Intended as a celebration of all things new at Nederburg, I was invited to attend the media launch event of The Manor, Nederburg’s new restaurant recently and it was truly one of the best sensory experiences I had in a while!
We arrived at The Manor as the sun was slowly setting over the mountains. Here, we were greeted with a glass of Nederburg Cap Classique and shown to the stoep where we were given the opportunity to sample some of Nederburg’s new-look wines in the company of the winemaking team, headed up by cellar-master Lizelle Gerber.
After tasting the Nederburg wines on offer, served with delicious canapés, Nederburg’s managing director, Niël Groenewald, formally opened the event with a brief explanation of how the night would unfold.
As night fell over The Manor, we were escorted to individual rooms set up for a sensorial wine and food experience involving blindfolds and ireless earphones…and a challenge to guess the wines served per course.
First up was a mini red onion marmalade tartlet with gorgonzola candied walnut and pickled pear, paired with Nederburg Carignan Grenache Rosé 2020. This was tasted while we only had our blindfolds on.
The second course included lamb belly fritters with minted cranberry mustard, matched with Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, whilst we were blindfolded and listening to Toto’s Africa via headphones.
The final “experiment”, and possibly my favorite was listening to the sweet sounds of Billie Eilish’s Ocean Eyes via headphones, featured citrus-cured seabass with a pistachio blini and confit smoked tomato, paired with Nederburg Chardonnay 2019.
After savouring some of Nederburg’s award-winning Noble Late Harvest of the 2018 vintage together with a selection of desserts and cheeses, the evening was concluded with guests dancing the night away to popular music by talented songstress Babalwa Makwetu and her band.
To read more about Nederburg’s wines and packaging upgrade, click here.
Nederburg will be offering a similar wine and food sensory experience to the public, starting in December 2020. Keep a lookout for updates regarding costs, booking details and more.
Ps. Thank you H&M for the stunning dresses and handbag!
