Winemaking negoçiant Pieter de Waal has found a novel niche for his handmade range of boutique blends: marriages with medieval themes (especially popular in Pretoria) for which his White and Red Knights are ideal. Mead north of the mighty Apies River is famously unreliable in summer, cue Pieter and his cavalry.

Peter W (left) and Pieter de W (right)

Sir Thos. Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur is just about as romantic as it gets and a Muckleneuk maiden “clothed in white samite” would make a fetching bride indeed if clasping a chalice of 2009 Red Knight. Her swain would appreciate her parsimony as this juicy blend of Syrah and Cinsaut retails for a measly R50 a bottle.

Although I was not sitting at a Round Table at Societi Bistro with an embarrassment of Peters (Societi owner Peter Weetman, a University pal of Pieter, kept stopping by), our lunch yesterday was like something from a fable: prices from a bygone age (R150 for a three course French blowout) and a menu from a fairytale cooked by shaggy Kyle, so handsome he must have been a frog someone kissed.

To start, Garbure – no, not a column by Mr. Min but rather a rustic country soup made from shredded duck – followed by “Beouf (sic) à la Bordelaise” which reminded me of Tim’s favourite poem, Beowulf. This lavish lunch terminated with local cheese balls made from ewe’s milk and drunken prunes which had us looking like The Puce Knight, Sir Perimones, from Le Morte d’Arthur.

Beowulf à la Bordelaise