Newsletter 22 - May 2006 - Caveau Wine Bar & Deli

In This Issue

Jean & Brendon's Welcome

Welcome!

Wine Review
BWC Pinot Noir 2004

Recipe
Crispy Duck and Jerusalem artichoke Puree and Plum Sauce

Dear Friends

Our 2nd birthday is upon us!!

We can hardly believe that it has already been 2 whole years … and what a pleasure it has been. We have shared with you many a glass of yummy wines, delectable meat and cheese platters and celebrations. For the times that you have not been able to come to us for your events, we have made every effort to come to you! It is always at a time such as this that one looks back at the journey and especially those who have made it so worthwhile. In our doing so, we have you, our patrons and suppliers, to thank … for your friendship and unwavering support. To thank you, we will be celebrating our birthday this Thursday evening (25th May) at Caveau. We hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Next month sees us hosting our first ever Wine Festival. This will take place in the Heritage Square courtyard and is themed “Cape Blends”. Being the controversial issue that this is, our Festival will not be limiting the wines to blends that meet with the 20% pinotage rule, but will also showcase wines that wine producers feel may be an “expression” of a Cape Blend, thus leaving the playing fields, or rather the showcasing fields wide open for an array of interesting wines.

With lucky draws taking place every 45 minutes and “The Great Cape Blend Debate” planned for just after noon, the day promises to be hugely entertaining. Tickets for the festival are R100.00 per person and will be sold at the entrance to Heritage Square on the day of the Festival. Caveau will also be open for lunch during the day, where we will be seving meat and cheese platters as well as a set 3-course lunch, which needs to be pre-booked. For those of you interested in pre-purchasing tickets, please feel free to pop in to Caveau, or call us on 021 422 1367.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Till then... keep swirling!

Au Revoir

Petit Caveau

Wine Review - BWC Pinot Noir 2004

Having finally obtained our alcohol trading licence, Caveau will be able to serve as a wine merchant as well as wine bar and deli in the New Year. At Petit Caveau you will be able to buy wines that appear on our wine list and even some that don’t! From time to time we may even be lucky enough to get our hands on something really special!!

In the mean time however, if there are any wines on our wine list that you would like to have for your own private collection but that you may be battling to find elsewhere, please do not hesitate to contact us and we shall try to source it for you.

Wine evenings

Food & Wine Pairing III
In our next wine evening, to be held on 30th May 2006, the chemistry of taste and food interactions will be at the heart of matching seafood with wine.

Host of our wine evenings, JP Rossouw will guide us through each of the seafood and wine pairings whilst not only exploring the interactions of our basic elements of taste but also challenging the conventional custom as to what wines should ‘normally’ be served with seafood.

Further details of the evening:
Date: 30th May 2006
Venue: Caveau Wine Bar & Deli
Time: 18h30 for 19h00
Cost: R 200.00 per head
Rsvp: (021) 422 1367 or info@caveau.co.za

Our intention is to keep these evenings as intimate as possible. We have therefore limited seating allocations, so booking is essential!
Full prepayment is required

Our banking details are as follows:
Bank: Standard Bank
Branch: Sea Point
Branch Code: 024 109
Acc Name: Coalition Trading 145
Acc No.: 071 075 011

“Powered by Pinot!”

Cathy Marshall started making her first batch of Pinot Noir in 1995 on a Muizenberg beach with a group of friends. Today, her small winemaking business has developed into a leading brand called the BWC or Barefoot Wine Company.

The company does not own vineyards, but sources the grapes from some of the best vineyards to make quality wines. This is in the tradition of the French ‘negociants’ -- with a South African flavour. Their flagship wine, this Pinot Noir (red Burgundy), is a notoriously difficult wine to produce and accounts for only a small percentage of South African red wine output. Cathy has traveled to Australia, California, Oregon, Bordeaux and Burgundy to hone her skills and BWC are not the only one who are proud with the wines that she has created!

All great wines need to be dressed properly,and it is here too that those at BWC believe they have created something unique. In their collaboration with artist Hannetjie de Clercq, the wonderful labels on each of their varietal vintages enhance the total experience.

For them, their wines are exciting and fulfilling to make, as well as terrific to drink and the bottles provide a classic backdrop to any table.

