TAKE time out. And where better than a heritage wine estate celebrating its 10th spring menu?
Drive through the entrance and your first view is of a tree-framed, gabled manor house dating back to 1694, set against a backdrop of mountains. But the estate’s attraction lies in its skilful fusion of historical and contemporary: follow the road a little further to a modern winery, tasting room and restaurant.
In the tasting room, tractor seats make surprisingly comfortable bar stools, industrial girders set the decor mood in the crisp restaurant, where menus reflect this traditional/modern synergy.
Art forms part of the experience: the gallery and sculpture garden provide a showcase for leading and emerging local artists. On a sunny day; rather than lunch indoors, book a table in the tree-shaded courtyard with ringside view of the latest sculptures – guaranteed to stimulate conversation, should it flag.
But first taste the superbly crafted wines. Take a cellar tour or call in at the tasting room and select what you’d enjoy for lunch. If you head straight for your table, rely on recommendations from ardent wine enthusiast Khuselo Mputa, restaurant manager/sommelier. You can simply follow the menu’s wine-pairing suggestions, but it’s interesting to hear what influenced the matches.
Executive chef Darren Badenhorst, a banana boy whose varied experience includes an impressive line-up of top restaurants (and who dropped his executive chef status to work as chef de partie under Gregory Czarnecki, at Waterkloof) has ruled the kitchen for three years. Adamant that fine dining has its place, he is determined that Grande Provence should remain a bastion of the genre: “That’s what we’re known for”.
This shows in the white napery, table appointments and hand-crafted tableware. But there’s no haute cuisine rigidity: you’ll find a fashionable emphasis on foraging, complementing the emulsions, pearls and caviars integral to the carefully crafted dishes.
Outdoors, there’s no pandering to a more casual mood. My escort and I swopped plates halfway, to share subtle tastes and flavour explosions. I could have made a meal of the sliver-thin tuna carpaccio starter with avocado emulsion, yuzu caviar, ocean glass and iced baby salad (you add citrus wasabi dressing drop by drop with a pipette). The truffled pea crochette, presented with asparagus mousse, creamed chestnut, cured mozzarella, and grapefruit caviar should intrigue vegetarian palates.
Seared Franschhoek trout makes a colourful combo with beetroot carpaccio, smoked salmon roe, candied lemon, caper aioli and sorrel shoots picked between vineyard rows; for a plate of gamebird flavours, order wild pigeon and duck rillettes with sous vide guinea fowl roulade, and amusing southern-fried quail “lollies”.
As dessert, we were pushovers for the rose and white chocolate macaroon – a symphony of caramelised white chocolate mousse, rose pearls and do-it-yourself pipette, toasted macadamia nuts and candyfloss ice cream.
If you’re looking for a tasty bite with your wine, call in at the tasting room between 3pm and 5m for tapas fare, from savoury Vietnamese pickled mussels, Karoo lamb croquettes, corn and coconut crochettes to artisanal cheeses.
l À la carte three-course lunches: R355; dinner (with amuse bouche, palate cleanser and a pre-dessert): R495. Plates of tapas for two sharing: R55, artisanal cheese platter: R120.