DELHEIM

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

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…

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Theresa in Wine, http://www.fineplaces.co.za/

The establishment of the Stellenbosch Wine Route is one example. It seems like a no-brainer now, but at the time the founding fathers – Spatz Sperling of Delheim, Neil Joubert of Spier and Frans Malan of Simonsig – had quite a challenge on their hands, even becoming known as “The Three Angry Men with a Cause” following their heated debates with critics. It’s a good thing they didn’t give up the fight. Today the Wine Route hosts more than 500,000 visitors each year.

And since rubies are the iconic gift for 40^th anniversaries, what better excuse than to help celebrate with a glass of award-winning, knock your socks off while blowing your hair back ruby-red? Afterall, Shiraz is just another thing that Delheim, Simonsig and Spier excel at producing. Read on for tasting notes and pairing suggestions for three of their very best:

Read more…

By: Sarah Duff, Getaway Magazine, July 7th, 2011

Beautiful 'shrooms (photo by Sarah Duff)

As the mushroom’s biggest fan, I was super excited to be invited to a mushroom day at wine estate Delheim, in the winelands near Stellenbosch. The invite promised mushroom foraging in a ‘secret location’ in the forest, mushroom tasting and a mushroom lunch paired with wine. They didn’t need to ask me twice…

Read more…

Delheim’s Mushroom Week will last until 10 July. Visit us to learn about wild mushrooms and try our delicious wild and exotic mushroom dishes.