There was a moment at Den Anker on Monday when I thought Bram Vaerewyck (below), export manager for Duvel beer, might lose it. My draft Liefmans arrived with the wrong coaster! At least the glass was right – which is the reason you won’t find Duvel on any airline. “It must be served in a Duvel glass. Duvel always tastes better in its own glass.”
Something for the Platter pumpkins to play with. If a wine is served in its own glass, you don’t need to strain your Clicks R99 magnifiers to determine the “correct” score. Look at the glass as you consider the elegant legs of either the liquid or the waiter, surreptitiously observed through the glass. Bliss!!! Especially for the Wine Lizard, who imports Riedel stemware into SA, casually bemoaning the poor state of restaurant wine glasses in Bidet, his personal vuvuzela.
Perhaps even more impressive than the cherry max taste of the beer is the way it is drunk. On the rocks. A technique introduced as the remedy for over-alcoholic SA whites by Erica Platter whose balls are big enough to add ice to her dora and then face down any Angela anoraks who protest. Heck, the technique is so advanced, a pail of ice accompanies many a Sauvignon Blanc in Sandton these days.
Or rather ice cubes in Chenin as only the Hermit on the Pill drinks Sauvignon these days. Nice touch at Rust en Vrede to make the mineral water – San Pellegrino, no less – complementary. A bottle of Ondine Semillon 2010 with the symphony of peas and its grass on grass. All you need is a reefer for a threesome, but unfortunately, there is no smoking on the premises.
The R&V Cabernet 2011 is nearly as young as the Liefmans and is an excellent drop, with full marks for potential. If anyone deserves his own glasses for his wine tourism offering, it is Jean Engelbrecht, who takes attention to detail to sub-microscopic levels.
And we do hope the crims who stole his telephone lines on Tuesday night soon feel the tekkies of the law on their pygies. For surely its only in SA that the country’s third best restaurant gets its phone lines stolen. Roll on Cell C, ice cubes in wine and beer and Belgian fruit bombs. Hic!
