DELHEIM

Reg Holder has been appointed as winemaker at Delheim wine farm. Well-travelled and driven by a passion for terroir, Reg hails most recently from a five-year winemaking tenure at Neil Ellis Wines.

Having extensive experience of the Stellenbosch terroir, Reg is greatly enthused by the Simonsberg ward in which the Delheim vineyards reside. This, he feels, is ideally suited to classic cultivars; among them Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and his personal favourite, Shiraz – largely for its natural fruit and performance with minimal oak.

“Respecting the terroir and planting it to the right cultivar is a top priority,” Reg says. “Clearly expressing the region should be the ultimate goal of all activities, from vineyard management practices to choice of wood regime.”

“It’s critical to recognise that wine is a living thing. It will evolve long after bottling, and it must remain true to terroir, and unique.”

Wines with identity, Reg believes, are “South Africa’s real opportunity”, rather than a specific style or chosen cultivar. “If we stay true to the region and site with which we are charged, planting it to the right variety and handling it carefully, we are sure to create wines that are different and unique. With our incredible choice of top terroir, generic wines should not be considered a possibility.”

Reg is keen to experiment with lesser-known cultivars – such as Delheim’s popular Gewürztraminer; and looks forward to working with dessert wines made in “traditional style”. Methods and styles are likewise up for trial, in their ability to contribute to ultimate wine quality. The single proviso, Reg says, is that “the region remains clearly evident to the person holding the glass”.

Delheim will be open to the public for a mountain bike and trail run event on Sunday 20 November 2010. The annual Delheim MTB & Trail Run event is the single day of the year that runners and mountain bikers can access the vineyards and surrounds of our lovely farm, traversing a cross-section of the Greater Simonsberg Conservancy.

On offer on the route are panoramic views over the winelands as far as Table Mountain, challenging single-track biking trails on a 12km route – this can be attempted  twice to form a 24km route – and a less technical loop of 7km for social bikers and families. Both tracks will be open to trail runners, and prizes will be awarded to the winning bikers and runners on each route.

Registration opens at 7am at Delheim and the first ride starts at 8.30am. Entry fee is dependent on distance and entry time, ranging from R40 to R100. Prizes for category winners and lucky draws are on offer from Delheim estate; breakfast on-the-go can be bought at registration and lunch at the Delheim restaurant subject to bookings and availability – telephone 021 888 4607 or email restaurant@delheim.com.

A donation will be given in support of the Anna Foundation; a non-profit group for children living on farms. Among other initiatives, the foundation introduces underprivileged children to various sports, including mountain biking. Use of the equipment is incentivised (no read, no ride!) to encourage scholastic achievement.

For further information visit www.dirtopia.co.za, email theteam@dirtopia.co.za or phone the Dirtopia Trail Centre on 021 884 4752.

Delheim wine farm is situated on the Knorhoek Road, off the R44 between Stellenbosch and Paarl.

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.”

Let’s be honest, if you read my blog you’ll know my food thoughts are less than conventional, so when a PR company like Erica Meles PR sends you an invite for a wild mushroom forage with leading mycologist Dr. Adriaan Smit, director of the South African Gourmet Mushroom Academy, I’m there!

This invitational was held in conjunction with Delheim Wine Estate and South Africa’s leading commercial supplier of exotic mushrooms, Nouvelle Mushrooms as part of their ‘Mushroom Week’ initiative, highlighting of the use of wild & exotic mushrooms in cuisine.

Regular readers will know that I’m no stranger to exotic mushrooms, in fact I can’t recall when I last bought traditional ‘button’ mushrooms.

I’ve written about exotic mushrooms before in my guest post for Cape Town Magazine and also in my Farm to Fork post with chef Neill Anthony and in most cases the mushrooms called for in the recipes on the blog are exotic. So come Tuesday morning I arrived kitted out for our expedition, stopping in for a coffee and home-made rusk at Delheim’s Garden Restaurant, our ‘base-camp’. Upon arrival I received a warm greeting from Delheim Marketing Manager, Nora Sperling-Thiel, an avid forager herself.

Delheim’s Mushroom Week will last until 10 July. Visit the wine farm to learn about wild mushrooms and try their delicious wild mushroom dishes.

Winter has long seen a flurry of fungi harvest activity at Delheim wine farm in Stellenbosch; the rare and delectable Boletus Edulis mushrooming overnight in secret locations scattered around the pine forest on the farm. These have been shared in the past with lucky Delheim restaurant patrons who happened to book on the days that the mushrooms popped up; their harvester Delheim owner-family member, Nora Sperling-Thiel.

Although popular with customers – many of whom are amazed at their texture and flavour – Boletus are as rare as they are delectable; appearing only when the weather is ideal for them to sprout. Coupled with their rarity is a fear of the unknown that wild and exotic mushrooms present, having been scarcely available in South Africa in the past.

Feeling that home cooks were missing out on a health-giving delicacy, Nora has teamed up with Schalk de Beer of Nouvelle Mushrooms, Hemel en Aarde Valley, to offer a steady supply of exotics via the Delheim restaurant.

The initiative kicks off with Mushroom Week 2011, held at the Delheim farm from 4-10 July. An annual event to make the most of wild mushrooms on the farm, a variety of dishes will be available at the restaurant, complete with sample displays and pairing suggestions with Delheim wines.

Two gourmet mushroom dishes will be on the menu permanently, with punnets of fresh exotics and recipes for use at home available for a limited time. Pairing  recommendations will be made with the Delheim wines, closing the loop on easy and fabulous fungi for home entertaining. The restaurant offerings will include Baby Spinach with seared Nouvelle King Oyster mushrooms, and creamy tagliatelle with Nouvelle Exotic Mushroom Mix.

Bookings can be made at the Delheim restaurant; email restaurant@delheim.com or telephone 021 888 4607. For those out of town, Nouvelle Mushrooms can be found in the Woolworths fresh food aisle, while the Delheim wines for pairing can be found on the wine shelves.

For further inspiration and ideas, visit the Nouvelle Mushrooms website, at www.nouvelle.za.net.

Michael Sperling better known as "Spatz" Sperling (photograph by Toby Murphy)

Author: Jeanri-Tine van Zyl

Published: 24 March 2011 in Wine Magazine

This is important to know.  Sperling means sparrow, with Spatz being the diminutive, affectionate form. “A Spatz can come from nowhere, and it sits where it shouldn’t,” tells the man who is nicknamed after this “little naughty bird”. Spatz Sperling smiles at his analogy, sitting upright in his plush, olive-coloured chair in his Delheim home. Vera Sperling, his wife, weaves in and out of the room like a bird herself, clucking and teasing, but also guarding and praising the man who, she admits, “is an icon”. (“But please don’t tell him he is a legend, he’s got a big head already!”) In 1975, Spatz named a patch of vineyards on top of Klapmutskop, to the north-west of the farm Vera’s Cruz (meaning Vera’s Cross), after this ever-present figure in his life. “It commemorates the cross and suffering I’ve had to bear since marrying Sperling,” she teases, but they seem as inseparable as swans.

Read more: http://www.winemag.co.za/article/wine-legend-the-story-of-spatz-sperling-2011-03-24

Delheim's lantern

Delheim made a virtual lantern to support Earth Hour – go here to make yours:

http://www.earthhour.org/kids/MakeALantern.aspx

Your lantern is a symbol of hope and represents your support for a sustainable future.

Remember to also turn off your lights for one hour on 26 March 2011 at 20h30 no matter where you are on the planet.