Liberty Chardonnay to be precise. It was a traditional Chard, oaked, buttery. Tough to track down the exact site for this one, too.

These guys also make a fun sparkling wine. It has a screw top, which makes it easy to open on the plane!

On my last flight, back to the US, I had an amazing blend from Spier 1692. It was Classic Red with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Amazing all around.

Great way to taste a wide variety of local wine while not on the ground. Love what South Africa has to offer!

Screw Top Art

Posted on February 13, 2014 by melsmosaic

I can get crafty on the side and the past few years have been having fun. For awhile I was making cork wreaths. I sent notes out to all those I know to save those precious things some throw away when they open their lovely adult beverage and also went around to restaurants to collect them. I made one wreath for myself and then was given 3 enormous bags of corks from a restaurant and gifted and gifted wreaths after hours of labor. Also make cork trivets after buying the frames.

But, there is more fun…screw top wreaths. First, though screw tops are becoming more common, when you try to collect/gather them, they don’t come nearly as quickly as corks. It took me a long to gather enough to make a wreath. Then, when wreath making began, *($%^. There is not nearly the surface area of a cork! This was not as much fun as I thought. After a couple hours, I decided putting cotton balls in the screwtops would give me more surface area. After many months of (more) off and on labor hours, the screw top wreath is complete! I did this tonight while enjoying some great South African wine after just booking a trip to South Africa…there will be many food and wine reports to come in a few months. The wine I enjoyed was one of my favorites, the Wolftrap Red Blend of Syrah, Mourvedre and Viognier.

And, the original wreath I worked on a couple years ago…good old fashioned corks.

Koper Pennie Wortel Slaai (Copper Penny Carrot Salad)

Posted on January 19, 2014 by melsmosaic

Last week I had my monthly supper club and the theme was Food From a Place You Want to Visit/Love to Visit. South Africa is on my (near future) itinerary so I did some searching for a dish from there. I finally decided on Koper Pennie Wortel Slaai (Copper Penny Carrot Salad). It’s fresh veggies and quite the ‘dressing’.

Ingredients:

Salad

1 kg Carrots
3 Onions (I used white)
3 Green Chillies or if you prefer Green Pepper (I did that — nice green bell peppers)

Sauce/Dressing (note — I did some major amount adjustments to these)

250ml water
1 packet of tomato cream soup (I used a can of tomato soup because of lactose intolerance, so eliminated the aforementioned water)
200 ml Vinegar – used about 2 tbsp white vinegar
250 ml Sugar — used about 2-3 tsp
125 ml Oil — used about 1/4 cup olive oil
10 ml Worcester Sauce — used about 1 tsp
7 ml Mustard — used about 1 tsp

To make:

Cut carrots and onions into rings. Boil carrots 15 minutes with a little salt. During the last 6 minutes, add the onions.

Dice green peppers or chillies. Add carrots, onions and chillies or green peppers in a low bowl. (Remember not to use stainless steel bowl, as it will cause a reaction due to acidity).

For the sauce/dressing, combine all ingredients and bring to boil for about 5 minutes.

Pour hot sauce over the vegetables. Refrigerate for at least one day. Enjoy!

For the balance of the meal, some food came from Italy with a Tuscan Bean soup, the Southwest with some great spicy beans, Northern Africa with some Moroccan Chicken. Delicious all around!

Pinotage…from CA not SA?

Posted on November 19, 2013 by melsmosaic

When at the store the other day something came up about South Africa, the word Pinotage came about and then next thing I knew we were being led to the California section?! Yes, oh yes. Apparently some vintners are trying to get that amazing grape over here. So we of course had to buy a bottle, from McNab Ridge Winery. It was quite unique. Not as smoky as South Africa, but still darn good. And when it finished, it was creamy, super creamy on the back on the mouth. Definitely worth trying! It was mid-high teens, dollar wise.

Wine Class #2

Posted on September 26, 2013 by melsmosaic

Had my second wine class the other day and learned more about that great beverage. There was interesting info about labeling and the differences between Old and New World wines. Think about when you buy a bottle of French vs. a bottle of California wine. Which label is easier to read — ignoring any potential language barriers?

For Old World, they must (still and will likely always) include:

-Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)
-Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)
-Color (red, rose, white)
-Sweetness (dry, medium-dry, medium-sweet, sweet)

For New World, simple:

-brand name
-grape varietal(s)
-geographical areas (Sonoma, Western Cape South Africa)

After that we discussed the background and intricacies of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and of course had to sample some. This week we tasted 8 wines (2 were not of the aforementioned varietals):

Chardonnay

#1 2012 Sylvaine & Alain Norman La Roche Vineuse
Macon – Burgundy, France

#2 2011 Butternut Chardonnay
California

#3 2012 Hendry Unoaked
Napa Valley, California

Pinot Noir

#4 2011 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Bourgogne Rouge
Burgundy, France

#5 2011 Baileyana Firepeak
Edna Valley, California

#6 2009 Maude
Central Otago, New Zealand (this is the most southern wine area in the world)

Gamay

#7 2011 Chateau du Basty Regnie
Beaujolais, France

Pinotage

#8 2012 Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage
Stellenbosch, South Africa

Three weeks, three people, three new tastes

Posted on September 12, 2013 by melsmosaic

Good things come in threes, right? So I’ve met some great people over the past few weeks and all of them have introduced me to some new drinks, all in different ‘categories’ — liquor, beer, wine. Great way to keep the mind and palette active. Wanted to share them so more people can learn about them (or nod and say — oh yeah, I’ve been loving that for ages, glad she’s finally caught on).

#1 — Gin & Tonic, the wonderful G&T, with cucumber vs. lime. The important part about this concoction is that you MUST muddle the cukes to release the juice, you need good gin (everybody does have their favorite — mine is Bombay Sapphire but I will never turn down a host who provides Hendrick’s) and apparently if you don’t use Q tonic, why bother making it? The things you learn. There are apparently some measurements to this drink which could/would not be revealed…

#2: Westmalle Trappist Ale Tripel. It was the kickoff to college football. Great Belgian beer to enjoy while sitting on the couch watching sports for many hours. This stuff is potent — 9.5% alcohol! It’s good to be watching football because you don’t want to drive for awhile and the food you eat while being sedentary for hours on end soaks up that percentage. My friend served it in the appropriate glass to which you fill to the 33cl line.

#3: Bloem Red. Amazing wine from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Since I’m headed there next year I want all the ‘amuse-bouche’ I can get. It had a light-medium body with fruit and spice. Was enjoying this over Labor Day weekend and it was served with just that perfect chill for a red that made it even better. It’s a blend of about 65/35 Syrah/Mourvedre.