2oceansvibe Radio’s Aimee was fortunate enough to make her way over to Rupert & Rothschild, taking renowned foodie, restaurateur and Masterchef judge Peter Goffe-Wood along for the ride. Here’s what she had to say about a great day out…

When Peter Goffe-Wood and I decided to venture out to Rupert & Rothschild on a blustery spring morning, the last thing we expected was to be surprised by this fine-dining and wine pairing experience. Let me clarify: in the Cape’s world of fine-dining and wine pairing offerings, there is a ceiling to just how much excitement any one eatery can really offer.

Without sounding like a food snob, it is fair to say that Peter has at the very least earned a PHD in his ability to critique a dish – and at the very least I have a solid Honours degree in the ability to dish out a good food review. Alas, at this particular table, experiencing the Rupert & Rothschild wine & food pairing class par excellance, we both felt like firm undergraduates of food & wine expertise.

At a wine property of such revered history & rich cultural heritage, a standard history lesson in the origins of the property would be the first order of business. We certainly received that and slightly more. The knowledgeable staff helped us climb the ladder from undergraduates in the knowledge of all things wine-related to solid degree-holders in the subject!

I had to admit, to Peter’s delight and amusement, that my standard declaration of most wines tasting like a mixture of toasted Pumkin Seeds, mulberries and freshly cut grass was NOT appropriate to Rupert & Rothschild Wine, and I had to reluctantly open up my imaginations to include things such a melting candy floss, sun-ripened peaches and even cherry blossoms!

Something that certainly captured Pete’s attention was the fact that the faces behind the food and wine at Rupert & Rothschild seemed to exclusively belong to very young, very attractive, very blonde females. Not exactly the picture one has in mind when considering the gourmet and vinicultural offerings of the most respected and applauded estate in the Cape!

Rupert & Rothschilds policy toward gender equality and female empowerment is most certainly reflected in their winemaker Yvonne Lester and executive chef Carmen Muller. Both ladies, both in their mid-thirties, respectively command the top of the wine and food-making pyramid at this revered estate. In each case, their level of skill is so unchallenged and stellar across the board that even a celebrity chef like Peter Goffe-Wood had to check his ego at the door. Yes, he had to admit that there were some areas in even his repetoire that needed some, er, refinement.

By now, dear readers, you’re probably all squirming in your seats trying to decide if I’m ever going to get to the part about what we actually ate?!

Fret not, as we will now proceed to give you our review of what Rupert & Rothschild serves up for a proper luncheon in the vineyards:

First Course:

Wine : Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine ( 2014. 100% Chardonnay. Fresh aromas of macadamia nuts with an elegant lasting finish)

Dish: Artisan Smoked Butter Roasted Hake, Pan Fried Gnocchi, Pea Veloute, Bacon Crumble

Pete’s review: Hake was a TAD too salty, wine was an apt pairing with the summer-like tastes of the pea veloute and fluffiness of the gnocchi…

Aimee’s review , word for word: “ I have never in my life tasted anything so utterly exquisite, how is it even possible for food to render my dopamine and serotonin levels so high, that I feel as though I am under the infuence of a drug that should by all account, be 100% illegal?!’

Second Course:

Wine: Rupert & Rothschild Classique (2012 Elegant and appealing aromas of red berries, sweet cherries, white pepper and cedar wood with undertones of aniseed and almond , good complexity with dark chocolate and flinty undertones on the palate )

Dish: Cripsy Pasture-reared Pork Belly, Pumpkin and Carrot Puree, Quince Glaze…

Pete’s review: Pete LOVED the ethical sourcing of ingredients, particularly the “Happy Pigs” from which the Pork Belly was derived. He enjoyed the balance of fattiness to dryness in the Pork meat and was suitably impressed with the pairing of flavours attributed to the dark chocolate of the wine and the Wintery Carrot & Quince flavours of the puree & glaze in the main dish.

Aimee’s review: Repeated identically to wording in first-course review….

Third Course:

Wine: Chateu des Laurets ( Puisseguin Saint-Emilon, France) ( Red Fruits, Woody Vanilla, Handsome & Crimson Bluish Reflections, Round & Smooth Attack with a Robust Mid-Palate)

Dish: Confit Duck, Cherry & Juniper Berry Pie, Roasted Savoy Cabbage…

Pete’s review: Poultry & fruits are always a great pairing in terms of flavours, in the case of this “pie” the texture of the pulled duck pieces with the crunch of the cabbage and the tart , piqaunt bite of the berries made for a very visceral and satisfying taste experience!

Aimee’s review: Repeated identically to wording in first AND second course, with the addition of this: “ Guys, I can’t eat another bite, I am so full, my body is not accustomed to such good-quality food – help, I can’t move!!”

This feast of an experience was rounded off with a smorgasboard of artisinal cheeses, olives, bread and – a first for Aimee – TRUFFLE INFUSED cheese.

Truffles are so delecable that there are, unfortunately, no words in the English language which warrant an apt enough description for the taste one experiences at first bite of this rarely-enjoyed French Delicacy. I did however learn that the taste of truffle is known as “umami”, the supposed sixth taste on the taste-buds of the human tongue. Other umami-type tastes you can enjoy if you can’t afford a batch of good truffles would be Marmite and olives!

After our Rupert & Rothschild feast we were decidedly over the legal drinking limit. Peter Goffe-Wood and I are both currently the instigators of what will hopefuly be a VIRAL social inititative which aims to convey the following principle to the Cape’s huge populace of wine quaffers and wine & food festival goers:

Most people become totally outraged when hearing that someone has left a bar, drunk, at stupid ‘o clock in the morning and driven home from the CBD to their home in the suburbs. Yes? However, we hardly EVER hear of any semblance of outrage from our communuity when , say, a father packs his wife and two toddlers into his SUV on a sunny Sunday afternoon after attending a wine & food festival in Franschhoek and DRIVES the 1.5 hour journey home whilst being a glass of very expensive French wine over the legal limit. Nope, that seems to be acceptable.

However, Peter Goffe-Wood and I , on behalf of 2oceansvibe Radio, say a very firm NO to this seeminlgy socially acceptable practice of drunken driving. We have partnered up with Goodfellas to bring you a social awareness campaign which helps you understand these very simple principles:

1) There is NO excuse for drinking and driving – EVER
2) If you drink and drive, you are a murderer
3) Just because it is “day-drinking” – it’s still drinking
4) What’s an extra thousand bucks on your party budget if it means you get home, ALIVE
5) What’s an extra thousand bucks on your party budget if it means you don’t have to give William Booth a call to defend your manslaughter case at the Wynberg High Court, AND you don’t have to cash in on your RA early to afford your bail money out of Pollsmore?

Exactly.

And this, dear readers is PRECISELY why Peter and I gave Goodfellas a ring. We were slightly pressed for time and had to be home by 3pm. We actually only managed to extract ourselves from the table to make the call at 1:30pm, meaning that the Goodfellas drivers had only 45 mintues to get from the CBD to Franschooek within minutes of taking our call.

They had arrived by 2pm on the nose and by 2:15pm both Peter, myself and the rest of our party were safely ensconsed within the confimes of Pete’s Nissan Jukje being chaufered by a SOBER Goodfellas driver back home to our Cape Town.

The Cherry on Top? We are now currently alive enough to tell the tale of our unforgettable road-trip to Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons.

By all account, it was an experience I will remember as the most outlandishly delicious adventure my mouth has ever been on.

For more on this day in heaven and more, please tune into The Peter Goffe-Wood Show on Wednesdy the 23rd of September at 2pm on www.2oceansviberadio.com