News

Round 5 - Wesnesday 7th October 2015

With the last match of the pool stages to determine who SA will meet in the quarters what better way to celebrate our opponents than making the most quintessential American food the Hamburger. Follow our very easy recipe to produce one of the greatest burgers that you have tasted and impress all your friends and family on match day. We have also included a beautiful Shiraz onion chutney recipe to enhance the perfect South African wine for this match our De Grendel Shiraz 2014. We believe that this wine is the perfect wine for this match as we feel the Springboks performance will be elegant but powerful just like our Shiraz 2014. Good luck to the Boks. Recipe below, just add your favourite burger garnishes.

 Perfect Burger

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

500g Good quality mince (we recommend farmer Angus Mince)

2 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

¼ tsp nutmeg, ground

¼ tsp clove, ground

1 egg, whisked

2 slices bread, crust removed and soaked in 4 tbsp milk

½ tsp black pepper crushed

1 ½ tsp. maldon salt

½ cup caramelized onion

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, mix well and form into 4 equal sized patties. Fry the patties over a medium to high heat for about 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Serve the patties with rocket, mature cheddar, sliced tomato, De Grendel Shiraz chutney.

 Shiraz Chutney recipe

Ingredients

8 onions, sliced

100ml red wine vinegar

100ml De Grendel Shiraz

100g castor sugar

Method

Combine the onions with a splash of olive oil in a large pot and gently fry off for about 5 minutes, add the sugar and cook for a further 10 minutes. Now add the wine and vinegar and gently cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and soft and sticky.

During October, our wine of choice has to be De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2015!

Now that summer is knocking on our door, you can really start enjoying the fabulous fresh, white wines that the Durbanville Winelands is known for.

Our recently released new vintage Sauvignon Blanc has a bright green hue and abundant tropical fruit flavours of passion fruit, grapefruit and guava on the nose. The fruit follows through on the palate, giving it richness and resulting in full well balanced mouth feel that ends with a crisp dry acidity.

This makes it the perfect partner for the green veggies such as asparagus and artichokes that are coming into season right now, as well as the lighter, alfresco meals with higher acidity dressings that will be replacing the comfort food of winter!

Need some wine and food pairing inspiration? Serve it with a delicious Goat’s Cheese and Asparagus Tart. CLICK HERE for a great recipe by James Tanner.

CLICK HERE for full tasting notes of the 2015 vintage.

CLICK HERE TO BUY the De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2015 now and have it delivered straight to your door.

De Grendel walked away with three awards at the 19^th Michelangelo International Wine & Spirit Awards of South Africa. This year 17 international wine and spirits specialists from 15 countries were joined by local judge, Gregory Mutambe and brandy and spirits judges, Dave Hughes and Dr Caroline Snyman, to judge the entries over 6 days in mid-August.

A total of 1 665 entries from 364 producers were entered in a total of 48 classes. De Grendel was awarded Platinum for De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013 and Gold for De Grendel Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc 2015 and De Grendel Op die Berg Pinot Noir 2012.

Lorraine Immelman, founder of the Michelangelo Awards commented on the consistently high number of entries received: ‘This is an indication of the wine industry’s dramatic move to international markets over the past decade. As the world becomes smaller and the South African market becomes more and more saturated, producers have to investigate ways of increasing exports of their products. We believe that a wine which has fared well in Michelangelo will be well accepted in countries.’

De Grendel is honoured to have received one of only 13 platinum medals! The platinum medal was awarded to the De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013 which also won a Gold award at the IWSC Awards earlier this year.

October is the time for fresh, crisp flavours making it the perfect month to drink De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2015.

Try this delicious Goat's Cheese and Asparagus Tart at home, but be sure to stock up on De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2015 beforehand for the perfect Spring pairing.

