DELHEIM

Indulge your romantic side with a full moon hike up Klapmustskop near Stellenbosch, and enjoy a picnic with breathtaking views clear across to Table Mountain.

Starting at the Dirtopia Trail Centre on the Delvera farm as the sun descends, the trail forms a 9.75 km circuit through the Greater Simonsberg Conservancy. En route are two rare finds uncovered in the process of alien vegetation clearing: the critically threatened Swartland Shale Renosterveld and an extremely rare tract of Breede River Yellowwood forest aged 300 years.

Hikers can pack their own snacks or pre-order a picnic to enjoy on the peak in full view of Table Mountain on clear days. Transfers are available to the halfway mark at the Pepper Tree, shortening the route to a little less than 5 km. The hikes are an annual series that enable the Sperling family, the owners of Delvera and the neighbouring Delheim farm, to “share the rare privilege” of the ecology that they love.

Pioneering members of the Greater Simonsberg Conservancy, Delheim is a Champion of the BWI, or Biodiversity & Wine Initiative, and is open to hikers and mountain bikers seven days a week, with entry via Dirtopia on the Delvera farm. Permits for the full moon hike, which must be pre-booked, are priced at R50 per adult and R20 per child; these including the shuttle service and a trail map.

Bookings can be made at the Dirtopia Trail Centre, telephone 021 884 4752 or email theteam@dirtopia.co.za. Picnics must be booked a minimum two days in advance; menus and further information can be found at www.dirtopia.co.za.

Accommodation for out-of-town hikers is available at the Oakleaf Lodge at Delvera; for bookings or enquiries telephone 082 809 987 or email info@oakleaflodge.co.za.

The 24^th of September will see en-masse gathering around the great South African braai, Ukosa or Chisa Nyama depending on culture of origin, all in the name of national pride; while at Delheim wine farm in Stellenbosch, the home-fires will burn throughout the week.

National Braai Day, or Heritage Day, is a call to all South Africans to stand together and celebrate the things that make us unique. At Delheim, the Garden restaurant will serve delicious lunchtime braai-kos (cuisine) from Monday September 19^th until Sunday September 25^th. The pinnacle of activities will take place on Braai Day itself, when live ambient music will play from 13h15. Clear views of Table Mountain (weather dependant of course!) will form a fitting backdrop to the proudly South African scene.

Those who haven’t done so are encouraged to visit the National Braai Day website and Facebook page: the latter offering lamb giveaways and other goodies throughout the week. Weekly bonus giveaways of 12-bottle cases of Delheim wines will reward lucky Facebook fans, while others will win tickets to the National Braai Day event at the farm.

Those who’d rather not take the chance of entering the draw are invited to book at restaurant@delheim.com, or phone 021 888 4607. Tickets for the day are priced at R150 per head, while the standard braai lunch menu will be R130 per head.

The three course braai-kos menu starts with a choice of grilled brown mushrooms stuffed with garlic and blue cheese, or smoked Weskus snoek pâté, and Delheim’s delicious freshly-baked farm bread. Mains will be a medley of a succulent braaied Karoo lamb chop, traditional boerewors, marinated chicken sosaties, chakalaka, salad and veg – potato and mealie of course – and what home-grown meal would be complete without koeksisters for dessert?

Phone 021 888 4607 or e-mail restaurant@delheim .com to book.

A fire in Kayamandi near Stellenbosch claimed ten informal settlements on Women’s Day, leaving the occupants destitute, so a decision was  made to donate all the warm and colourful blankets we gathered after the benefit performance of Misa Criolla in Delheim’s cellar to these unfortunate people.  We received the following letter from Nina Landman:

Dear Nora and team ~ Thank you for another  wonderful evening Delheim! I am very aware of the months of advance planning and tension associated with such a function.  Your continued  support  helps us to make a difference to many lives in our community. The photos were taken in Kayamandi. Ten shacks burned down and the people lost everything. There was much gratitude! Love, Nina

“It is in the nature of human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity.  If we accept that others have a right to peace and happiness equal to our own, do we not have a responsibility to help those in need?” ~ asks the die Dalai Lama.

So many, many thanks to all those who contributed towards this very worthwhile cause!

From http://www.nederburgauction.co.za/ : Limited speciality wines to open Saturday’s bidding floor at 37th Nederburg Auction posted on July 12th, 2011  

Some are there because of their age; others because of their sense of occasion. Whatever the reason for their extraordinariness, you’ll find a piece of bottled exceptionality in this year’s Nederburg Auction Private Collection category, which opens the second day’s bidding at this year’s event on September 16 and 17 at Nederburg in Paarl.

Introduced for the first time, the Private Collection category serves to accommodate exceptional wines that are available in extremely small quantities, from producers who have literally been treasuring their last few bottles for an event such as this. “Each wine included in this year’s selection of 14 items has an original story to tell that enhances the rarity, uniqueness and collectability of these wines”; says Nederburg Auction business manager Dalene Steyn.

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Dalene concludes; “Buyers who bid on the Private Collection wines at the start of the Saturday auction on September 17 will not  only be buying a special wine – they will also be purchasing their own special piece of bottled exclusivity.”

The complete list of this year’s Private Collection wines is included in the catalogue, available for electronic download on the auction website.

