Cape Town - It was a Saturday afternoon and South Africa was beating New Zealand round after round.
Okay, so it wasn’t a showdown between the Boks and the All Blacks at Newlands but rather the Sauvignon Blanc Odyssey, pitting Cape Town’s renowned Constantia wine region (Steenberg Farm in particular) against what has been described as “NZ’s premier wine region”, Marlborough.
And as I said, the home team was winning.
The Odyssey, held at Catharina’s Restaurant on the Steenberg Farm, is not your average wine pairing as each of the five courses is served with two glasses of wine in a taste test.
With the rain pouring outside, a fire warming my back and the beautiful surrounds of Catharina’s, including their delightful origami swans hanging from the ceiling, it was on.
Someone was keeping score, okay informally but we were all invested in the outcome.
The courses were prepared by Catharina’s head chef Garth and his team, who had their work cut out for them, seeing it was winter and we were drinking white.
Round One saw a grilled crayfish tail with lime beurre blanc, crispy leeks and garlic flowers served with Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc from the same year.
Round two was braised abalone (perly like I’ve never tasted before) served with lemon, soya, garlic, sesame oil, bok choi, fried sea lettuce and an oyster and my favourite wine of the day, Steenberg The Black Swan 2013. The also-ran was Clos Henri Malborough 2012.
Round three saw my favourite dish of the night: a West Coast chowder with smoked snoek, creamed corn and parsley. It was just a soup kinda afternoon and it went well with both the Steenberg Rattlesnake Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and the Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2013.
Quail Ballotine with smoked tomato and aubergine chutney, sweetbreads, asparagus and foie gras foam was up next.
The wines this round were Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc 2008 vs Dog Point Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc 2014 .
Last but not least a baked meringue with kiwi coulis and gooseberry sorbet accompanied the Steenberg Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc 2014 in the glass and added to the dessert itself. Both wine and dessert were fresh and tart. Marlborough was not represented, but I’ve heard that their sparkling wines are acclaimed.
My verdict: I have to admit that my nose objected very strongly to the pungent and very distinctive aroma of the Marlborough wines.
This of course translated to the tongue, making the Steenberg wines fresher and more elegant.
However, it was great to experience and find out more about the Sauvignon Blanc selection from Steenberg and the north-eastern corner of New Zealand’s South Island.
And what a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon, eating top notch food, drinking top notch wine at a top notch venue, with the competition adding an edge.
Better than any rugby match.
The next event similar to what we experienced will be the Red Wine Romp on August 21.
* Buy Steenberg Wines: from the tasting room at Bistro Sixteen82 or online at http://www.steenbergfarm.com/
IOL