News

There were plenty of moments to celebrate at our beautiful farm this year!

#1 We Won A Batch Of Awards!

As fans of De Grendel, we know you love our wines, but it’s always exciting to receive accolades from the leaders in industry. The Michelangelo International Wine & Spirit Awards of South Africa awarded us with Platinum for De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013, Gold for De Grendel Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc 2015 and De Grendel Op die Berg Pinot Noir 2012. De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013 proved to be our star of the year – it also won a Gold award at the IWSC Awards earlier in the year.

De Grendel Restaurant also came out tops in 2015. In November we walked away with two awards at the Klink Awards: the Award for Best Gourmet Restaurant on a Wine Farm and the Award For The Klink Nominee with the Most Consumer Votes. The American Express® Platinum Fine Dining Award also paid tribute to our home of fine dining, voting De Grendel Restaurant as one of the top 89 restaurants in the country!

#2 Launch of the De Grendel Tasting Lounge

Our exclusive area for wine tasting was launched and given a sophisticated look thanks to celebrated interior designer Graham Viney. The walls display trophies, artifacts and contemporary blue and white china, a family favourite. Edwardian antique furniture from the Graaff family’s collection where brought in to add warmth and ambience. Our guests can now ease back in true comfort and sample our wines for R50 (premium wines, or R30 for 3 wines) or our flagship wines for R80 (or R20 for each wine). We hope to welcome you here soon if you haven’t checked it out yet.

#3 The new & improved De Grendel Online Shop And Website Launched

While we know you love visiting the farm to sample and purchase our wines, there’s nothing fun about running low on stock of your favourite tipple! Delivered directly to your door, our online shop also offers you exclusive deals. We’ve been overwhelmed by your response – see you online again soon!

#4 We Went Even Greener!

It was a truly exciting moment on the farm when we installed solar panels in a step towards making De Grendel a more sustainable and environmentally aware venture. Our grapes thrive under the warmth of the sunny days we are privileged to enjoy on the farm – so it was time we used this free energy source to contribute to their growth and harvesting.

#5 Our Cellar Master Celebrated a Milestone

Charles Hopkins celebrated 10 years at the farm this year! He was lured to De Grendel from Graham Beck Wines in Franschoek when Sir David Graaff offered him the opportunity to not only head up winemaking at the new estate, but also to design and build his own cellar. He is one of South Africa’s most highly regarded winemakers, a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild and Chairman of the South African Wine Show Association.

We have many exciting innovations and events planned for you in 2016 – we’ll keep you posted!

With Christmas just round the corner and the holiday season drawing ever closer we feel that the two wines to be drunk this December are The De Grendel Rose 2015 and of course our MCC 2013.

The Rose is the perfect summer cooler and can be enjoyed by itself next to the pool or the perfect accompaniment to your summer lunches. The wine has an attractive strawberry pink colour. Ample fruit reminds of red berries, strawberries and watermelon. The wine has a crisp, dry finish with a very well-structured natural acidity. All of the characteristics of this wine screams summer fun.

With the celebration of Christmas and New Year what celebration would be complete without the bubbles? De Grendel’s 2013 MCC exudes with fresh citrus, apple and sweet tropical fruit flavours backed by some lemon-cream richness. The fruit weight fills out the mid-palate and the mineral crispness ensures a well-balanced wine with substantial length. The beauty of the MCC is that it is great by itself to celebrate or a perfect food partner to all of the luxury foods that will be on tables everywhere over the festive season. Think oysters, smoked salmon and sushi all of these are the perfect match for this celebration of everything good.

Cheers To De Grendel Fans!

There are a lot of restaurant and wine awards throughout the year, but there’s something particularly special about the annual Klink Awards. The wine tourism awards rely on the people that frequent the incredible variety of wine farms in the Western Cape to vote for the spots that they rate above all others. It was such an honour to host the awards, as well as to be in the Gourmet Category alongside some of the other Winelands’ restaurants we respect so much.

This year, the fourth Klink Awards, we were thrilled to walk away with two awards. The first, The Award for Best Gourmet Restaurant on a Wine Farm, acknowledged the incredible work the staff of De Grendel Restaurant do in ensuring our restaurant continually delivers top-class food.

The second, the Award For The Klink Nominee with the Most Consumer Votes (The Supernova Award), also went to De Grendel Wine Estate. Thank you so much to our loyal customers for recognising our work.The fact that it is the public that decides this vote (the awards racked up 11 363 votes this year) is incredible and it shows that we here at De Grendel are providing a full dining experience in the winelands that people are looking for and enjoying.

