Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

The Grillroom opened on the main road of Franschhoek, not far from the Huguenot Monument, in a historic building belonging to Franschhoek property mogul Trevor Kirsten, almost two months ago.   The owner of the restaurant is Franschhoek restaurateur Matthew Gordon, who owns Haute Cabriere, French Connection (with Kirsten as well), and is a co-owner of Cotage Fromage on Vrede & Lust wine estate.   It opened as a unique one-stop restaurant, butchery and vinoteque.

The building has an L-shape, and allows the restaurant to be divided into three separate sections - the main restaurant section has about 10 tables, and a welcoming fireplace for those cold Franschhoek winter nights.  The butchery section is much smaller, whilst a private dining room upstairs can seat about 16 guests.  The Vinoteque is also upstairs.

The restaurant interior is sparsely decorated, with some black and white photographs.  Red light fittings dominate.   Raw brickwork gives the restaurant a cosy informal feel, not as gourmet as some of the other restaurants on the same road in this gourmet village of note.

Before we looked at the menu, we are told about an extensive list of non-steak specials, mainly seafood ones, which seemed to contradict the “steakhouse” feel of the restaurant.   The no-nonsense menu is a large A3, and introduces the restaurant: “It is a restaurant that takes pains to source the finest meat and age it to perfection.  Only the freshest fish and shellfish from the sustainable list is served.  Each plate is masterfully created for your enjoyment.  Match this with a winelist of international standards and friendly, informed staff.   All our beef is aged for a minimum of 2 weeks before delivery to us.   We then wet age it in a vac pac for a further week before it gets put onto your plate.  We only deal with one producer and our meat is fully traceable to its source to guarantee quality”.

The starter list offers a choice of eight starters, including a “modern day king prawn cocktail with avocado and spicy cocktail sauce” (nice generous portion of juicy prawns, 3 slices of avocado, and too many leaves, tasty cocktail sauce); salmon sashimi; mussels, chicken liver pate and Grabouw wors with chakalaka (a surprise!).  Four salad options are offered, ranging from R 48 for a roasted butternut, beetroot, tomato and chickpea salad with humus, to R78 for a seafood style salad.

The mains are served with delicious crispy thin cut French fries (a Gordon speciality, I have been told, with his mussels), baked potato with sour cream, black mushroom couscous, or savoury rice.  In addition, stir-fried vegetables were also served.  Fillet steak is served in 200 g and 250 g cuts, at R115 and R135, respectively, sirloin and rump R98 for 300 g, 300 g Hanger steak at R88, a 500 g T-bone costs R115 and a 300 g Rib eye steak R105.  A range of sauces can be ordered for an additional R18.  A choice of bastings and of rubs is offered, according to the menu, but was not asked by the waitress (we only saw this after we had left).  My rump steak had a strong peppercorn taste to it, and burnt my mouth when I bit onto the peppercorns.  I expected it to be served plain.   My colleague’s spicy chicken stirfry dish, a special, was to her liking, and was not too strongly spiced. 

Venison is also served, two springbok dishes cost R 125 and R 135.  Beef, ostrich, lamb, chicken and vegetarian burgers are offered, costing R65 - R95.   A list of favourites, such as duck (R125), lamb shank (R95), veal chop (R130), ribs (R110), baby chicken (R95) and calamari (R90) can also be ordered.   Fish is treated as a daily special, but Norwegian salmon is regularly available at R130, as is a mussel dish.  Subject to availability, prawns, crayfish, langoustines, and seafood platters can be ordered.   Dessert choices are limited to creme brulee, chocolate mud cake, pear tart tatin, chocolate spring rolls, at about R40, and a cheese board.

An A3-sized winelist offers an impressive selection of 160 wines, about half of them being from Franschhoek.   The list has a very brief description of the cultivar offered, and lists the region in which the wine is made.   Unfortunately the vintages are not denoted.   All 15 wines-by-the-glass are from Franschhoek wine estates, and are most reasonably priced at about R 25 for the red and white wines.  I was offered a tasting portion of the Eikehof Shiraz first, without asking, and then a generous glassful was poured.  Champagnes are stocked, ranging from R 395 for the Tribaut Brut Rose to R995 for the Bollinger Special Cuvee. Cap Classiques are reasonably priced between R140 - R240, Sauvignon Blancs cost R95 - R250, Chardonnay R90 - R350, Shiraz R95 - R950, Cabernet Sauvignon R95 - R795, Merlot R125 - R285, and Pinotage R120 - R495.  A range of dessert wines is also available. 

The Butchery of The Grillroom  sells 3-week aged beef to take home.  Fillet costs R143 per kg, rump and sirloin R80 per kg, Boerewors R48 per kg, Rib Eye steak R84 per kg, hangar steak R58 per kg, and T-bone steak R88 per kg.   The Vinoteque sells all the wines that are on the winelist, as a wine shop, and restaurant patrons are invited to select a wine from it for their meal. 