Delheim is offering an exclusive six-bottle wooden box of Grand Reserve 1984.  As the box cannot be opened without being damaged, and even we do not have a single bottle of this vintage to photograph, all we can offer is an image of the box itself!

Original tasting note by then-winemaker Kevin Arnold: “With the 1984 vintage having produced very rich and flavoursome Cabernets, one can expect this Grand Reserve, with the extra wood from the barrelling, to develop into a very good wine. It has the breeding from a good vintage, the spice from the Cabernet Franc and the longevity from the barrels to develop further still.”

Extract from Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein, 25 July 2011

Stellenbosch Wine Route turns 40, celebrates with most excellent restaurants in SA on Stellenbosch Restaurant Route!

The pioneering Stellenbosch Wine Route, founded in 1971 by winemakers Frans Malan of Simonsig, Neil Joubert of Spier, and Spatz Sperling of Delheim, celebrates its 40th anniversary with an extensive wine and food feast and fest from 28 – 31 July. The Route has established itself not only as one with the largest number of outstanding wine farms of the 18 wine routes in the country, representing 18% of all vines planted in South Africa, but also with the largest collection of outstanding restaurants in South Africa, Stellenbosch now wearing the Gourmet Capital crown.

Spatz, Vera with children Nora and Victor in the 60s

The trio which established the Stellenbosch Wine Route was inspired by the wine route Routes de Vins at Morey St Denis in Burgundy, the late Frans Malan and Neil Joubert returning from their 1969 trip and connecting with Spatz Sperling to establish the Stellenbosch Wine Route, the first wine tourism activity in our country. I was delighted to meet Spatz Sperling (who celebrated his 81st birthday last week) and his wife Vera, as well as daughter Nora and son Victor on their Delheim wine farm recently.

To create the Stellenbosch Wine Route, the founding wine farmers had to overcome red tape and bureaucracy, and even had to have wine legislation rewritten to accommodate the new Stellenbosch Wine Route. Meals were not allowed to be served at wine estates, and bottled wine could not be sold from a winery in those days.

The renamed Stellenbosch American Express Wine Routes has 147 wine farms, making it the largest wine route in our country, but also is the only one to celebrate its assets with the Stellenbosch Wine Festival for the 10th year running. Not focusing exclusively on wines, food has been added to the Festival.

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We wrote last year that the Stellenbosch Wine Route should create the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route, and while they have not yet done so, we have created it on this Blog nevertheless, and in honour of the cuisine excellence in Stellenbosch, list from it the restaurants on wine farms in Stellenbosch:

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* Delheim restaurant – read about the visit during the Delheim Nouvelle Mushroom Week earlier this month. Tel (021) 888-4600

Stellenbosch Wine Festival, 28 – 31 July. Paul Roos Centre, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 886-4310.  www.stellenboschwinefestival.co.za. Book www.webtickets.co.za. Entry R120 on-line, R140 at door. R350 for a pass for entry over the whole period of the Stellenbosch Wine Festival.

Posted by Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Tandy Sinclair's delicious Dried Mushroom & Apricot Biscotti

Dried Mushroom and Apricot Biscotti

Ingredients:

50g butter

225g cake flour plus a little extra for shaping

150g castor sugar

pinch of salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

100g dried mushrooms, I used whole ones and cut them into slices to retain the hint of a mushroom shape. The Nouvelle ones are already cut up!

75g dried apricots, sliced

2 extra large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius.

Melt the butter in the microwave and cool slightly.

Sieve the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.

Add the mushrooms and the apricots and mix in well.

In a small bowl whisk together one of the eggs and the yolk of the second egg, the vanilla extract and the butter.

retain the second egg white and whisk slightly to break it up in case you need it to bring the dough together.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the egg and butter mix into it.

Stir until it forms a dough, you might need to add some or all of the left over egg white to achieve this.

Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.

Very lightly dust a work surface with a little flour and shape into 2 logs, each about 20cm long.

Cover a large baking sheet with non-stick baking paper and place the logs on it leaving plenty of space between them.

Bake on the middle shelf for 40 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes.

Using a sharp knife slice the biscotti logs on the diagonal into slices and arrange standing up in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Return to the oven for 20 minutes to allow them to crisp up.

Biscotti ingredients - before

Biscotti ingredients - after

Annareth Bolton, CEO of the Stellenbosch Wine Route, shares a joke with Spatz

2011_07_13_SABC2_Pasella_20h20 (1) Excerpt from the Pasella programme featuring Spatz Sperling, the only surving member of the trio of “angry young men”, who founded the Stellenbosch Wine Route forty years ago. Says Spatz: “Forty years on and we are still the undisputed leader in wine tourism – a jewel of wines, landscapes and vineyards.  I am proud to have been a founder member of the first and still the most famous wine route on the African continent.  Happy birthday!”

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with exotic mushroom and blue cheese

by Tandy Sinclair, Lavender and Lime blog

So, you want to go mushroom hunting! Well, the best advice I can give you is don’t unless you know 100% what you are doing! I was  recently invited to attend a day of mushrooms at Delheim Wine Estate and I learnt a lot! I learnt that not all pretty mushrooms are edible. I learnt that some ugly mushrooms are. I have been cooking exotic mushrooms for many years, and frankly, I think it is easier, and safer to buy them than forage for them.

But, if you are determined here are some words of advice as given to us by Dr. Adrian Smit:

Read more and recipe…