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DEAR FRIENDS

There is always something exciting happening on my farm, sometimes it is too exciting! On 3 January two fires headed our way, one came from the west and one came from the east. It has been a very hot and dry summer and the fires started on the other side of the mountains and were driven into our valley by a strong wind.

Over the years a 305 year old farm has so many highlights. Here I am with our consultant winemaker, Pierre Lurton and my daughter Alessandra, after whom I named our first Methode Cap Classique wine, at Morgenster's 300th anniversary celebrations in 2011.

 

As you can imagine there was an immediate response from all the farms in our area and from the emergency services of the City of Cape Town, Somerset West Neighbourhood Watch, Working on Fire, Enviro Wildfire Services and the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association. We are very grateful to them and to Vergelegen, Lourensford, Hathersage, Boskloof and other producers who lent a helping hand, as well as the Somerset West community who were incredibly supportive.

While around 50 hectares of our uncultivated land was burnt we were fortunate that none of our farming infrastructure and heritage buildings were touched. Under 10 percent of our olive groves and vineyards were damaged and we believe that our 2017 production will not be affected.

On to happier things, the picture below shows my perfect taste of summer; chilled Caruso sangiovese rosé served under the old oak trees in front of my house.

Till next time,

Ciao!
Giulio.

 
 

FROM HENRY IN THE WINE CELLAR


There is a nervous excitement in the cellar as we stand by to start bringing in the first grapes of 2017, which will be Cabernet Franc for our Methode Cap Classique.

Meanwhile our whole team is in the vineyards sampling grape ripeness. All our efforts of the past year are focused on this wonderful time and we can't wait to start.

During February my choice of wines to serve in the tasting room are:

Morgenster White 2014 is full of character and will age well. It offers aromas of white fruit, apricot, pineapple jasmine and orange flowers and lemony flavours in the mouth.

Morgenster Reserve 2008. Pierre Lurton describes it as elegant, complex, very well balanced and added: "Superb! Superb! Superb!"

Morgenster Reserve 2011. Spicy, very complex and a fantastic ageing wine. Again, Pierre's verdict is "Superb!"

Our Morgenster Lourens River Valley label compares vintages 2004 (herbaceous, with soft, round, well-knit tannins) with 2011 (look out for the green pepper from the Cabernet Franc and hits of sweeter spice, clove, cinnamon).

  

OLIVE CELLAR NEWS

Corius Visser, our farm manager reports back: "We have been operating our new solar energy system for the past couple of months and are pleased to have achieved our goal of generating two thirds of our day time power use from the sun. Our two year feasibility study showed that our maximum energy use matched sunshine hours, so it was an easy decision. However it has been complex in terms of installation and maximising results. We installed a 200 kw per hour generating plant, split between the olive factory and the winery, to make both production facilities energy efficient. Although we have significantly reduced our carbon foot print in this way, we will keep working to save even more energy."


       

  

Here's one of the restaurant's signature dishes, grilled Karoo lamb chop served with olive and Parmesan crust and pea puree.

This hearty dish is perfectly paired with an Italian gem, Morgenster Italian Collection Tosca 2010. The soft elegance and perfectly balanced acidity of the wine combines sweet minty butterscotch and English toffee fullness with a bold, playful fruitiness.

Bookings: 021 204 07048 and more information at www.95atmorgenster.com.

 
 

VINE TOMATO TART

Here is Oliver Cattermole's delicious summer Vine Tomato Tart to serve with Morgenster's taste of summer, Italian Collection Caruso.

 
  
    

Tel: +27.218521738
Fax: +27.218520835
Email: info@morgenster.co.za 
Website: www.morgenster.co.za 
P.O. Box 1616, Somerset West, 7129, South Africa
 
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