Celebrity Chef Bertus Basson sizzles with pork pleasures
If a slow-cooked Sunday lunch makes you happy as a pig in mud, then join the next Pop Up Lunch of the Bottelary Hills Wine Route when celebrity chef Bertus Basson will pay homage to pork and all its palatable pleasures on 14 August.
It will be all things smoked, seared and sizzling when Bertus, a braai maestro of note, will get ‘piggy with it’ and haul out his custom-built, wood-fuelled spit braais for a pork-inspired three course lunch. The winemakers of this prime winegrowing pocket, situated northwest of Stellenbosch, will add extra taste with their esteemed wines.
“You say bacon…I say I’m there! Long gone are the days that pork is seen as the ‘other white meat’ and at this fire-inspired winemakers’ Sunday lunch we will celebrate it in all its golden, crackling glory. Bertus loves braaing and the bigger the better which certainly adds smokin’ hot spectator value to our Pop Up events,” shares Elmarie Rabe, Manager of the Stellenbosch Wine Routes.
This ‘Pig Out’ three-course lunch is the second in a series of ‘all-fired-up’ Pop Up Lunches, hosted by the friendly wine folk of the Bottelary Hills region in collaboration with Bertus, with each one happening at a different wine estate dotted along this sub wine route and featuring a different meat hero on the heat.
Groenland Wine Estate is where the fires will be lit this time round, and friends and families are encouraged to swap their own Sunday pork roasts for a laidback South African feast, fuelled with layered flavours and guests helping themselves from big platters on the table.
“We recently had spits build and I firmly believe that spits should be done with real wood and charcoal and none of that gas nonsense,” adds Bertus who is famed for the phenomenal success of one of Stellenbosch’s finest Winelands restaurants, Overture, and is a seasoned judge on the Ultimate Braai Master TV show.
Prior to lunch, enthusiasts will be able to savour some of the Bottelary Hills wines in the warm, unpretentious company of their makers and guests can order and purchase wine on the day.
The great charm of the Bottelary Hills Wine Route, nestled along the R304 and M23, comes from the fact that most of the farms have been family-owned for many generations. This rich sense of history, commitment and family radiates in both the wines and the welcoming atmosphere of this area. It is home to some of the oldest wine farms in the country including the likes of Beyerskloof, Goede Hoop, Groenland, Hartenberg, Mooiplaas and Villiera.
The pork-inspired Bottelary Hills Pop Up Lunch at Groenland Estate on 14 August will start at 12h30 and costs R350 per person, which includes the wine tasting, the three course meal, and a glass of wine per course. Pre-bookings are essential as seating is limited. Book your seats on www.wineroute.co.za or Tel: (021) 886 8275 or [email protected].
Groenland Wine Estate, pride of the Steenkamp Family, is situated on the M23 Bottelary Road off the R304 to Stellenbosch. For more information on this estate visit www.groenland.co.za.
The third and final Bottelary Hills Wine Route Pop Up Lunch for 2016 will take place at Kaapzicht Estate on 4 December