The Grillhouse will give locals and visitors to Franschhoek a different style of wining and dining - no-nonsense in an unusual building - historic on the outside, and modern facebrick inside , with friendly staff.   It is a big space to fill.  One wonders how all the restaurants in the village will keep going in winter, when we were one of only 2 tables on a cold wintry mid-week evening.

A request for a photograph to be e-mailed to me for the review was actioned immediately that evening, which is commendable.  A follow-up visit for a cappuccino and pear tart tatin (requested with real cream) over the Franschhoek Literary Festival allowed me to try a dessert, and to meet Dominic Dear, the GM of the restaurant, with a professional and very friendly touch.   The Head Chef is Geraldine White, previously from Dieu Donne in Franschhoek.

The Grillhouse, Heritage Square, Huguenot Street, tel 021 876-2548.  www.thegrillroom.co.za (no content).

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com.

Hermanos opened as a new restaurant in a revered restaurant space previously called Joubert, in Hermanus, about three months ago.   Rave reviews from Whale Cottage Hermanus guests about the restaurant attracted Whale Cottage Hermanus Manager Carole and I to try it 10 days ago.   Our expectations were high.

The co-owner and chef Wayne Spencer came to our table when we arrived early at 18h30, and gave us a friendly greeting.    He told us his background, and then went off to the kitchen , where he cooks almost on his own, with the help of only two staff.  

“Hermanos” is the Spanish word for brother, and symbolises the relationship between Wayne and his brother, who is a financial partner in the business but does not live in Hermanus.   Wayne trained at the Silwood School of Cooking, and has worked at the Phinda Game Reserve, Birkenhead House in Hermanus and La Residence in Franschhoek, and ‘The Mandarin’ at the Port Palace Hotel, a one star Michelin restaurant in Monaco.   The menu is relatively small, and Wayne closes bookings at 50 persons, even if the space could accommodate more clients.   He believes in “local is lekker” in supporting local wine estates and suppliers, and recognises that his two house wines do not meet this stated belief.

While the interior of the restaurant has not changed much, it is whiter and cleaner than Joubert was just before closing down.  We could not sit outside in the fairylit courtyard, due to the rain, which is the best spot, it is said.   Our table for two was small, and at one stage we had to put the bread basket on the floor, as we ran out of space.  

We were disappointed with our waiter, whom we lost early on when we talked wines - the La Couronne Menage a Trois and Brandvlei house wines were not to our liking, and we were disappointed that there was no other choice.  Also, for a winelist that prides itself on Walker Bay wines for wines, the non-Hermanus wines-by-the-glass were an oddity.   We then had to order a full bottle, and this is where the waiter showed that he was not trained on the wine side - everything we asked for he had to communicate to a colleague who was running the bar, just three steps behind our table.  He would then communicate back to us, all via the third person, who never came to our table for a direct conversation.   The waiter did not know what the word “vintage” meant.   We settled on the Raka Biography, and declined it when we were brought a 2008.  Miraculously a 2007 vintage was found, and we could be served the wine, after a long delay on this alone.  By this time we had lost confidence in our waiter, even though he seemed to exude self-confidence, and so we asked the waitress to take over.

The restaurant filled up quickly, and Carole recognised many of the diners as locals, which will ensure that Hermanos survives the winter months.

The menu has 5 starters, including the flagship tiger prawn and avo stack (R52), asparagus and parmesan risotto (R45), Halloumi salad and fish koftas (both R42) and Carpaccio (R 48).   The prawn and avo stack looked attractive, and was served with melba toast slices in-between.  It was a little hard to eat, as the melba toast does not cut well, and the stack soon collapses.   The avo was sliced too thinly for my liking, and Carole did not like the knife shape digging into her palm while using it to eat.   The 8 main course choices are beef fillet hot rock (R 120), signature rib-eye steak (R 112), Karoo lamb rump (R 98), pork loin (R 94), Chicken Ballantine (R 82), linefish (R 90), Norwegian Salmon (R 125), and Crespella di Verdura, a tasty sounding dish of slices of crepe filled with butternut and spinach.     The rib-eye steak and pork loin could not be faulted, except that the steak was a touch too rare for the “medium rare” ordered.

The dessert choice is creme brulee (R 38), vanilla bean ice cream (R 32), chocolate tart (R 42) and a cheese board at R 62.  Carole enjoyed the creme brulee, and I my cappuccino.   While the service from the waitress was better than that of her colleague, she made no effort to really connect, and just asked the standard “is everything ok?” question, without making one feel that she was really listening or interested.

