Tiara, a jewel of a wine from Simonsig

Simonsig Tiara (from left) 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 – a right royal line-up of fine wines

Autumn hues in the vineyards and a chilly nip in the air set the scene perfectly for day of red wine and good food at Simonsig Estate near Stellenbosch recently – not that the weather stopped us from enjoying some Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel and oysters before the tasting!

It was a special privilege to be able to taste eight vintages of Simonsig Tiara, from the first bottling in 1990 through to the most recent release, the 2009. My favourites were the 1995, 2005 and 2006 - clearly Tiara is a wine that benefits from being allowed to mature in the bottle, although that said, the young 2009 did show well with lunch later, its tightness able to relax a little in the presence of some robust food flavous.

In my tasting notes, I described the 95 as 'liquid silk' and the 2006 as 'beautifully feminine and elegant'. Of the 1990, I wrote: 'meaty umami notes, tomato, black tea, violets and blackcurrants; remarkably fresh; fruit integrated with supple tannins, acid pulling apart a bit'.

The blend that makes up the Tiara has changed several times through the years from its original Cabernet Sauvigon Merlot profile to the current vintage being a full-five Bordeaux blend (Cabernet Sauvignon dominated).

Cellarmaster Johan Malan and wine maker Debbie Thompson talked us through the line-up of wines. We heard (with difficulty at times, given that a pair of unbelievably rude women sitting in front of us insisted on having a private conversation throughout the vertical tasting – clearly only there for the dop-en-tjop and not to learn anything) how the wine-making style and blends had changed over the years.

Johan Malan, cellarmaster at Simonsig

Wine maker Debbie Thompson

Johan called it a 'trip through time to see how the wine, styles and thought processes have developed'. He has a delightful way with words, for example calling Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot the 'salt and pepper' of a Bordeaux blend, cautioning that Petit Verdot 'ruffles the feathers' of its blending partners; and describing the Tiara 2009 as a 'deep red, textured Persian carpet'. That description alone is enough to make me want to envelop myself in it this winter!

The dishes at lunch, created by chef Lucas Carstens of Cuvée, the restaurant on the wine farm, in consultation with Debbie, were specially planned to pair with the 2009 Tiara as well as several of the other premium wines in the Simonsig portfolio. Fabulous.

From the press release (edited):
'Harmony, intensity and elegance are what we strive for when crafting our flagship red and there is no room for compromise on quality,' says Johan.

Driven by Cabernet Sauvignon (76%), Simonsig Tiara 2009 has intense ripe blackberry and cherry flavours with hints of cigar box, enriched by whiffs of graphite adding depth and dimension to this full circle Bordeaux-style blend. 'The firm, oak-matured tannin structure shows a fine-grained quality and great potential for further ageing,' says Johan who considers the 2009 vintage outstanding, resulting in a superbly balanced blend of the five varieties, 'creating harmony, finesse and long lasting flavours'.  

Johan recommends Simonsig Tiara 2009 with robust beef and venison dishes. The wine sells at R175 at the cellar door. For more information or wine orders contact Simonsig Estate at 021 888 4915 or go to www.simonsig.co.za.

Venison loin, smoked butternut gateau, caramelised Brussels sprouts, lardons and a port sauce, served with Tiara 2009 at the lunch prepared by Lucas Carstens of Cuvée restaurant.

Greyton cooking weekend 3

Boeuf en croute

Dessert pizza - jury is out on this one

Street art in Greyton

Andy Mitchell in his wine cellar under his garage

The Mitchells' back yard

Goulash soup, late night post-rugby sustenance

Greyton cooking weekend 2

Andy Mitchell Wines

Dim sum ingredients

Small steak from Frankie Fenner

Dim sum

Pizza

The Ladle

Cooking up a storm in Greyton

Idyllic Greyton

Greyton has changed in the decade or so since we last visited this picturesque hamlet in the Overberg. Just a little. The main road has been tarred; get-away-from-it-all money has come in and built beautiful houses and pushed up property prices; and a myriad restaurants and chichi décor shops have opened. But it nevertheless remains a village and is oh, so seductively charming... I found myself wondering if the little local newspaper (office hours 9am to 4pm, home for lunch) would offer me a job.

Being at the end of the road into the valley has helped the town retain its air of peace and quiet I think – next stop, mountains and nature reserve. If you do want to go any further, you'll have to ride shanks's pony along one of the hiking trails. There is one that'll get you over the mountains to McGregor.

We were in Greyton for a weekend of culinary capers with a group of friends, at a cooking venue called The Ladle. And what enormously good fun it was.

The Ladle cooking venue

We were presented with a 'mystery box' of ingredients on Friday evening (the advantage of Greyton being an easy hour and half's drive out of Cape Town means you can enjoy a full weekend away), after a tasting of some really exceptional wines from Newton Johnson. We had to produce something edible in an hour, as that was to be our dinner. The result was an array of dishes: fish and chips two ways; an Asian influenced fish and rice dish; Durban-style pork curry and a pork stir-fry.

Mystery box

Sweet and savoury, meat and fish.

There's a great little morning market in the town on Saturdays, so we whiled away a few hours browsing there before another wine tasting, this time with local garagistes (literally) Andy and Vicky Mitchell of Andy Mitchell Wines. Chocolatier Richard von Geusau also came to chat to us about his delicious business. He used to be an accountant but after moving to Greyton decided that if he was going to live in heaven he should do something more appropriate.

We were so enthusiastic with the big cook-off (using our own ingredients, which we took with us to make the recipe of our choice) that our efforts provided us with both lunch and a late supper after a walk and the rugby: pizzas, dim sum, vol au vents, boeuf en croute and a goulash soup with crusty bread... and wine, always wine.

A weekend of friends, food and wine in a peaceful corner of paradise... what more could anyone ask for?

Newton Johnson Pinot Noir line-up

Hennie, Maggie and Dion

Kim and Dion, mystery box... mystery joke

Jan, curry prep on the go

Jan and Anel

Saturday morning, country market in Greyton

The Restaurant with No Name, down a side street in Greyton

Need-to-know stuff
Marcus Baumeister is the manager of The Ladle; contact him on 079 505 1595 or email Marcus.baumeister@yahoo.com or on Twitter @TheLadleGreyton for more information about packages and prices.

The owner of Via's Guesthouse, Bistro and Deli also owns The Ladle; culinary weekends such as ours, or that also involve local producers of cheese and free-range pork, or bread or sausage making courses, are priced to include B&B accommodation – very comfortable rooms and a hearty breakfast, I must add. (We paid R800 per person for two nights accommodation, the mystery box ingredients, two wine tastings, a chocolate talk and use of the cooking venue.) The Ladle is very well set up and fully equipped, and there is ample space for eight to 10 people to cook comfortably together.

Parmigiana di melanzana

Who said vegetarian food is boring? We made Rick Stein's Parmigiana di melanzana for supper tonight and it was just delicious. He says in his introduction to the recipe that he thinks vegetarian food should be 'a perfectly balanced combination of flavours that simply doesn't need meat or fish'. This cheesy, tomato, aubergine dish is all that, and more.

Here's our effort, in pictures. We didn't have taleggio cheese on hand, but we did have mozarella, so we used that instead. And we added some homegrown chillies to the tomato sauce. Because that's the way we like it.

Aubergines sliced and ready to layer in the oven-proof dish.

The tomato sauce with added chillies.

Basil from the garden.

Building the layers.

Ready to go in the oven.

Twenty minutes later....

Please sir, may I have some more?