Wine & Dine with Sarah

In a series of columns over the coming months St Francis Today is privileged to have Sarah Jane of Dune Ridge share some thoughts and experiences on wine and dining. Many of you will have personally experienced the fine fare created by Sarah at her popular Wine Pairing evenings and are sure you will enjoy her sharing her experiences of fine dining and wines she has enjoyed.

What better time to start a wine of the month than in the middle of Winter…

Winter has definitely bestowed her icy chill upon us.  What does winter mean to you?  For me mean it means frequent little road trips to little dorpies or a few days up in the winelands, red wine that boasts the skills of local wine makers and of course fierce fire places, large pots of family style food – typical Karoo comfort food.

We recently took a trip to Stellenbosch – I think its my favourite time of the year.  Seeing the vines changing from bright green to hues of burnt sunsets.

One evening we met a group of friends out at a beautiful eatery called The Stellenbosch Kitchen.  Rich Ox Blood leather chairs with blown up postal stamps that had been cleverly positioned on the walls.  Big brass lights and the friendliest waiters I have ever come across.  The menu is wholesome and bounteous; rich and saucy; flavourful and colourful; opulent and infinitely gratifying – this is comfort food done to perfection.  The evening was chilly and what better way than to have a couple of bottles of red wine on the table.  Thankfully it was not up to me to decide this time around as we had a few wine makers within our group but between them they settled on a Stark-Conde Syrah

The Estate Stark-Conde is situated in the Jonkershoek Valley in Stellenbosch. Their wines are all hand-crafted in small volumes using traditional methods of hand sorting, open-top fermentation and manual basket pressing.  All their wines are bottles without fining or filtering.

STARK-CONDE SYRAH
Vintage: 2013
Grape blend: 100% Syrah
Region: Stellenbosch
State or country: South Africa
Price: R179 per bottle

General Information: Dark garnet coloured Syrah with aromas of berries, pepper and very subtle hints of dark chocolate.  Medium bodied and VERY easy to drink. The flavour profile is a stony mineral infused black cherry and old oak blend. The finish is dry and very smooth.

They have the most incredible tasting room positioned on the dam at the Estate and Restaurant called the Postcard Café.   Take a drive out to Jonkershoek Valley next time you are in Stellenbosch and go for a light lunch and do their tasting.  You definitely will not be sorry.