News

Right on cue with the arrival of spring, our vines are budding and we are celebrating the beginning of a new vintage.

As the green grass bursts into life with the vibrant colours of the wild flowers all along the west coast, our vineyards are starting to change from a dormant brown to a vibrant green.

During September we will see the buds sprout shoots, which in turn will sprout leaves, and prepare the vines for the process of photosynthesis - the plants' most important energy source to accelerate growth. 

By the end of September, the shoots will grow rapidly at an average of 3cm a day.

September is always such an exciting time of year in the vineyard. With spring knocking on our door, the vines are starting to bud celebrating the start of a new vintage here at De Grendel. At home we are also starting to celebrate the arrival of summer and lighting the first braais of the season as the embers of our household fires are dying.

The perfect wine to be drinking at this time of year is definitely our De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013, which is our classic Bordeaux style blend and a true celebration of wine. The Rubaiyat 2013 is a blend of 62% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot and 4% Malbec, which is matured in new French oak barrels for 18 months.

With the celebration of spring we see all along the west coast of the Western Cape starting on the farm here at De Grendel the normally green carpet suddenly erupts with pockets of beautiful vibrant colours from the world famous flowers. The different pockets of colours are akin to exploding fireworks in a night’s sky. The image of this is the experience your taste buds will have when drinking De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013. Due to the blend, the different characteristics of each varietal come together and create an explosion of very distinct flavours of graphite, cassis, cedar and liquorice, with a touch of wood smoke.

Our kitchens and meals at home are slowly beginning to change as well. We are storing our slow cookers back into the kitchen cupboards and beginning to cook dishes with less complexity. So out with the stews and curries, and now in comes more classical style food like roast chicken, lamb chops done on a braai, steaks - especially chateaubriand - and for the more adventurous in the kitchen, Beef Wellington (click here for a great recipe to try at home).

De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013 is the perfect wine to be drinking with these dishes as it loves and deserves to be the hero of any dining room table.

Stock up on it here.

During September we are drinking De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013 - read why here - and suggest pairing it with this delicious Beef Wellington recipe at home.

Ingredients:

• 100g chicken liver pate
• 700g beef fillet
• 1 400g large sheet of puff pastry
• 1 100g sheet of puff pastry, to decorate
• 1 egg beaten
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 200g mixed mushrooms
• 50g butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped sage
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme
• 200g plain flour
• 3 eggs
• 300ml milk
• 25g butterfor frying

Instructions:  

Preheat the oven to 190°C, Gas Mark 5.

To make the mushroom duxelle mix, put them in a food processor or a blender and pulse to a rough dice. Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until softened but not coloured. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook, again without colouring, for 5 minutes. Season, then add the thyme and sage. Leave to cool. 

For the pancakes, mix the flour, eggs and milk in a jug. Heat the butter in a small frying pan and pour two-thirds of it into a small bowl to keep aside for brushing the pan between pancakes.

Pour a small amount of the batter into the frying pan and swirl it around to cover the base of the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip and cook for another minute.

Remove the pancake from the pan to a plate and continue to cook 5 more pancakes. Layer the pancakes with greaseproof paper in between and leave to cool.

Season and seal the beef fillet and set aside.

Mix the cooled mushroom duxelle with the pate in a mixing bowl. Brush the large sheet of pastry with the egg wash. Layer the pancakes over the top of the pastry so that it is covered and then use a palate knife to spread the mushroom mixture on top.

Place the beef on top of the mushroom mixture and roll up the pastry, making sure that the beef is completely surrounded by the mushroom mix and the pancakes and well-sealed. Leave to chill.

Next take the extra puff pastry and cut out leaf shapes, using the egg wash to stick them to the beef Wellington.

Place the Wellington on a baking tray and brush the top with the beaten egg. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until your liking. 

Recipe courtesy of Matt Tebbet, Food Network. Image source: Flickr.

Serve with De Grendel Rubaiyat 2013.

We at De Grendel are proud and honored to be associated with Habits Fashion, especially around such an exciting and prestigious event as the annual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town.

Wine, food and fashion are very closely linked in more ways than one. Within the food trends of 2015 we can see Asian flavors becoming more predominant in dishes. Similarly this was reflected at the start of the Habits show at the #MBFWCT with some uniquely Asian-inspired garments.

The next part of the show Habits showed us some cutting edge designs, although simplistic and fresh by using clean colors. The free flowing forms of the garments showed us that you don't need to over complicate design to still be cutting edge.

This range has inspired us at De Grendel Restaurant to look at and simplify some of our dishes and focus a lot more on one or two ingredients, and by doing so creating more innovative ways to enhance them.

For more details and pictures from the event, visit the Habits website and Facebook page.

With Wine-ter now is in full swing and in the Cape we are experiencing the coldest temperatures so far this year. Winter is all about comfort, be it the clothes we wear, the food we eat or the wines that we drink everything seems to have an extra layer to it.

This is definitely the month where the slow cooker is dusted off and we start to prepare these winter classics such as brisket, lamb shank, oxtail, curries and stews. We are looking for something to complement these warmer more complex dishes well you have to look no further than the De Grendel Shiraz 2013. The Shiraz shows coriander, lavender, white pepper and some floral notes on the nose. This full structured wine is well supported by oak undertones and sweet ripe tannins. On the palate the wine finishes with a beautiful clove flavour.   All of the characteristics of the Shiraz will lift any plate of comfort food to a new level with all of the complex flavours in the wine bringing out the same flavours found in most comfort foods.

