Bread, wine and a meal fit for angels

This week I attended a bread and wine tasting at Stellenzicht, a farm known more for the quality of its wines than its swish hospitality offering. There’s no art gallery, deli or signature restaurant to distract from the core business of this farm - producing good wine – but when winemaker Guy Webber wants to share his wines with guests, no effort is spared.

Although the farm is more about production than gloss and glamour, the tasting room is warm and friendly. An old chemical store off the production area has been converted for small functions and wooden staves suspended from the ceiling ensure that wine is the décor focus. For our tasting, this cosy space was filled by two large circular tables laden with bread, wine glasses and an abundance of dipping goodies.

Guy is an avid breadmaker and thought the idea of pairing his wines with bread from trendy Cape Town bakery, Knead, a novel way of showcasing their nuanced flavours and aromas. Evan Faull from Knead devised the pairing combinations and all considerations of low carb diets fell by the wayside as wine flowed freely and loaves were torn, sliced and dipped.

The wine was mainly from the farm’s accessible Golden Triangle range, but we were also treated to the rather lovely Semillon Reserve 2004, paired with brioche. The Semillon’s heady, intensely fragrant nose follows through with red apple on the palate and having spent 9 months in oak, has all the good wood characteristics and none of the bad. The buttery brioche, more cake than bread, was a perfect partner for this Audrey Hepburn of a wine.

The Golden Triangle Shiraz 2004 with buttermilk rye was also yummy, the Golden Triangle Pinotage 2006 charming and dignified the Golden Triangle Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 the type of wine you want to save for a wintery day when you’re curled up on the couch in front of the fire and can really give it the attention it deserves. Come to think of it, for that kind of fireside brooding, I’d also like a bottle of the farm’s award winning Syrah.

The sacramental theme of “bread and wine” spilled over into a lunch of authentic Middle Eastern dishes. Tabbouleh in poppadoms with mozzarella fingers and bulgar wheat mixed with aromatic herbs was followed by Laban Immu, an ancient Lebanese lamb dish served with cous cous, vegetable moussaka and greens. Made from lamb, yoghurt, thyme, lemon juice, garlic and mint, Laban Immu is rumoured to have been the dish Abraham offered his angelic visitors in Genesis 18:1-8. It certainly tasted divine and if that’s not enough reason to ferret out a recipe on the internet, the dish has medicinal properties. Researchers reckon soured milk as a dietary staple protected ancient nomadic tribes from bovine tuberculosis.

Clattering over the dirt road back onto the R44, I left Stellenzicht hooped up on wine related anti-oxidants and shielded from cow TB, daydreaming about yoghurty meat dishes and Semillon packed with waxy apples.