MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES #237

Growing number of Cape wineries offering picnic lunches.

One way of selling wine is to sell food and promote one’s wines as an accompaniment. And one result of this tactic is the growing number of Cape wineries that are offering picnic lunches. Many of the Western Cape’s wineries and estates have restaurants. Most of them are superior establishments with superior prices. The new vogue for picnics is to provide less formal meals at less challenging charges, while pursuing the common aim of persuading people to buy wine. These picnic lunches are not exactly inexpensive (nothing in the Western Cape is) but they sound good. Here are a few examples.

Warwick, the distinguished Stellenbosch estate, has launched what it calls “the gourmet picnic experience”. The picnic sites are in a sunny, forested part of the estate, and sun umbrellas, scatter cushions and bean bags are provided on lawns, or you can sit on chairs. The picnics are served on a board with fitted boxes and tablecloth, and this is what you get to eat: a 45cm French baguette; spinach and mushroom chicken roulade; potato salad and summer salad; cold meats; goat’s cheese, caramelised red onion and macadamia nut quiche; biltong and brandy pâté; chickpea hummus; a wedge of camembert cheese; sauvignon blanc preserve; chocolate brownies; a fruit kebab with spicy lime syrup; and a little jar of wine gums. A vegetarian option is available. The cost of a picnic that serves two or three people is R299. You can do a wine tasting at R25 a head, refundable on purchase of wines. To book phone 021 884 3144.

The Warwick estate, incidentally, owes its very English name to the fact that after the Anglo-Boer War ended in 1902, it was bought by Colonel William Alexander Gordon, commanding officer of the Warwickshire Regiment, who renamed the farm. It has been in the Ratcliffe family since 1964.

The Rickety Bridge estate at Franschhoek (the name comes from an old bridge in the area) offers a picnic menu that includes asparagus spears; melon, feta and mint skewers; prawn skewers with cucumber ribbons; salmon roulade; sticky chicken wings; and biltong. The charge here is R135 per person and you can sit on the grass or at a table on a sun deck. A wine tasting costs R15, refundable on purchase. Phone 021 876 2129.

Klein Genot estate, also at Franschhoek, offers picnic baskets at R128 per person. These include snoek and liver pâtés; roast chicken, beef and lamb; three cheeses; French salad; and brownies. The picnics are served on a river bank. Tasting R20. Phone 021 876 2738.

If at the end of the day you are overcome with weariness you can spend the night at Klein Genot’s guest house, which has six double bedrooms. The charge in summer (bed and breakfast) is R1,548 per person sharing. Why worry? Klein Genot means “small indulgence”. – Michael Green