Ingredients:

250g shop bought puff pastry
1 egg beaten
60g goats cheese crumbled
100g mascarpone cheese
Zest 1 lemon
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped mint
4 tbsp onion relish
2 heads of British asparagus
Salt and ground black pepper
Olive oil for brushing

Instructions:

1. Pre heat oven to 200C/400F/gas 6

2. Dust the work surface or board with flour and roll out the pastry to roughly 30 cm in length by 15 cm wide. Lay onto a lined or nonstick baking sheet, score a 2 cm border around the edge.

3. Prick the entire middle of the pastry all over with a fork. Brush the border with the beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes or until golden and crisp all over. Remove, and press down the middle of tart if risen. Cool.

4. Put the 3/4 of the goats cheese and all the mascarpone in a bowl. Tip in the remaining leftover beaten egg and add the lemon zest, chives and mint. Season and beat mix together.

5. Spread over the pastry. Add spoonfuls of onion relish over the cheesy mixture.

6. Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus and peel off any thick petals from the bottoms of spears. Arrange neatly in a line on the pastry case, alternating the tops and tails of asparagus along the length of the pastry.

7. Brush with a little olive oil, season and sprinkle over remaining goats cheese

8. Bake for 15 minutes and serve with floral salad.

Recipe by James Tanner.

We are very proud to announce that three of our fabulous De Grendel farm workers received awards at the Durbanville Regional Competition for farm workers. 

Jacintha September walked away as the winner in the General Worker category. 'Even though I’m just a general worker, I still want to be a role model to my children,' says Jacintha with pride. 

Jacintha reveals that she would love to study agriculture in the future to build up her knowledge to help her grow in her career. 

Joseph Phirri received the award for Best Technical Operator. He entered because he likes to compete with the best.

'My work environment and the people I work with inspire me to be better every day,' says Joseph. 

Christine Simon, another one of our hardworking team members at De Grendel, won the award for Best Supervisor. She says she entered for 'the fun of it' and didn't expect to win. 

Christine says that being part of the competition has given her a great opportunity to learn new things. 

Round 4 - Saturday 3^rd October 2015

With a must win game for South Africa this Saturday against Scotland we can feel that we are on the edge of celebrating a passage into the quarter finals. We feel it is time to break out the bubbly to celebrate the classic Scottish smoked salmon. For the De Grendel food and wine pairing we definitely feel it is time for De Grendel’s MCC to pair with this luxurious delicacy from the lochs of Scotland.

The luxurious mouth feel of the MCC will enhance the smooth texture of the salmon while the bubbles will refresh the palate. The beauty of smoked salmon is the versatility of the product. Try to smoke your own salmon at home this Saturday to impress all of your friends at game time.

Go to www.bbcgoodfood.com to get 10 delicious recipes to try with salmon and join us in celebrating Jean de Villiers' career with a glass of MCC!

De Grendel is hosting the Micklefield School Mountain Bike Fundraiser! There will be various races that you and your family can enter for!

MOUNTAIN BIKE RACES

REGISTER BY COMPLETING THE ONLINE BOOKING FORM >> HERE <<

FOOD AND CATERING

1. Bring your own and picnic at De Grendel
2. Pre order a De Grendel Picnic Basket (Limited)  (Adults: R200 pp, Children: R60 pp)
3. Pre book at the De Grendel Restaurant for lunch. Contact: renate@degrendel.co.za
4. Charcuterie boards available at the De Grendel Tasting Room - R110 per board. (No booking required.)

Truth Coffee, Cooldrinks and Pancakes will be on cash sale. Don't forget to bring your picnic blanket!

*All entries will only be allowed with a valid entry confirmation number. A family pack will be issues upon registration.

**Micklefield Family entry fees will be charges to their school account. For Non-Micklefield families ONLY, EFT payments as below. No refunds.

Micklefield Fundraising Account:

ABSA

Branch Code: 632005

Account number: 01053010772

Ref: MTB Surname

Please email proof of payment to: avril@micklefield.co.za 

De Grendel is thrilled to announce that our award-winning De Grendel Restaurant has been nominated for the fourth annual KLINK Wine Tourism Awards. Unlike other wine awards, the judges are the customers themselves who were called to vote on the website or through its Facebook or Twitter feeds. Hundreds of nominations were vetted by the voting team and whittled down to a list of only 85 nominees in 17 categories.

