What better way to celebrate your 23rd birthday than with a group of old friends, a delicious meal and a few bottles of quality wine? Blues in Camps Bay is going one better and will mark the occasion with several food and wine evenings over the next three months.
The first event saw invited guests enjoying wines from Villiera alongside a menu prepared by chef Morne Botha.
First up was a starter of citrus poached prawns layered with avocado and herb salad. It was paired with the Villiera Bush Vine sauvignon blanc, which winemaker Jeff Grier said was produced using the fruit of 30-year-old vines.
Plates polished, we moved on to the veal loin, which was flavoured with a melange of dried mushrooms, sautéed mushrooms, mushroom duxelle and mushroom ravioli - pretty much mushrooms done every which way, but magic - and served with a sage-infused red wine reduction.
Chef Botha gave us a lively account of what went into preparing the veal, which usually "has absolutely no personality". The animals used for the meal, he assured us, had roamed happy and free.
The combination of the mushrooms with the red wine reduction made the dish a huge success.
Accompanying the course was Villiera's flagship Monro Red Blend, which has a delicious aroma with just a hint of spices on the nose. "The secret to a good wine is not in the first sip, it's whether you can enjoy it all the way through," Grier explained. And the Monro Red is certainly a wine you could enjoy to the last drop.
Drawing the meal to a close was a mille feuille, with layers of crisp sweet pastry, peppered strawberries and honey-sweetened mascarpone cheese mousse. It was served with the Villiera brut rose methode cap classique, which the equally effervescent chef said looked "just like sex in a glass". The soft fruity flavours complemented the dessert, which was pleasantly not too tart.
On August 26, Blues features the wines of Glen Carlou, on September 9, Zorgvliet, on September 23, Haute Cabriere and on October 6, Neil Ellis.
- To book, call 021 438 2040, or |e-mail [email protected]