CAPE TOWN, South Africa, 21 September 2018 – Drakenstein Local Tourism Association used the recently held Cape Wine 2018 to showcase the proud heritage and award-winning wines of the Paarl and Wellington regions.
With 352 producers attending this year’s event, Cape Wine is considered to be the flagship business showcase of the South African wine industry and is presented by Wines of South Africa every three years.
The DLTA hosted a special evening for sommeliers, restaurant owners, wine merchants and marketers from around the globe with ten participating winemakers at the Centre for the Book in Cape Town. Celebrity chef Mynhardt Joubert conceptualized an impressive ten-course food and wine pairing that emphasized the culinary history and unique taste of terroir of the region.
According to Annelize Stroebel, general manager of the tourism association, Cape Wine presented an incredible opportunity for Paarl and Wellington to feature their unique wine offerings. “Paarl is the second oldest wine route in South Africa and we definitely wanted to focus on our impressive winemaking heritage. The imposing venue was perfectly suited to our theme and chef Mynhardt’s unique twists on South African culinary favourites paired perfectly with the best wines of the region absolutely wowed the guests.”
Wineries included Boland Cellar, Doolhof, Diemersfontein, Landskroon, Linton Park, Painted Wolf Wines, Pearl Mountain Wines, Perdeberg Group, Rhebokskloof Wine Estate and Ridgeback. Each winery had the opportunity to present a selection of their wines before one wine was paired with a specific course.
The delectable menu started with traditional mosbolletjie and kaiing bread served with nastergal (belladonna) and lavender, a Wamakersvallei strawberry and beetroot salad and a waterblommetjie (indigenous pond lilly) soup served with home-cured acorn fed pancetta from Wellington with micro herbs and olive oil. Then guests could sample a Cape favourite snoek (local fish) and sweet potatoes before enjoying some true Malay spice with Bo-Kaap samoosas with mango chutney and cucumber raita.
This symphony of flavours was followed by lamb sosaties (kebab) with Wellington’s Dried Fruit and slow roasted springbok pie baked with buttered puff pastry and served with a red wine jus. For a sweet finale, guests enjoyed sweet vanilla macerated Karoo figs with royal black pepper Cheddar, dark chocolate tart served with salted caramel and rooibostea milktart with koeksister crumble.
Each pairing was printed individually on a postcard featuring one of the numerous historical buildings in the region. The postcards were hand-drawn by Paarl artist Corné Bekker.
