SECOND seasons always have a resonance to them – inherently it speaks to the success of the first attempt and the willingness of audiences to return for another deposit into their memory banks. There is a sense of the known, but also the mystery around what will pique new interest.

Last year chefs Nic van Wyk and Westley Muller debuted the Franschhoek-based Haute Cabrière’s pop-up restaurant concept and now they are taking the initiative on a national tour that aims to honour the pairing of fine dining and award-winning wines.

The only KwaZulu-Natal venue is the Fairmont Zimbali Resort in Ballito with the inaugural dinner happening at OSA Restaurant on July 7 with another one six days later. The Zimbali Lodge will host additional pop-up experiences between July 10 and 12.

Haute Cabrière’s food and wine philosophy centres on harmony and balance. Second-generation cellarmaster Takuan von Arnim aspires to produce well-balanced wines from chardonnay and pinot noir, while holding true to the characteristics that stand out for these two classic champagne varietals.

The pop-up dinners will serve diners six-course tasting menus with each course paired to different Haute Cabrière wines and Fairmont Zimbali Resort general manager Nils Rothbarth says the demand generated last year has encouraged the resort to include a Sunday roast and a cooking class to this year’s events.

His comment that these pop-up restaurants promise to deliver “an unforgettable dining experience” certainly held its own during the recent media preview. Highlights among the four-hour dining sensation were the pea soup with chorizo and pork puffs (served with the Haute Cabrière Chardonnay Pinot Noir); pan-fried Patagonia calamari with black tomato sauce and seared scallops (paired with the Haute Cabrière Unwooded Pinot Noir) and the butter and thyme-basted line-fish with cauliflower purée alongside the Pierre Jourdan Tranquille.

Haute Cabrière chef Nic van Wyk

However, more than the wining and dining last week were the memories evoked. According to the website www.cabriere.co.za, the farm dates to December 22, 1694 when the French Huguenot Pierre Jourdan was granted land in Olifantshoek, the present-day Franschhoek, and named it after his home town Cabrière.

In the early 1980s Achim von Arnim, then still the Boschendal cellarmaster, acquired a portion of this land with the vision for producing Champagne-style wines. In January 1986 our family, as well as my aunt, uncle and their two daughters, was holidaying in the Cape. Following a hearty breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, fried bread, tomatoes and mushrooms (this was the 1980s – cholesterol was not a consideration when eating holiday breakfasts in the caravan), the happy family gathering headed into the winelands in pursuit of the quintessential tasting experience.

The car was hurtling along the road when my uncle yelled out “STOP!! Back up!!” He had seen the Pierre Jourdan signage and, as a lawyer, had secured Achim’s liquor licence not two weeks’ earlier just as the country was closing down for the festive season break.

Neither my father nor uncle had shaved in a few days and family legend has it they resembled escaped convicts, but that was inconsequential to the cause and Dad drove into the deserted courtyard. At that point Achim, in a similar state of facial growth, emerged from the house to indicate the winery was closed to visitors that day.

Undeterred, by uncle hopped out the car and introduced himself as “the lawyer who secured your liquor licence” – and the rest of the day tumbled into that wonderful space where the subjective choices made in wine are cemented.

Achim showed us the farm from the vineyards where the red and white rose bushes topped and tailed every row (following the old tradition that both identified the varietal colour and deterred the horses pulling the carts from taking a short cut and breaking the last vines in the row) to the storage area (the detail is a little hazy, but I don’t think there was any official cellar space at that time) and the individual bubblies he was currently making.

It was a private reflection into a visionary’s passion still evident today.

 

Credit: Terry Haywood Photography

It was also my introduction to sabrage, the impressive display that opens a champagne bottle with a sabre by sliding the sword along the body of the bottle to break away the neck. The cork comes away still attached to the glass as a treasured prize for wine memorabilia collectors.

History has it the technique gained popularity during the Napoleonic era when the Hussars wielded their weapon of choice to open champagne bottles following their various victories. Napoleon Bonaparte himself is reputed to have said champagne was deserved in victory and needed in defeat.

A few years after that visit still etched in our family legend, Achim discovered another piece of land, now called Haute Cabrière, on the Franschhoek Mountain slopes that displayed similar terroir to Burgundy, France. Achim opened that farm’s underground cellar in 1994, exactly 300 years after Pierre Jourdan had been granted the land.

I don’t know if my uncle played any part in that liquor licence too, but the memory of that day is warmly evoked every time I drink Haute Cabrière.

Pop-up dinners

July 7 and 13: six-course Indian-inspired tasting menu – OSA Restaurant Fairmont Zimbali Resort (R595pp wine included)

July 8: three-course Sunday feast – OSA (R395pp wine included)

July 10, 11 and 12: six course Haute Cabrière tasting menu – Thandi Restaurant Zimbali Lodge (R595pp wine included)

July 11: cooking class with Nic van Wyk – Zimbali Lodge (R395pp including demonstration and a light lunch paired with wine)

July 15: three-course Sunday feast – Thandi Restaurant (R395pp wine included)