The pairing of spicy Oldenburg Shiraz 2009 with Springbok rump at the Square Restaurant (which is anything but with David Wibberley as manager) at the Vineyard Hotel & Spa in Newlands on Friday night was a masterstroke of texture. The slippery tannins waltzed elegantly with the melt-in-the-mouth meat, made so by the boil-in-a-bag cooking process called sous-vide to add value to the poaching bath sold by kitchen supply companies. The same trick played by winemakers when they call Shiraz, Syrah and ratchet up the price.

Karl Lambour, who now runs Grande Provence in Franschhoek, has one at home and his meat is a legend in its own lunchtime. At Saturday lunch with Vineyard GM Roy Davies (above) it was beef in the bag and once again, it went down a textural treat with Kevin Arnold’s Shiraz. Wine paid for by the hotel (as Roy told anxious estate owners, five of whom partner his recreation of Lady Anne Barnard’s vineyard at the bottom of his garden). While some people have faeries in the gardens of their bottoms (surely bottom of their gardens?, ed) Roy has grapes.