The recent Artemis 2 rocket that passed around the dark side of the Moon took 42 minutes and 50 seconds to transition, during this time communication with Earth was cut (i.e. the Moon was in the way!) This fact is scary enough but not as spooky as the fact that the running time of the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon" is exactly 42 minutes and 50 seconds. Gilmour = God? you heard it here first!
It's rich isn't it, these parasites get to run around London living their best lives while most people in our country stress over how they're going to pay their next gas bill. Such is the nature of the left these days, it seems to corrupt its followers and promote a headspace devoid of any link to reality,! Mind you, the right aren't much better, what ever happened to a strong and rational centre in politics, I miss it dearly!
On the wine front the list was dominated by Spanish wines, now, I'm no expert on the wines of Spain and so I retreated to one of the regions of that country that I do know reasonably well, the Ribera Del Duero. I was glad I did and, after generously allowing me to try a few wines, the sommelier pointed me in the direction of this little number (see picture above) It was classic Ribera, dark red fruits, nicely integrated oak and a decent finish, not a producer I was familiar with but a good choice to match with the meat heavy menu! A nice evening and good food, the restaurant has recently won a Michelin star and it's well deserved.
Something struck me, how many people were wandering around the place getting drinks, it seemed to be a never ending stream of folks going back and forth to the bar and then the toilet, constant movement which was a bit of a distraction from the show! I've not noticed this phenomenon before, mostly when we go to concerts we find our seat and stay put until the end! I guess this is "commercialization" in action, everything is a food and drink consumer opportunity these days, including music venues it seems..
After a delicious welcoming glass of bubbles we cracked on into starters, one of the signature dishes here is the Salmon, confit in butter and then served with roe, a burre blanc and topped with pickled cucumber (see above) it was an absolute banger, so tasty, so well balanced as a dish, TBH I could have just had this all night! Anyway after a couple more dishes (all v. good) we bookended the evening with a delicious tart tartin and double cream, so good, a great evening at a top dining establishment!
You can't really miss our next stop, the name of it is even inscribed into the mountainside! Franschhoek, or translated from the Dutch, "French Corner" is a famous wine region tucked away in a valley north of Cape Town. In 1688 hundreds of French Protestants (who we being persecuted in their homeland) fled to South Africa, collectively they were known as "Huguenots" a name that is thought to be derived from the political leader and Genevan burgomaster, Besançon Hugues. In 1685 King Louis XIV banned Protestantism in France and many were forced to flee, almost 300 arrived at the Cape by ship and were given the Franschhoek valley to settle, they bought with them their French culture including, critically, wine making!
Coincidentally while walking through the town we came across a couple who were on the same safari as us, we had a lovely lunch with them, lots of chatting while quaffing Chardonnay and soaking up the African sun! In the evening we made our way out to one of the three craft beer breweries in the area for some beer and some food, it was great and really good value, the beer was a little "conventional" but perfectly acceptable, I snapped the picture below of their "kit", it all looked pretty pristine and modern, business must be good!
After the tasting we had a wander around the grounds, amazing place, lot's of old buildings that used to house everything from the Governor of the Cape's snooker room through to his slaves quarters! The gardens were to die for, those original settlers must have thought they'd made a little slice of heaven for themselves (I was reminded that they had plenty of unpaid labour to help them!!)
As we drew up to the front door the place looked like it had been beamed up from Tuscany! A huge courtyard surrounded by terracotta tiled buildings with big old stone pillars, it was lovely, we took up our place at a table in the corner of the square and our host bought out the first of the wines to taste.
This wasn't my last wine tasting though, the next day I booked a tasting just up the road from our lodgings in Franschhoek, when in Rome etc., at a winery called Leeu Passant. Again such a beautiful setting, I settled into a rather plush tasting room with leather chairs and air-conditioning for a line up of four wines (see below)
We'll be back..
