pictures from a revolution

This weekend we celebrated the 2nd annual Swartland Revolution. I feel deeply blessed and honoured to be a part of the team behind this event. We once again blew our guests away with Swartland hospitality and generosity...

arriving in the Riebeek Valley 

I went to Riebeek on Thursday last week to get the town ready. We prepared Bazaar, a multi functional venue next to the town museum, for the Reuben's BBQ on Friday night. I spent a lot of time on a chair hanging flags and banners from the roof and walls etc (this is usually a job given to the tallest team member, me...)

 

prepping bazaar

Thursday night I was lucky enough to share in some amazing wines and vintages that blew me (with my limited wine knowledge) away. We took the trip up the Porseleinberg to Callie and Maree's house on the hill. I was fortunate enough to get the front seat of the Isuzu with Adi while Jasper and French import Olivier Clape huddled together under a blanket on the back. Adi took no prisoners as he raced up and down the mountain - that was when I heard Olivier say to Jasper "I love this savage land" and thought, TIA welcome to the Swartland... 

 wining with the winos at Callie's house on the hill

what we drank that night:

 chateauneuf du pape chapoutier 1997 | chateauneuf chateau reserve 2001 | Olivier's Domaine Clape Cornas 2009 | 

Lur Saluces sauternes 1999 (wow!) | lustau palo cortado sherry | Les Vignerons de Maury, Solera 1928 (yes...)

Friday morning we were all in Riebeek by 8am, ready to get the Revolution rolling. Tables needed to be covered, tasting sheets & glasses set up, goody bags packed, wines opened, bazaar finished off, registration set up etc etc. By 4pm we were ready as the first Revolutionaries strolled in to register.

 Guests move in for the first tasting - Quality First by Olivier Clape. 

 We tasted 3 vintages (2009, 2008, 2001) of the Cornas (older vines, 30-80 years) and Renaissance (younger vines, 12, 16, and 25 years old) all 100% Syrah, and each flight from the same vintage. The 2001 was really special with the Cornas being my favourite wine of the weekend!

 Michael Fridjhon announces the Bollinger Excellence in Wine Service award. 

 Bazaar at night

 The fire dancer does his thing while the oomies from Baardskeerdersbos Orkes play a beat. 

This picture, taken at 11.52pm, is a complete mystery. I can not for the life of me remember taking it, but alas, Joachim Hansi Blackadder - the winner of the Bollinger service award - with Harry Haddon... 

Saturday morning started a bit shaky (litterally). I awoke at 8.40am with my shoes on and my phone and money still in my jean's pockets. I was already almost two hours late (a bit of a fail, but I comfort myself with the fact that I worked really hard on Thu & Fri and needed a bit more sleep if I was going to make it through the rest of the Revolution and the wedding ahead of me...) 

 Good news awaited me in the shop - gooooo Table Mountain, I frikking LOVE you! 

 Pre lunch at Bar Bar Black Sheep

 Michael Fridjhon auctioning off a 2009 Ouwingerdreeks donated by Eben Sadie (Family Wines)

  Michael Fridjhon auctioning off a a 3L White and 5L Red blend from the Badenhorst Family Wine label. 

Eben opens the Swartland Independent Street Party by handing over SI decanters to all the producers involved. 

And then it was time for me to leave the Revolution and get to the church on time. After borrowing money from Adi (since I had lost my wallet somewhere in the chaos of the night before, and my date/best mate had left his card on his desk at home) and refueling the car we were on our way.

I did not take any pictures at the wedding, which was beautiful and very pin-able (my new term for things worth pinning to Pinterest ie pretty) Nikki looked stunning, we drank lots of red wine (even though my brain gave me a massive stabbing pain with every sip) I spent a good part of the night writing quotes and memories in the book we were supposed to fill with messages for their 6th wedding aniversary and even (after lots more red wine) invented the "6 year game" - let's just say, that will be a particular memorable anniversary... We played air accordion, mimicked Patrick Swayze's moves for "I had the time of my life" (lots of fist pumps) and danced into the night. 

Sunday morning I awoke on a tiny little couch somewhere on Slanghoek Farm, my body so exhausted it refused to move, my brain so confused I thought I was on Kalmoesfontein and late again... 

What a weekend, a great success and a lot of fun. And to be fair, Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes were spot on, I did have the time of my life! 

 Proteas and flowers from the wedding reception, love brought home! 

Rawsonville shop name fail... 

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farm fresh sunday lunch

we were completely overwhelmed by the vast interest for our first open day on Kalmoesfontein for AA Badenhorst Family Wines. When I sent the first correspondence out to our database, my twitter following and our fan page on Facebook, the idea was to have a small first attempt with no more than 80 people, all of us included. In the end we entertained over 130 adults on the lawns and porches of Kalmoesfontein yesterday, with at least 60 kids running around the farm.