This particular wine was matured in barrel for 10 months after which a light filtration for clarification into bottle was done. It displays fresh black cherries with an underlying black olive tapenade “savouriness”. The medium bodied palate has juicy supple tannin structure with mineral textured oak backup for balance and complexity. Great with our duck recipe!

The wine was bottled in January 2005 and released the following September. Production exceeded no more than 2000 bottles, so to get your hands on a bottle of this is very special!

Jean’s Thoughts
Pinot Noir … either you like it, or you don’t ....I LOOOOVE it! The down side is that the good ones are usually rather expensive, but here Cathy Marshall has produced a hearty, fruity wine for fantastic value. Expect a deep dark colour and an unusual soft structure … due, perhaps to the feminine touch?

Brendon’s Thoughts
The most underrated wine I’ve had the pleasure of tasting this year! Great wine, great winemaker and a brilliant label! If you don’t believe me, ask Derick Henstra…

At Caveau: R 180.00 per bottle

Caveau’s Friends in Wine

Crispy Duck and Jerusalem artichoke Puree and Plum Sauce

Every now and then, Caveau receives stock at a reduced or “special price”. This may either be in order to move produce a little faster or due to wine farm promotions that may be running at the time. At Caveau we feel that our patrons should be the first to experience the benefits of such kickbacks and we have in turn decided to run monthly specials.

This month, our special offering is Haut Espoir’s Rose (2004). A dynamic styled wine produced in limited quantities (only 800 bottles) which, as a result, has rapidly gained cult status, with pre-orders for this particular vintage forcing the Armstrongs to hang up the “sold out” sign even before the final labelling run!! The unusual combination of the Shiraz grapes and fermentation in French oak leads to upfront strawberry flavours, complimented by black pepper and cherry. The wine is full-bodied and has a dry finish and lingering after taste.

Available from Petit Caveau for only R 40.00 per bottle, should you be interested in purchasing this wine for your own private collection or just to enjoy with friends and family, please feel free e-mail your order to: info@caveau.co.za

Charl's Choice

This month we have some delicious cheeses in our Deli! Supplied to us by Get Stuffed Enterprises, they include smoked goat’s Chevren, Fairview Gorgonzola, Kleinrivier 6 month Gruyere and the Portobello Angelot (rind washed camembert). I tend to use most of these cheeses in our salads, sauces, sandwiches and of course good selection of them to make up our famous cheese platters. Should you be interested in purchasing some of these cheeses for use in your own home, please feel free to pop in for a sample tasting. I will be more than happy to assist in getting a great selection together!

Charl

Ingredients

4 x duck breasts
4 x duck hind quarters
600g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and chopped
100ml cream
25g butter
½ onion, roughly chopped
125ml white wine
2 sprigs thyme
2 plums, pitted and cut into segments
125ml port
2 tbls sugar
500ml duck or chicken stock
12 sprigs onions cut down the middle and washed

Serves 4

Method

Season the duck thighs and place skin side down on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C. Turn the thighs over and bake for a further 45 minutes. Remove and keep to one side until serving.
Fry onions with butter over low heat until translucent. Add Jerusalem artichokes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Deglaze pot with white wine and add cream and thyme. Simmer until the Jerusalem artichokes are soft (approx 15 minutes).
Blend Jerusalem artichokes and white wine sauce until smooth with a food processor and pass through a fine sieve.
Place plums, sugar, duck stock and port in a small pot and reduce until syrup consistency is reached.
Pass through a sieve and keep to one side.

To Serve

Season the duck breast and fry skin side down for 8 minutes until crispy. Turn over and fry for another 2 minutes.
Place a spoon of puree in the middle of a plate. Fry spring onions in a hot pan for 2 minutes and place on top of puree.
Slice duck breast thinly and arrange on top of spring onions.
Place the duck thigh next to the breast and drizzle the port syrup sauce over the duck
Serve with mashed potato and garnish with parsley.

The Vine Room

The Vine Room, Cape Town’s finest and most exclusive private dining venue is finally open for bookings. As opposed to our more casual fare, the menus that we will be designing for this venue are of “fine dining” standards.

Should you be interested in making any bookings, please feel free to contact Gabi on gabi@thevineroom.co.za or on 083 284 6754.

"Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures." - Michael Broadbent


Caveau Wine Bar & Deli - Newsletter 22 - May 2006	(021) 422 1367