In case you didn’t receive the memo we are celebrating Bastille, this weekend, in Franschhoek. The weather report promises sunshine and the marquee promises phenomenal wines and spectacular food. Brilliant!

CC attribution Franschhoek Wine Valley on Flickr

If you’re in the marquee pop round to the Môreson stall and say hi, we’d really love to see you.

If you can’t wait for tomorrow feel free to pop into the farm this afternoon. Pick up a case of wine – the Môreson Petit Verdot is drinking excellently – some of Neil’s excellent charcuterie and, on your way out, you can take part in our barrel-rolling trials and team selection.

Yes Bastille, in Franschhoek, is a truly magical affair!

This week the following football inspired dishes will be available on the Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant menu. If you are in, or around, Cape Town you should definitely head out to Franschhoek and join us for a bite to eat, some wine tasting (and purchasing) and a meander around the newly opened Orchid Nursery.

The Menu (Saturday 26th June 2010 – Friday 2nd July 2010)

The English

• Pork & oyster terrine, date puree & bacon chips

The Korean

• Sam gyup sal

The Slovenia

• Pork ring sausage, kopal

The German

• Bratwurst, chou crôute & potato salad

The Dutch

• Frikandellen

Just to clarify this post deals with nothing even remotely dirty. Those of you looking for that are going to be bitterly disappointed!

Neil has put together a range of country specific sausages for the 2010 World Cup. There are all kinds of exciting sausages on offer and we’ll post a list, of what’s available, tomorrow.

Exciting stuff!

The Tasting Room, at the Le Quartier Français, are running a fantastic special for South Africans. They’re calling it Taste the Tasting Room … clever name.

Taste the Tasting Room

You book for an evening in the Tasting Room – from the 3rd till the 16th May 2010 – and for just R350pp (excluding wine) they will surprise you with a unique menu designed by Margot Janse (and her team).

The aim of this offer, and the special menu, is give local diners the opportunity to taste the best of The Tasting Room and some of Margot’s all time favourite dishes.

As per usual with all great offers it is subject to availability and terms and conditions apply.

To booking call: 021-876 2151 Ext. 440 or email: restaurant@lqf.co.za

P.S. I’ll be having dinner at the Tasting Room next Friday (the 14th of May 2010) so if you’re there come on over and say hi. If I have food in front of me you can be guaranteed that I won’t bite.

Our favourite South African fine-dining restaurant (we’re a little biased but we think it’s OK) – The Tasting Room @ Le Quartier Français – has placed 31st in the 2010 World Top 50 Restaurants. This is 6 places lower than their 2009 37th spot. What’s even more remarkable is that Le Quartier Français has been included in the Top 50 for the past six consecutive years. Wow!

Plus this year Margot Janse (the Tasting Room’s Executive Chef) was the only woman to place in the 2010 Top 50. The other South African Restaurant included in the Top 50 was La Colombe. La Colombe placed a staggering 12th overall – which is absolutely amazing. Well done La Colombe!

We’ve already starting making dinner reservations at both these restaurants because, as we know from personal experience, once this news gets out the respective waiting lists will grow exponentially.

Neil Jewell – our Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant head chef and the local Charcuterie King – won the South African leg of the 2010 Global Pizza Challenge.

This means that in May 2010 Neil will be heading off to Melbourne to represent South Africa in finals of the Global Pizza Challenge. Awesome!

The pizza that clinched first place had a smoked flour base topped with aubergine, confit of Karoo lamb, sheeps’ feta, buchu and quince dressing. Sounds delicious doesn’t it? Well if you head out to Bread & Wine you’ll find it on the menu!

I don’t know how long it’ll be there so I suggest doing lunch sooner rather than later.

I had the most delicious lunch at Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant yesterday. If you’re planning on eating here anytime soon I strongly suggest that you try the:

• Salad of watercress, rocket, porcini and shallot dressing (different but amazing)
• Char-grilled octopus, roast tomato risotto, chorizo chips (yum.yum.yum).

Both are new to the menu, both are excellent and both go very nicely with the Môreson Wine of the Week (the 2009 Miss Molly Kitchen Thief Sauvignon Blanc).

Excuse me while I wipe the drool of my keyboard.

At the end of 2009 we introduce the Môreson Wine of the Week concept on the farm and it proved so popular we’ve decided to extend it into 2010.

If you visit the Môreson this week you’ll discover that our present wine of the week is the 2009 Môreson Chenin Blanc.

Being this week’s Môreson Wine of the Week means that the Chenin Blanc is offered for sale – through the Môreson Tasting Room and the Bread & Wine Farm Grocer only – at a special price: R62,00 per bottle instead of R69,00 per bottle (for this week only).

If you’re in the area pop in, grab a bite to eat (you’ll need to book for Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant), taste some of the amazing Môreson wines and take home a case of the 2009 Môreson Chenin Blanc. It’s seriously delicious, so you’ll probably need more than just a case.

Harvest has officially started on Môreson and that means that our annual Blessing of the Harvest celebration must be just around the corner.

This year the Môreson Blessing of the Harvest is taking place on Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th of February 2010 and it costs R300,00 per person. [For pictures of the 2009 Môreson Blessing of the Harvest click here].

For those of you that have never attended a Blessing of the Harvest it is the yearly Môreson homage to winemaking. At our Blessing of the Harvest every participant get the opportunity to make wine the old-fashioned way. You handpick your own basket of grapes and then press them using the oldest tools in the winemaking business – your feet.

A relaxed lunch at our award-winning Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant and a highly competitive label design competition follow the harvesting and grape-stomping activities. The grapes you pick and stomp are then matured, into wine, by us and available for collection later in the year.

For more information, or to book, please contact Tina on – 021 876 3692 – or email her by clicking here.