Top food and wine matching experiences in the Cape Winelands

So sophisticated is the South African food and drink scene now that you can expect to find suggested wine pairings at practically every restaurant you go to but some wine farms have made even more of a feature of their skill at combining the two - a fun way of learning the art of matching food and wine.

I visited three during my recent visit, the most ambitious of which was at Creation in Hemel-en-Aarde whose owner Carolyn Martin has taken a keen interest in food and wine matching since the winery was opened in 2007. For a very reasonable R125 (£8.92) per person you can order a selection of ‘wine pairing canapés‘ to sit and nibble in their light, airy tasting room. (There’s also a vegetarian version).

The pairings are spot on, not only showing off the food but flattering the wines (by no means as common as you’d think) making the long drive up a dirt track to the winery well worthwhile (don’t worry, you will get there!).

Highlights for me were an aubergine and goats’ cheese cannelloni with the Creation Sauvignon Blanc (goats cheese and Sauvignon is a well-established pairing but the aubergine really made the flavours of the wine sing), Viognier with a chicken laksa-flavoured bite, wild mushrooms on polenta with the Creation Pinot Noir (always a reliable match) and - less expected - a chorizo empanadita with the Syrah. All delicious and really imaginative. They also offer a 'surprise' 4 course wine pairing for R180 (£12.89).

At La Motte in Franschhoek the Wine and Food Tasting Experience is just one of a number of experiences you can enjoy including an organic walk, historical walk and visit to the permanent Pierneef exhbition. (Pierneef was one of South Africa’s most celebrated artists.)

What I liked about this tasting, which just took top prize in the 2013 Drinks International Wine Tourism awards, was that it went into that the basic principles of food and wine pairing - what the main taste sensations are (sweetness, acidity, salt, bitterness and umami) and how different areas of the tongue can pick them up.

The thinking behind each of the pairings is also really well explained - for example that the acidity of tomatoes works with the acidity in Sauvignon Blanc and that the big tannins of Cabernet need fat to smooth them out.

Again the food is high quality - from the restaurant kitchen - giving you a good sense of what it would be like to pair the wines with dishes at home. You need to book ahead if you want to do the pairing which takes place on Fridays and costs R120 (£8.59)

Other wineries focus on one particular food. For example the innovative new Spice Route visitor centre in Paarl has a wine and chocolate pairing which features the artisanal De Villiers chocolate which is also made on the farm.

They’re really quite bold about this, pairing chocolate with dry white wines rather than sweet. (I didn’t expect it to work but the ripe gooseberry and tropical fruit flavours of the Spice Route Darling Sauvignon Blanc went surprisingly well with the citrus and raisin flavours of a 70% Madagascar chocolate bar. And the rich, brambly Mourvèdre was great with the berry flavours or a Venezuelan Caracas. I haven't always been convinced about this but plain dark chocolate and red wine really can hit it off. You can also attend a chocolate tasting in the Manor Farm building where they make the chocolate.

Spice Route’s neighbouring property Fairview, also owned by the enterprising Charles Back, offers a food and wine tasting too - in this instance with cheese from their famous herd of goats*. We ran out of time to visit it this time but you could easily take in both farms in a day.

You can also do a chocolate and wine tasting around the lovely Tuscan-style courtyard at Waterford in Stellenbosch. I’ll be adding more food and wine tasting experiences as I discover them.

*They also offer a Junior Cheese Masters experience which shows kids how to make cheese

Choc Tales: Chocolate and Cocktail Matching for Chocolate Week

One of my favourite food bloggers Helen Graves of Food Stories selflessly subjected herself to an evening of chocolate and cocktail pairing at Choc Tales, a highlight of London's recent Chocolate Week which saw some of the country’s best chocolatiers paired with premier booze hounds. Here’s her report:

A creaky old candlelit townhouse in Soho. Five rooms, five different chocolate and cocktail experiences:

Damian Allsop joined forces with Martin Miller’s Gin; a truly engaging speaker, Damian talked through the proper method for tasting chocolate by way of a single unadulterated disc of Pacari Raw melting on the tongue. First acidity, then fruit, sharp blackcurrant, tea and finally, leather. Next, his ganache, made using water instead of cream and butter, which dilute the true flavours of the chocolate. Examples were smooth as silk, smeared on a bed rock of honeycomb textured blackberry and matcha tea strips; like neon Crunchie bars, picking up on two of Allsop’s favourite flavours in the raw product.