Cousin Hendrik and I planned to leave town at 11 on Saturday (thinking that is late and will give us enough time to sleep in, do some washing etc etc). What.ever. Eventually we left town at 11.30ish, and my dishes were still dirty and my jackets still not at the dry cleaners. After a quick stop at my parents, a cup of tea with Ouma and a slight detour/delay due to roadworks (that they started talking about when I was still in PRIMARY school!) we arrived on the farm to find the extended family cooking away in the kitchen.


Hendrik and I were given the role of shop merchandisers and sign makers / writers... 

Saturday:

 animal farm, the aftermath of spray-paint.

 antiques... 

 Toby the dog having dinner at the kids' table, Saturday night. 

Ana loves this little birdie, who is in the house to recover (she drags the cage with her where ever she goes and constantly attempts to open the little door and grab him.) I am afraid he might die of stress...

This dodgy looking container contains the unfiltered Fernoa Pires straw wine 2009 that we used to make the jelly for desert. Adi told Fortuin to label it Sweet wine, but the guy's English isn't great, so therefore the big container of Sweat... 

Sunday:

 Toby on a walk with Santie le Roux (photo credit) 

Archie the horse (photo credit Santie le Roux) 

Table setting  (photo credit Santie le Roux)

On the lawn

Spring tasting room

Guests take their seats

Fortuin burning the Cabernet Sauvignon vines (like Adi says: "we have no use for cabernet here other than for braaing on". Fortuin's snazzy shirt is from the "Adi Badenhorst summer 2006 range"... 

 Wilke and Callie braaiing the turkey sized chickens, slaughtered the day before...

 

improvised wine bucket.

Great view, great wine! 

The menu:

What  you will eat today on kamloesfontein

Wine + water and bread + butter

A salad, delicious, of beetroot, radishes and baby spinach and red onions  with goats cheese and finished with a balsamic, mustard and honey dressing (The crunchy green things  are pumpkin seeds)

Green garden salad with a salsa verde dressing (fancy name for a green herb dressing) with capers and anchovies

There are two kinds of quiches (free range duck eggs used here) of caramilized onions one with gruyere cheese and the other with  smoked bacon

If that’s not enough then there will also be farm raised marinated chicken braaied to perfection on old cabernet sauvignon vines ( we have no use for cabernet here other than for braaing on). The chicken will be served with roasted root vegetables of carrots, parsnips, onions and above ground butternut.

And there is even dessert. We have made a jelly from Fernoa Pires straw wine 2009, a homemade custard and stewed rhubarb and apple.

Coffee and tea.

All in all a very successful first attempt. Obviously a lot to be learned and taken from it, but we will definitely be back with more stylish, stunning events soon! 

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long time no blog...

Been a while. In fact the last post feels like a dream, just before the birthday I pledged to be a good person... all that came from that was

1. feeding pigeons in De Waal Park as boyfriend and I enjoyed Vida and Knead breakfast rolls while watching kids and dogs play...

2. giving the car guard at Garden Centre an extra big 'tip' and a cupcake.

3. feeding all the friends who made it to the braai with a LOVELY veggie potjie and cupcakes (supplied by clever girlfriends)

So I failed. But I had a lovely day...

Since then,

1. I went home to visit my parents. My dad (in his pre-60 depression) has started to make recyclable toys for kids. It started with an obsession of not throwing ANYTHING away and my mother's deep involvement with our local creche (she has taught there for 22 years, and almost every kid - now grown up - in our little town knows my mom). Together they now 'design' sturdy toys made form 100% recycled parts (except the bolds and screws etc).

2. I spent a day road tripping the Swartland with wine.co.za journalist Dusan Jelic. I slept on Kalmoesfontein with my cousin as we are still very busy planning a wedding. So our road trip started there with assistant wine maker Jasper Wickens, moved on to a visit to Eben Sadie and an interesting drive to the top of the Porseleinberg to chat to Callie Louw. (follow the links for my pictures)

After that we had lunch at the ever popular Bar Bar Black Sheep, enjoyed a tasting in the Mullineux Cellar and a long interesting cellar tour at Lammershoek. 12 hours of wine tasting. Good day!

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Revolutionary copy

I recently received the files to all the print elements we used for the 2010 Swartland Revolution.

I wrote all the copy and the designs by Jo (at 2design in Franschhoek) were so amazing that I think I want to share it here.

We are busy putting together the 2nd annual Swartland Revolution for 11-12 November this year...

Keep an eye on www.theswartlandrevolution.com or follow us on Twitter @swartlandrev.

To contact Jo:

call 082 855 2149 or mail info@twodesign.co.za

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