We would also like to congratulate every establishment that was nominated in all of the categories of this year’s Klink Awards. There are so many fantastic vineyards offering such a large spectrum of activities, cuisine, tours and unique wine tastings that we here in the Western Cape are so privileged to have on our doorstep.

"All of Klink's nominees this year interacted with their fans during the voting period, yet it was De Grendel that really engaged them and which ultimately lead to its success," said Monika Elias, The Klink Award's founder.

We look forward to being involved with the #KlinkAwards next year.

Serves 6-8 people

250g tennis biscuits or ginger biscuits 
125g butter
2 punnets of fresh blueberries

• Crush the biscuits in a large freezer bag using a rolling pin until you achieve a rough breadcrumb consistency.
• Melt the butter in a pan and add the biscuit crumbs.
• Now place in a prepared pie dish and set in the fridge.
• Once the base is set place a layer of blueberries on the base.

Lemon curd mixture
400g butter
zest of 4 lemons
juice of 8 lemons
8 eggs
4 egg yolks
600g caster sugar
4 gelatin sheets

• Place all ingredients, apart from the gelatin, into a bowl and place over a water bath, continuously stirring until a thick custard consistency is achieve.
• Soak gelatin leaves in cold water and then take out of water and squeeze excess water off. Add to the warm mixture and stir until completely dissolved.
• Now pour mixture over the biscuit base and blueberries an allow to cool and then place in the fridge until set.
• Garnish with fresh whipped cream and blueberries.

Thanks to summer, the De Grendel vineyards are in full leaf and have a most magnificent green hue to them. We’re getting beautiful sunny, warm days with the odd shower hitting the ground and giving off the very distinctive flinty smell.

These two elements are found in our Koetshuis 2015, with generous aromas of green fruits like kiwi and Granny Smith apple interplaying with gooseberries and lemongrass in perfect harmony. On the palate we have a clean and flinty taste that has wonderful zippy acidity, soundly balanced by complexity gained from lees contact and good length. With the heat increasing, we’re also relishing seafood right now, and this wine is the perfect seafood partner.

This Smoked Salmon Dish is a perfect way to kickstart summer!

Buy De Grendel Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc here.

House smoked salmon, ricotta, baby leaf, orange, grapefruit and lime vanilla dressing

Serves 8

Ingredients
8 tbsp warm smoked salmon, flaked
16 orange segments
16 grapefruit segments
300g baby leaf salad
8 tbsp ricotta, crumbled

For the dressing
8 tbsp fresh lime juice
16 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 very small vanilla pod (seeds only)

Method
1. To make the dressing, whisk the lime juice, vanilla and olive oil together and set aside.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl, drizzle with the dressing and toss and serve immediately.

De Grendel Wine Estate presented its sophisticated new Tasting Lounge with a fashionable launch event held Thursday 22 October in collaboration with Habits Boutique.

“We envisaged a wine Tasting Lounge where guests could taste wine in a comfortable, cosy environment with an old world feel to it, with excellent service and knowledgeable staff at hand,” says Sir De Villiers Graaff, owner of De Grendel Wine Estate. “The result is a sophisticated and classically designed space by Graham Viney that reflects the DNA of De Grendel and its richly textured family history”.

The walls display trophies, artefacts and contemporary blue and white china, a family favourite. Edwardian antique furniture from the Graaff family’s collection add warmth and ambience. 

Fashion maven Jenny le Roux of Habits Boutique, a close friend of the Graaff family and ambassador of the De Grendel brand, hosted the celebration, which was attended by friends and influencers from wine and fashion circles – all chauffeured in style to the farm by Auric BMW in Claremont.

As part of the launch event Jenny set winemaker Elzette du Preez a creative challenge to match the personalities of De Grendel wines with seven of her favourite outfits from the recent Fashion Week:

1) A red Oriënt-inspired coat made from emperor’s satin, over a matching dress was matched with De Grendel Rosé. “Rosé is so trendy right and very versatile – it can be dressed up and dressed down," said Elzette.  

2) A champagne-coloured pleated layer dress, paired with the De Grendel MCC, “an obvious choice because of the colour and the extravagance of the design”.

3) An unusual white linen wedding dress Jenny designed with a fitted jacket was paired with De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc.  Elzette explained: “Every fashion range needs at least one wedding dress; every wine range needs a Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is pure and simple, but complex at the same time.”

4) A white shirt tucked into a full, patterned and pocketed satin skirt was paired with De Grendel’s Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc, both signalling the sophistication of simplicity.

