Wine, then dine, old hat @ Capelands

The Guardian’s scoop on a restaurant that puts wine before food is old hat to regulars of Capelands, Johann Innerhofer’s vinous oasis next to Waterkloof in Somerset West. Much to the disgust of Air France and their cavernous Airbus 380 flying less than full between SA and l’Hexagone, it is not necessary to visit Il Vino d’Enrico Bernardo in Paris, a restaurant owned by the World’s Best Sommelier (vintage 2004) of the same name, to find somewhere to drink and then eat.

The World’s Best Punctuated Sommelier (all vintages) Jörg Pfützner came up with Capelands earlier this year through his links in the deeply entrenched German speaking mafia of Somerset West and environs. Too late to make the tight deadline of René Steiner’s Golf und Wein magazine, my thought’s on Johann’s winelist.

Jörg, Johann, Alex Dale and Sebastian's ear

Jörg, Johann, Alex Dale and Sebastian's ear

If “consistency” is the C-word that differentiates a great restaurant from a fashionable one, then “calibration” is the appropriate C-word for wine lists. The international wine list at Capelands is the antidote to SA Cellar Palate Syndrome which pops up every time an exclusive diet of Pinotage causes the jewels of Burgundy to be discarded in magazine blind tastings and the great Sauvignons Blanc from the Loire are rejected in favour of acidic grass juice.

It is more like the cellar inventory of a committed wine lover with access to great cuvées than a restaurant bill of bibulous options, even if the cover is embossed DGB. Great Syrah from top producers in good vintages, mythical Bordeaux in big bottles with a thread of value for money running through it and elegant Rieslings with no SA competition at all. For a DYI tasting academy on a budget, wine lovers will be far better served heading out to Capelands than drinking import samples dressed up as a quasi-academic tasting course or masterclassTM offered by several entrepreneurs around town.