Hermanos stocks a wide selection of wine varietals, with about three brands per variety, and offers a good spread of Hermanus and Hemel-en-Aarde Valley wines.  So, for example, the Shirazes are Wildekrans (R 135), Raka Biography (R 165) and Sumaridge (R 225). The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Benguela Cove (R 185), and from Jakob’s Vineyard and Raka, both costing R 175.  Chardonnay comes from Bouchard Finlayson (R 160), Domaine des Dieux (R 160) and Ataraxia (R 267).   The Sauvignon Blancs come from Jackson (R90), Hermanuspietersfontein (R 120) and Southern Right (R 137).   Methode Cap Classique bubbly is stocked, from Wildekrans (R 160) and Domaine Des Dieux (R 215).

There was no music to create atmosphere.  There was no relationship formed between diner and staff, to make one look forward to coming back, except for the short interaction we had with Wayne on our arrival.  When I first wrote about Hermanos, without having visited, Wayne said that he wanted to come out of the kitchen and connect with his clients, but he is so thinly-staffed in the kitchen that he is unable to do so.  The waitress does not seem senior enough to guide and manage the seemingly untrained colleagues, which could be the downfall of Hermanos.

Hermanos has great potential if it gets its wine-by-the-glass choice and staff quality right, appoints a manager, and opens over lunch.  The food is of a high standard, in a town that is not blessed with any outstanding restaurants.   

Hermanos, 3 High Street, Hermanus.  Tel (028) 313-1916, www.hermanos.co.za  (menu not up to date)   Tuesday - Saturday evenings.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

For the first time, a wine guide has been published that is aimed at the consumer rather than the wine producer or retail trade.   “The People’s Guide” has been written by Michael Olivier and Neil Pendock, both acknowledged as being knowledgeable about wines.

The book aims at making wine-buying  “easy, fun and innovative”.  It contains tasting notes of 561 wines, selected from 1 200 wines representing the Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Methode Cap Classique, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinotage varieties.   Relevant information is provided for each wine, including its “flavour profile”, what one can expect to pay, which foods to serve the wine with, and other quirky facts. 

The authors say that the wine guide “….clearly, objectively and honestly provides the wine lover with the information he or she wants to know.  And despite all the hot air surrounding  wine, the whims of the customer are simple: what wine tastes good and how much does it cost.”   They also pride themselves on having made their selection on the basis of blind wine-tasting, as opposed to the (unnamed) Platter’s wine guide, which has not chosen its 5-star wines by means of blind tastings in the past (however, in the 2010 guide the final list of 41 was chosen by blind tasting).   Wine ratings on the basis of blind/sighted tastings is a very controversial issue at the moment, and is a hobby-horse for co-author Neil Pendock specifically.

Michael Olivier is a lovable ex-restaurateur, and was Pick ‘n Pay’s wine head until recently,  He still advises the company.   Neil Pendock is a free-lance wine writer, and is best known for his wine column in the Sunday Times.   The authors worked with Anibal Coutinho, Norma Ratcliffe, Cathy Marston and David Mnoneleli Msebi in selecting and evaluating the wines.

The “People’s Guide” is published by Whisk Publications and sells for R 99.  It is available at selected wine shops, supermarkets and bookshops.  www.michaelolivier.co.za  whiskpublications@iafrica.com

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The highly regarded South African wine guide Platter’s has announced its two winning white and red wines for 2010, being Palladius 2008 from Sadie Family Wines, and Le Riche Wines’ Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005.

Platter’s Wine Guide has given an early taste of its winning wines, and has also revealed that 41 wines have made the highly-sought after 5-star category, the highest number of 5-star wines since Platter’s was introduced.  As the Platter’s Wine Guide will only reach the shops in November, few clues as to the Winery of the Year, Superquaffer of the Year, and the five-star wines have been revealed.

However, the Platter’s media release states that 6 000 wines were evaluated this year, and 105 of these made the five-star shortlist, for the final selection of 41.  By wine variety, five-star winners include 5 sauvignon blancs, 5 Bordeaux-style red blends, 4 Bordeaux-style white blends, 4 shiraz wines, 4 unfortified dessert wines, 3 ports, 3 chardonnays, 2 cabernet sauvignons, 2 Pinot Noirs, 2 red blends, 1 grenache, 1 chenin blanc and 1 pinotage.

Platter’s has also revealed that multi 5-star winners are Woolworths, with four 5-star wines, which include a sauvignon blanc and a bordeaux-style red blend.  The other two 5-star Woolworths wines have not been revealed.   Boplaas Family Vineyards, traditionally a port winner, Cape Point Vineyards, Distell (5-stars for its Nederburg and Fleur du Cap wines) and Sadie Family Wines are also multi 5-star winners.