5) Ten meters of fabric was used for a dramatic, layered black and white dress partnered with De Grendel Op die Berg Chardonnay. Elzette pointed out the many different fermentation and blending processes used to create this layered, flavourful wine.

6) A red outfit inspired by the East and Jenny’s love of kimonos, was paired with De Grendel’s flagship Rubaiyat, a blend in the Bordeaux style. “This bold red wine is a true masterpiece and makes a serious statement, just like this beautiful red design by Habits.”

7) For the finale of the fashion-with-wine matching a sexy sheer snake print dress with a plunging neckline was matched with De Grendel Noble Late Harvest, a sweet and seductive wine with a lot of fruit. 

De Grendel Tasting Lounge hours

Tuesday to Saturday: 09h00 to 17h00

Sundays: 10h00 to 16h00

Closed on Mondays, Good Friday and Christmas Day

Free wine tasting for De Grendel Loyalty Club members and a guest.

De Grendel wines are available online, at the tasting room and speciality wine stores countrywide.

It doesn’t get any bigger than this Test tomorrow, Saturday, 24 October 2015. Two of the world’s best rugby teams will battle it out to see who earns their spot in the Final. For De Grendel’s Rugby World Cup wine pairing, we decided that we would use the opportunity to celebrate the braai (one of SA’s greatest rugby and food traditions) and match it with one of New Zealand’s greatest wine varietals, Pinot Noir.

New Zealand has taken to growing Pinot Noir like they have to rugby, now producing some of the world’s best Pinot Noirs as well as rugby players.

New Zealand has three styles of Pinot Noir:

WAIRARAPA: Darker fruit aromas, often with a savoury component. Rich, full, sweet fruit on the entry with flavours in the dark plum and chocolate spectrum. The structure of the wines are based around long, fine tannins.

NELSON: Fragrant, complex, earthy and savoury textured wines with rich, spicy, cherry and plum flavours. These wines are concentrated, balanced and supple with fine lingering tannin.

CANTERBURY/WAIPARA VALLEY: Red and dark berry fruit with spicy notes. Firm structure and acidity. Savoury earthy characteristics.

The De Grendel Op Die Berg De Grendel Pinot Noir 2012 is in the style of the Nelson region of New Zealand with a light, bright ruby red hue and the nose is filled with luscious red cherry, blackberry and pine needle notes that carry through on the palate with a long velvety finish, balanced with well-structured freshness.

This is the perfect wine to drink with all of your favourite braai meats. So let’s get behind the Bokke, light our braais and drink Op Die Berg De Grendel Pinot Noir 2012.

Hopefully there’ll be more wine called for when we win!

Share your best braai tips with us on Facebook and Twitter and make sure to stock up on our Op die Berg Pinot Noir 2012 here.

With the Rugby World Cup now in the knock out stages every game becomes a must win.

This weekend, South Africa faces Wales in a quarter-final showdown that will see the winner face either France or New Zealand.

When it comes to food, Wales and South Africa have one thing in common - their beautiful lamb. So we feel that our food and wine pairing World Cup has to celebrate this.

Treat your friends and family this match day to a beautiful slow roasted leg of lamb served with Welsh Rarebit Cauliflower and braised leeks. 

The perfect wine partner for this occasion is the De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013. What better way to celebrate than to be drinking this beautiful flagship wine while enjoying these amazing Welsh dishes. 

WELSH RAREBIT CAULIFLOWER

Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 tsp English mustard
2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup of a dark beer (not Guinness)
1½ cups of heavy cream
12 oz strong cheddar cheese
4 drops Tabasco sauce
Season to taste

1. In a saucepan over low heat melt butter and whisk in the flour. Cook continually, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Do not brown the flour.
2. Whisk in mustard, Worcestershire sauce and season. 
3. Add beer and whisk.
4. Pour in cream and cheese, keep whisking and cook for 5 minutes then stir in hot sauce.
5. Pour over your blanched cauliflower and gratin it under a hot grill until golden brown.

BRAISED LEEKS

Ingredients

4 medium leeks
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup chicken stock
½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1½ tsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
Season to taste

1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat.
2. Trim and remove the root ends and dark green tops of the leeks. Halve the leeks lengthwise and rinse under cold water to remove any dirt between the layers. Add the leeks to the boiling water, lower the heat, and gently boil until they are tender, about 4 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the drained leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook on the flat side until they begin to brown, about 4 minutes.
4. Add the broth and thyme and continue to simmer until the liquid has nearly evaporated, about 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Stir in the parsley and serve immediately.

Serve these two side dishes with James Martin’s perfect slow roast leg of lamb recipe.