Gimme a Pig Foot (and a Bottle of Pinotage)

Bessie Smith was onto something when she sang “I want a pig foot and a bottle of beer” in the Wesley Wilson classic of the same name. Although one of the greatest mysteries of the Blues is why Nina Simone (herself no prude) left out the verse “Gimme a reefer and a gang o’ gin/ Slay me, ’cause I’m in my sin/ Slay me ’cause I’m full of gin” in her own benchmark recording of the song.

My thoughts turned to the Blues at lunch today at La Colombe in Constantia for the launch of three reds from Aaldering Vineyards and Wines: a seamlessly elegant Shiraz, a herbal Bordeaux blend (equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and a pyrotechical Pinotage, all from the standout (with standout translated into Afrikaans as “Viagra” for Sarie wine editor Riette Rust) 2007 vintage. Owner Fons Aaldering wore an orange tie especially for the occasion (below).

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Riette’s cat loves Jazz while the Aaldering reds were matured in new French oak barrels for 24 months while listening to the Classics in their Devon Valley cellar. Probably the same CD as Wendy Appelbaum plays to her De Morgenzon vines across the hill in the Stellenboschkloof. In Constantia, CDs are strung from vine poles to scare off birds. But are the Classics really the tunes to play to Pinotage and is crisp roasted confit of organic duck leg, foie gras and pickled ginger butter with a hoisin dressing the dish to match it with? Especially when the foie gras and pickled ginger butter could be neither seen nor tasted in my starter, nor indeed did the customary doef!, doef! start-up in the heart as the cholesterol coursed around the system.

Of the three wines presented, the Pinotage had the most character. As winemaker Helene van der Westhuizen commented (below) “Being South African, I have to love Pinotage, but I don’t – until I tasted this one. I wanted to move away from the Jannie verjaarsdag cooldrink style. I didn’t want to make a traditional style,” and she certainly hasn’t. The wine has a distinctly Pinotage nose with an explosive, broad flavoured palate. The kind of wine any Department of Homeland Security would put on a no-fly list faster than a smoking SUV in Times Square. Don’t look for explosives in the underpants or exploding têkkies, the whole package is sweating nitroglycerine.

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But to find a food match, you need to either book a table at Jonnie Boer’s De Librije restaurant in Zwolle, Fons’ home town (and “better than El Bulli,” says Fons), or head to Bizerca Bistro in Jetty Street, Cape Town, and order the braised pig’s trotter with seared scallop and truffle oil from Laurent Deslandes. Thérèse, Jonnie’s better half and head sommelier at De Librije, agrees as she recently ordered 400 bottles of the stuff which are listed at €78 (which makes the local retail price of R140 look positively Dutch) on their Michelin *** winelist. She is not the only one, as Fons has placed his new wines in 100 restaurants in the Benelux countries in the past four months.

Meanwhile Constantia traditionalists can console themselves with apple cider sorbet served at La Colombe as palate cleanser. Jonnie’s comments on the practice are not repeatable on a family orientated blog like this one but then Jonnie is #37 on the recent San Pellegrino top 50 list of the planet’s best restaurants while La Colombe is #12. And pigs might fly – with or without their trotters.