De Grendel Restaurant has been nominated by its loyal customers and visitors for the award ‘Best Gourmet Restaurant at the Cellar Door’. This award goes to the best of the best cellar-door restaurants in the Cape Winelands - those gastronomic destinations with signature chefs who create cuisine on the cutting edge to attract domestic and foreign wine tourists. The judges were looking for restaurants which pay great attention to detail in terms of an overall cellar-door experience, have a great location, first class service, a focus on artisanal and local Winelands produce, seasonal menus, tasting menus which expertly pair food and wine, a sommelier service and a wine list which showcases older vintages, own wines and/or regional wines at the cellar door.

How To Vote For De Grendel Restaurant:

Voting for the Klink Awards opened on 11 September and will continue until 13 November. Visit http://winetourismsouthafrica.co.za/klinkawards to cast your vote.

Remember to post pictures or videos of your visits to De Grendel Restaurant on the KLINK Awards Facebook page or to Twitter or Instagram with #KlinkAwards and #BeenHereLovedIt to enter weekly giveaway draws.

VOTE NOW!

We are extremely proud of De Grendel Restaurant’s third American Express® Platinum Fine Dining Award. The Awards pay tribute annually to the country’s restaurants that consistently achieve excellence, creativity and provide a quality culinary experience. De Grendel Restaurant was one of 89 restaurants that received accolades, 16 of which are located in the Cape Winelands. 

‘The 2015 list of restaurants has stabilised considerably after the restaurant industry saw a lot of movement within the top echelon of restaurants in South Africa. This has persuaded us to revisit our judging criterion, which has been in place since inception. As such we worked carefully as a team to ensure the best quality restaurants are selected,’ says Tamsin Snyman, author, publisher, Academy Chair for the region African & the Indian Ocean Islands for The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards and head of the American Express® Platinum Fine Dining judging panel.

With its view on Table Mountain – the Cape’s most iconic table – De Grendel Restaurant blends the history of the Graaff family and produce from Lady Sally’s kitchen garden with laid-back elegance and contemporary flair. The elegant dining room, flanked by a casual conservatory, sets the scene for Chef Ian Bergh’s beautiful, uncomplicated food. De Grendel’s award-winning wines at cellar door prices compliment the menu, making a seriously good eating and dining experience kind to the pocket.

Join us at our restaurant to experience for yourself. Book a table early to avoid disappointment. CLICK HERE to book online or email restaurant@degrendel.co.za or call 021 558 7035.

Round 2 - Saturday 26^th September

As the rising sun is now setting after the last game we can now focus all our energy on getting #behindtheboks for their must win clash against Western Samoa. Continuing in the spirit of De Grendel’s inaugural pairing world cup we are focusing on a recipe for you to try at home from Western Samoa paired with two of our truly South African wines.

Sapa Sui

For this classic Samoan chop suey style dish the perfect South African pairing  would be our Chardonnay 2014 or our Pinot Noir 2012 both wines are extremely good pairings with food with soy sauce in them. Soy sauce is always a problem child when it comes to food and wine pairing. On its own, too much salt increases the perception of tannins in a wine. The umami in soy sauce intensifies that tannic effect. Any bitter notes or off flavours in wine - especially red wine - also come to the front, while the wine's fruitiness is muted. But soy sauce is not eaten as a stand-alone ingredient. It's used in a multitude of ways, including seasoning sushi; stir-fry’s, marinades and dipping sauces, so pair the wine with the overall flavours of the dish.

Click here for the recipe

The Chardonnay due to the beautiful citrus flavours of grapefruit and marmalade with soft vanilla undertones will support the depth and saltiness of this classic dish while the oak will be lifted to give the wine a lovely toasty finish.

The Pinot Noir due to softer tannins present in this wine and the lovely ripe and fresh red and black berries in abundance with the soft velvety finish will help to soften the soy in this dish and lift up the fresher flavours present in the dish.