Chocolate initiated, the first cocktail was received, as ever, with much enthusiasm; a ‘deconstructed bramble’ containing oleo saccharum (lemon oil extracted by pounding the zest with sugar), green tea (see a pattern here?), Miller’s gin and fancy ass spheres of cassis twinkling at the bottom of the glass. Dangerously fresh, it was knocked back like water.

The Grenada Chocolate Company paired their 71% chocolate and Gran Reserva rum ganache with hot buttered rum; the drink of dreams. How nice of the weather to match the drink so perfectly I thought, as the rain battered the windows and my hands wrapped around a steaming glass of spiced booze. This drink could effortlessly cure most problems, except, perhaps, obesity. A thumping bass of Santa Teresa gold rum, spiced apple juice, the bitter caramel flavour of treacle, schmoozed into submission by the magical hand of melted butter. Smooth ganache slid around my butter-coated mouth leaving, somehow, a hint of banana.

Smoky Johnny Walker Blue Label whisky came with a fluffy chocolate pyramid hiding a centre of crème brulée, and an apricot sauce flecked with vanilla. ‘It’s real vanilla!’ we were told. I should think so, too. I enjoyed the classic combination of whisky and apricots; a safe match but none the worse for it.

An Artisan du Chocolat ‘wafer’ snapped satisfyingly in the mouth releasing its sultry salted caramel centre. An accompanying Aperol spritz and cocoa pulp sorbet cocktail was visually dramatic; a glam version of an old school coke float, basically. The cocoa pulp sorbet, subtle with almond flavour excited the fizz until it spilled over the rim of glass inviting giggles and frantic slurps.

Finally, Paul A Young paired his stunning shiny chocolates with margaritas made by Cleo Rocos, of Aqua Riva tequila (no, I didn’t know she made tequila either). This effervescent pair are as entertaining as their products; the tequila makes a clean tasting margarita without a hint of burn, while Paul’s chocolates picked up the citrus theme using kalamansi, a South East Asian fruit with the appearance of a lime but a more complex flavour profile. We were encouraged to eat the chocolate whole then take a sip of the margarita to initiate a taste experience bordering on the explicit. This was one of my favourite matches of the evening, although in the end, it was a close call with that hot buttered rum . . .

Here’s the recipe from Felix Cohen of Manhattans Project.

Hot Buttered Rum

1 litre apple juice

125 grams butter

100ml golden syrup

25ml treacle

1 teaspoon allspice

Golden rum (Felix used Santa Teresa Anejo)

Heat the apple juice, and add the butter in chunks, stir in the golden syrup and treacle and once everything is mixed well, add the allspice. Once it's at about 80 degrees, the mixture is ready to mix with the rum.

Add a shot of rum to each glass then ladle over the hot buttered mixture - about 4:1 i.e. 100ml butter mixture to 25ml rum. It’s nice to serve this with a cinnamon stick in the glass, to use as a stirrer. Make sure the mixture is well stirred at all times.

Manhattans Project is located downstairs on Fridays and Saturdays at Off Broadway, Broadway Market.

Photographs © Paul Winch-Furness

 

Which foods pair best with high alcohol red wines?

Despite the growing concern about alcohol levels in wine many reds still clock in at 14.5% or more, a level at which they can become an unbalanced pairing for traditional European food. Many traditionalist would say that they are therefore not ‘food wines’ but as with other types of wine it depends how well they’re made and whether overall the wine is in balance. Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe for example rarely hits the shelves at under 14% but wears its alcohol lightly.

In general wines of this power benefit from at least a couple of years bottle ageing - it’s the combination of high alcohol and aggressive tannins that can overwhelm the food you’re eating. I’ve drunk many an Australian Shiraz of 7 to 8 years old that has behaved like a pussycat with food.