The beautiful thing about De Grendel Shiraz 2013 is that it isn’t just a wine to be enjoyed with a meal. This wine is as comfortable alongside a fireplace while watching a movie or playing a board game (board game more than likely, THANKS ESKOM). The warming characteristics of our Shiraz will be reflected in that warm flicker from the fire giving you the complete comfort feeling this August.

Click here for our brisket recipe that pairs perfectly with our Shiraz.

The Restaurant team is back in full swing after our annual winter break. We have had a complete make over in the kitchen and increased the size of the kitchen so that we can better service our customers - that's you. We have also addressed the issue of the air-conditioning in the main restaurant so that you will have a much more consistent ambient temperature in the dining room, and made one or two little aesthetic changes in the dining room.

With a new kitchen comes an updated menu featuring some exciting new dishes. Below are some examples of what to expect when you next dine at De Grendel, followed by a recipe for you to try at home of one of the components of the new winter dessert.

Scallop, crab, confit jalapeno, watercress, celeriac, tom yum

Duck leg confit, duck breast, crispy onion, sous vide quail egg, potato, grilled quince

Apple, cranberry, cinnamon, salted almond caramel, ginger bread ice cream

Apple and Pear Crumble Recipe:

150 grams flour

100 grams rolled oats

125 grams butter

50 grams brown sugar

4 apples

2 pears

1 cinnamon stick

50 grams of honey

10 grams of white sugar

Method

1. Peel and dice the apples and pears
2. Place the honey and sugar in saucepan with cinnamon stick and dissolve the sugar.
3. On a low heat add the apples and pears and cook for 10 mins until apples and pears are soft yet still have a bite to them.
4. For the crumble rub in the cold butter with the flour, oats and brown sugar to get a coarse bread crumb consistency
5. Place your apple and pear mixture into a baking dish and then top with the crumble and bake at 180oc for about 20mins or until golden brown (You can use as much or as little of the crumble as you like and freeze any remaining mixture for next time)
6. Serve with vanilla ice cream or some freshly whipped cream

Chef Ian and his team are currently working on creating a tasting menu that will be available to diners in the evenings and will offer a 5 course menu paired with De Grendel's beautiful wines. Details to be announced soon.

Join us in East London and Port Elizabeth for our unique wine tasting experience of De Grendel’s award winning wines in July. 

The menus have been hand-crafted by the partnering restaurant’s chef to complement De Grendel’s wine and will take you on a decadent gastronomical tour that you will never forget.

Here's a great recipe for the perfect Shiraz pairing at home. Although this dish takes a long time to prepare it is definitely worth waiting for. It is a very simple recipe that gives you layers of depth and flavour and is the perfect winter dish. If you have left over brisket it is great in a sandwich the next day. Just thinly slice and add your favourite bbq sauce and some lettuce.

De Grendel Beef Brisket Recipe

1.8-2kg Brisket

2 tbls chilli powder

2 tbls salt

1 Tbls ground Cumin

1.5 tbls garlic powder

1.5 tbls black pepper

1 tbls brown sugar

2 tsp English mustard powder

1 bay leaf crushed

1 cup beef stock

1 cup De Grendel Shiraz

1 onion

1 Carrot

1 Stick of celery

3tsp Horseradish cream

Cooking Instructions:

Pre Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius .

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and then rub all over the beef brisket. Place in a deep roasting pan and roast in the oven for one hour.

Roughly chop the onion, carrot and celery and place around the brisket along with the wine and the beef stock. Then cover the pan tightly in tin foil and lower the oven to 150 degrees Celcius and continue to roast for 3 hours.

Once cooked allow the brisket to rest for 5 mins and reduce the juice from the roasting pan and add the horseradish cream.

Slice the brisket and pour over the horseradish jus and serve with mashed potato and some bbq glazed carrots, tangy red cabbage and a glass of De Grendel Shiraz.

Shop De Grendel Shiraz online now >>

The Pick 'n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival is in full swing and De Grendel is attending! Join us at 18:00 today, Wednesday 8 July 2015, at the Flavours of Knysna served with Tabasco event. This is the night when some of the best restaurants in Knysna,  Sedgefield and surrounds compete for the titles for the ‘Best Dressed Oyster’ and ‘Best Dressed Stand’ with a tantalizing show of oyster preparations and stands,  judged by a prestigious panel of South African and International Judges. 

Get shucking and try our perfect oyster recipe!

Tempura oyster recipe

12 oysters

50 grams cornflour

Tempura batter

100 g rice flour or cornflower

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

75ml De Grendel MCC

25ml sparkling water

Apricot chilli purée

8 dried apricots

1 red chilli deseeded (less if you don’t want to much heat)

50g sugar

Pinch salt

60 ml De Grendel MCC

40 ml orange juice

To make the apricot purée

Roughly chop the dried apricots and chilli and place in a saucepan with the sugar and mcc and orange juice. Cook until the dried apricots are soft and then blend into a thick smooth purée. Allow to cool

To make the batter

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk. Do not over whisk as this will knock out too much of the bubbles from the MCC. Look at the consistency and adjust accordingly. If it is too thick add more water and if to thin add more flour.

Open the oysters and dredge the oysters in the 50grams of cornflour and then dip into the batter and fry for around 2-3 mins or until crispy. Drain on paper towel

To Plate

Spoon some of the apricot purée into the oyster shell and place the hot tempura fried oyster on top garnish with coriander micro herb and serve with a glass of De Grendel MCC.

ENJOY!