In preparation for the busy months that we anticipate lying ahead for Caveau, we have been making a few changes to our staff arrangements!  And no, these have not been in the way of deductions, but rather extensions to our team! 

Those of you that have visited us recently may have noticed a couple of new faces in our kitchen.  For the last month or so and under the watchful eye of our Chef Charl, a new team of kitchen staff is being trained up to assist with ensuring that, when Caveau at The Mill opens, nothing less than the delectable menu that is synonymous with our name, comes out of our kitchens!

Heading up this new team is Willem Lubbe who has already managed to please many a palate!  We are delighted to welcome him to our team and have no doubt that we will be seeing many more of his delicious morsels on our tables.

As the end of 2006 rapidly approaches, spirits have been high and festivities are in full swing!  At this point, we would like to let you know that, as per usual, we will be closing for the Christmas period after dinner on the 22nd of December 2006 and will be open again for dinner on the 02nd January 2007.  We would love to see you before then, so please swing by and join us for a drink!

Till then... keep swirling!

Au Revoir

The home of Fairview wines is a 300ha farm on the south-west-facing slopes of Paarl Mountain, a granite rock outcrop in the heart of the Paarl wine district, viticulturally among the most historic and influential areas of the Cape winelands. Standing among the lavender beds in the terraced front garden of the winery, you’ll look out across rolling fields and see distant flat-topped Table Mountain, a world-famous landmark standing guard over the city of Cape Town, South Africa’s tourist mecca perched on the Cape Peninsula at the southern tip of the African continent.

Winemaking on the farm can be traced back to 1699, not quite a half-century after the first European settlers arrived in southern Africa. But its wines entered the modern era with the first bottling under the Fairview label in 1974 by the Back family, owners since 1937. Today, some three decades later, grandson Charles Back II has brought Fairview wines to world markets. One of South Africa’s pre-eminent vintners, he has earned Fairview (and its ancillary brands Spice Route, Goats Do Roam and Agostinelli) a reputation for consistent quality across a range of innovative styles, using both classic and unusual varieties. And he has helped pioneer a modern culture of wine growing in South Africa that embraces typicity of terroir, unrestricted by ‘estate’ appellation, by both developing his own vineyards to their full potential and seeking out new viticultural sites to grow fruit for wines to please popular tastes and discerning palates.

At Fairview, the winemaking philosophy is that wine is an integral and joyful part of everyday life. An unbridled enthusiasm, sense of fun and pure pleasure in growing vines, vinifying wine, and presenting it to wine lovers in all manner of exciting guises, pervades Fairview.

In this particular wine, the combination of fruit from various vineyards is carefully blended so as to get the best out of the various components. The Fairview grapes provide freshness and fragrant upfront fruit, while the dryland component provides depth, richness and full mouthfeel. Whole bunch pressing retains the freshness, which balances well with the fragrant flavours.
With its pale golden hue, its aroma of fresh bouquet of kiwi, litchi and nutmeg, evolving with peach and white flowers its good fresh palate balance with gentle oaking and fragrant fruit and la rich lingering finish, this viognier will be at its best before the end of 2007.

Jean’s Thoughts
Fairview did it again! They have produced a value for money wine! It is fruity, it has a touch of grassiness and it is refreshing in the palate. A good food match for the summer, think of seafood or cold cuts.

Brendon’s Thoughts
This wine has a discernable touch of peach on the nose and palate, agreeable alcohol and is a perfect summer and food wine that will compliment seafood and salads perfectly!

At Caveau:   R 165.00 per bottle

Guardian Peak Shiraz 2004

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 Guardian Peak’s 2004 Shiraz. This deep crimson red wine displays plum and blackcurrant aromas and a spicy boquet. Rich and expressive, this wine has presence. With its luscious berry and notable cherry flavours that dominate the palate and gentle mocha undertones, this typically full-bodied Shiraz displays good integration between fruit and wood, and its lingering finish suggests it to be a rewarding wine for drinking and enjoying with food in particular, poultry or veal. The glorious complexity of flavours of a Cape-Malay chicken curry would be our recommendation.

Available from Petit Caveau for only R 50.00 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

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