The best type of dishes in my view to drink with big reds are:

• Rare meat especially beef - e.g. a chargrilled steak (rare meat softens the effect of big tannins)

• Slow cooked but not heavily sauced meat (lamb and pork as well as beef) Not heavily sauced because if you have an intense reduction and a full-bodied red you can barely taste the meat you’re eating

• Meat cooked with a sweet marinade or baste - e.g. barbecued ribs Sweetness will enhance the acidity in the wine, making it taste fresher.
• Meat or ‘meaty’ fish like tuna cooked with a spicy rub or crust. A touch of spice offsets a big fruity red nicely though not a hot ‘wet’ curry with a lot of spicy sauce which will just create an sense of overload on the palate.

• Haggis! (Yes, really . . . )

• Strongly flavoured vegetarian dishes based on dark Portabella mushrooms or roast or baked aubergines

• Well matured hard cheeses or sheep's cheeses. Cheese can be a minefield for red wine as regular visitors to this site will know. A full bodied red will overwhelm delicate goats’ cheeses and are likely to clash horribly with a well-matured ‘stinky’ washed rind cheese or a punchy blue but should be OK with a dry, clean tasting hard cheese, especially a sheep's cheese (the easiest cheese to pair with red wine)

• Dark chocolate. A controversial pairing but many swear by big jammy reds and dark, not oversweet chocolate. Not for me but try it!

And the dishes that don’t match full-bodied reds?

Lighter fish and vegetable-based dishes, lighter meats like chicken and veal, milder cheeses and dishes with light creamy sauces.

Image © Christian Delbert - Fotolia.com

Is red wine a good match for chocolate?

I’ve never totally bought into the idea but a recent wine and chocolate tasting put on by Australian Wine at Australia House in London went halfway to convincing me.

They put together a number of pairings with chocolates from Rococo who make some of the most delicious chocolates in London.

First off we actually tried two dry whites, a De Bortoli PHI Chardonnay, Yarra Valley 2007 which was paired with a Chocolate: Sea Salt Wafer and a 2011 Skillogalee Gewürztraminer, Clare Valley with a Chocolate: Rose Ganache.

The first was a case of ‘you could but why would you?’ There are so many other delicious things to drink with a classy chardonnay like that. I just found myself dreaming of scallops. The Gewürztraminer was more interesting though, really picking up on the rose flavours in the chocolate. I could get used to that . . .

Next two big reds, the 2008 d’Arenberg The Custodian Grenache from McLaren Vale 2008 with a Red Berry Ganache and a 2009 Mitolo GAM Shiraz with a Chocolate Blackcurrant and Violet Ganache. These both worked, amazingly, though I felt the almost porty 15% Mitolo had the edge. And again it was lovely with the filling.

We then moved on to two more conventional choices, the pretty Innocent Bystander Moscato with a really unusual White chocolate Cardamom and Saffron Ganache and Brown Brothers 2009 Orange Muscat and Flora, Victoria with a Mango, Passion Fruit and Orange Ganache.

Oddly these didn’t work as well for me. The orange flavours in the chocolate knocked out the same flavours in the Muscat and at 5.5% the Moscato was just a bit light for such a rich, exotic chocolate. But I took a sip of the Skillagolee Gewürztraminer with it which was terrific. I can imagine a slightly sweeter Gewürz being an amazing match for these flavours.

And finally, more familiar territory - a couple of ‘stickies’, the Campbells Classic Rutherglen Muscat with a Pecan and Spice Praline and a rich, toffeed Grant Burge 10 year old Tawny NV with a Coffee and Cardamom Marzipan chocolate - both cracking pairings but as I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth I preferred the Grant Burge.

Pushing the boundaries of food and wine matching is always fun but doesn’t quite take into account how much mood is tied up with chocolate. If you had a gorgeous bottle of Chardonnay would you eat chocolate with it? Or would you hand chocolates round with the Shiraz at a dinner party? I suspect not.

That said, it worked better than I thought it would and the very original character of the chocolates with their exotic, spicy, floral fillings made it a hedonistic experience by any standards. Food for thought and a bit more experimentation here.