The Platter’s South African Wine Guide will be launched in November, with a detailed evaluation of all the South African wines tasted.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Nederburg will become the official wine supplier to FIFA for the 2010 World Cup, being one of the largest selling South African wines in “many international markets”, reports Just-Drinks.

The limited edition range World Cup 2010 Nederburg Sauvignon Blanc, Rose and Cabernet Sauvignon will be sold for about R 100 a bottle in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, Germany, South Africa and selected other countries.

Franschhoek’s Rupert & Rothschild Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon has been selected as the third most successful wine in Germany, reports The Big Pond blog.

Weinwirtschaft published a list of “the 100 Most Successful Wines of 2008”, and three South African wines made the list – the Rupert & Rothschild, Nederburg Merlot Foundation at number 23, and KWV’s Roodeberg at number 58. 

The criteria for being judged was wine sales in Germany of 10 000 bottles or more.   Seven hundred wines were submitted for judging on sales success, value for money, and marketing image.

“Forgive me if I’m excited, but I can’t help it.   I want to tell you straight out that South Africa, of all places , is one of the greatest sources for moderately priced cabernet sauvignon on the planet today”.  So begins Eric Asimov’s story in praise of this country’s Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the 21 January edition of the New York Times. 

Asimov’s verdict resulted from a tasting of 25 South African Cabernet Sauvignon wines, which he generalises as “balanced”, “with a sense of structure and shape”, “with flavours of cassis and violets, cedar and minerals”, “they demonstrated power”, “but also showed finesse”.

Asimov and his tasting panel voted the De Trafford 2004 as the top scorer, followed by the 2004 Rust en Vrede, and the 2003 One Stroke One from Graceland.  The remaining top ten Cabernet Sauvignons, as ranked by Asimov, a wine critic not easily pleased, were 2004 Bon Cap, 2004 Thelema, 2004 Neil Ellis, 2004 Bilton, 2005 Waterford, 2005 Alto, and 2005 Stark-Conde Jonkershoek Valley Twin Peak.  All but the Bon Cap are from Stellenbosch. 

Asimov was less kind to Boekenhoutskloof : ” …the 2006 Boekenhoutskloof cabernet from the Franschhoek region was, at $ 47, the most expensive wine in our tasting.  While the winemaker is critically acclaimed, we rejected the wine for its generic vanilla-cherry cheesecake flavours, which I often taste in New World red wines that are intended to please an international audience.”

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) are delighted with the article, and say that it should have a strong impact on marketing South Africa’s relatively unknown wines in the USA.

Asimov is somewhat sceptical about the future of South Africa’s wines.  “Yet the track record is slim.  We don’t know yet how these wines will age.  Many of these producers are too new to have shown consistency over time.”   Yet, he says that “South Africa has the potential for greatness.  In the snapshot offered by these 25 bottles, we found a region offering wonderful values and lovely wines.”

The 2009 Platter Wine Guide has been released, and its record 33 five-star wines were announced earlier this week.    Kanonkop scooped the prestigious honour of being recognised as the best wine as well as best winery.    Only Boekenhoutskloof and De Trafford had two five-star wines in the top wine list.

Wine of the Year

Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Winery of the Year

Kanonkop

Chenin Blanc

Ken Forrester The FMC 2006

Chardonnay

Ataraxia 2007
Jordan CWG Auction Reserve 2006
Uva Mira Single Vineyard 2007

Sauvignon Blanc

Quoin Rock The Nicobar 2007

Semillon

Constantia Uitsig 2007

White Blends

Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2007
Nederburg Ingenuity White 2007
Sterhuis Astra White 2006
Tokara White 2007

Pinot Noir

Meerlust 2004

Cabernet Franc

Buitenverwachting 2005

Cabernet Sauvignon

Boekenhoutskloof Winery 2006
Kanonkop 2004
Thelema The Mint 2006

Pinotage

Simonsig Redhill 2006

Red Blends

De Toren Fusion V 2006
De Trafford CWG Perspective 2005
Kaapzicht Steytler Vision 2005
Morgenster 2005
Vilafonté Series C 2006
Waterford Estate – CWG Auction Reserve 2004

Shiraz

Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2006
De Trafford 2006
Eagle’s Nest 2006
Hartenberg The Stork 2005
Signal Hill Clos d’Oranje 2006

Dessert Wine Unfortified

Fleur du Cap – Noble Late Harvest 2007
Klein Constantia Estate – Rhine Riesling Natural Sweet 2006
Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards Vin Pi Two (NV)

Dessert Wine Fortified

Mons Ruber Estate Muscat d’Alexandrie Jerepigo 1997

Port

Boplaas Vintage Reserve 2006
De Krans Vintage Reserve 2006

Franschhoek La Vigne winemaker Ossie Sauermann has been announced as 2008 Diner’s Club Young Winemaker of the Year.   Last year Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof was selected as the Winemaker of the Year.