It’s always exciting to visit the latest restaurant when it opens, to be the first to try what’s hot and new. There is also something to be said though for giving a restaurant a little time to settle into itself, to iron out the kinks and to fully come into its own. So, it was with excitement that I visited La Tête for the first time recently to experience their food and wine pairing evening with Spioenkop Wines.

La Tête in a Nutshell

La Tête is a no-frills experience, what you see is what you get. The restaurant is minimalist, the menu is simple (simple sounding, not to be mistaken for simple to make) and the focus is on nose-to-tail dining that pushes the envelope. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but really, pleasing everyone should not be any chef’s ambition.

Wine Pairing Evening at La Tête

The wine pairing evenings happen once a month and different wine farms are featured. The April pairing featured Spioenkop Wines, which was great, as this is a wine that I didn’t know and was eager to taste. With my only correlation of Spioenkop being a historic battle in Natal where the Boers triumphed over the British (despite being seriously under-gunned), I was keen to find out how a wine estate in Elgin, owned by a Belgian couple, came by this name. We started the evening with a glass of Queen Manthatisi 2016, a Sauvignon Blanc named after a heroic local tribe leader. Again a curious choice for a name but one that was explained later on in the evening.

Introduction to Spioenkop Wines

Koen Roose is the owner and winemaker at Spioenkop and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone with the passion and no bullsh** attitude he has towards winemaking (apparently not always favoured by the Elgin winemaking fraternity!). A trained sommelier, Koen landed in SA and fell in love with the Elgin valley. He took us through his wine range with such vigour and belief that he had me completely enraptured, so when we finally did break to have starters, I had to snap out of my mesmerised state to take in the food in front of me.

The Food

We started with what Chef Giles Edwards called a vol au vent. Of course, this was no ordinary 80s tuna vol au vent,  this was crispy pastry topped with plump mussels and leeks in a creamy sauce. This was paired with Spioenkop’s Johanna Brandt 2016, a standout wooded Chenin Blanc that I absolutely fell in love with.

Next on the menu was a cured beef with horseradish, another seemingly simple dish. The cured beef, almost resembling a very wet biltong, was salty (in a good way) and had that amazingly silky texture of cured protein. Spioenkop’s 2016 Pinotage was paired with this dish.

You may be surprised to note a Pinotage in the range, given the farm’s location in Elgin and you would be right – this is currently the only Pinotage produced in the area.

Spioenkop really sounds like the wine farm to beat all odds. Placed on a steep mountainside with rough terrain, seemingly unyielding terroir, inclement weather and with pretty much all odds stacked against it and yet is producing incredible wine, including that unique Pinotage.

Koen speaks more passionately about South African history than most South Africans I know and his wines are often named for, and are a homage to memorable historical figures. Queen Manthatisi – a fearless tribe leader, Johanna Brandt – a propagandist, spy, novelist and all-round bad-ass. It is also the reason the farm was called Spioenkop – an ode to succeeding against all odds.

A Main to end all Mains

We were in for the pièce de résistance for mains, with Giles and his team producing a ridiculously good pork belly roast, served family style. Certainly, the most perfect crunch on a pork belly that I have ever had (and I consider myself somewhat of an expert – this is my go-to dish). The pork was absolutely fall-apart tender with that signature fatty, porky, melt-in-the-mouth goodness that renders me speechless when eating belly.

With this was a potato gratin and a clean and crunchy side salad of green apples, celery and chicory. The perfect offset against the rich pork. To pair with this course, a crisp Spioenkop Riesling 2016 that was the ideal match for this meaty dish. The course was standout. Enough said.

Can you fit in another Madeleine, my dear?

After a zingy lemon sorbet to clean the palate, we were served coffees and fresh-out-of-the-oven Madeleines. Positively popping from the food, I could only manage two… okay, maybe three of them. Truth be told I shouldn’t have even had one, but once that buttery goodness hits your mouth, you find the space. You just do.

Highlights of Wine Pairing Evening at La Tête with Spioenkop Wines

There were seriously many highlights about the wine pairing evening at La Tête, from incredibly generous and button-poppingly good food to amazing wines and swift service. The intimate setting is very relaxed and the idea is that you learn something about the wines, as well as gorge yourself on goodness – and there is so much to go around. My advice would be to go hungry, you’ll want every bit of available tummy space you can.

There are a lot of wine tasting evenings that happen around the city but this one seemed to have a casualness to it that many others miss. This could in part be to Koen’s absolute dedication to his craft and his ability to orate (in a second language mind you) so ardently about it. He is able to remove all the wine jargon and guff that often intimidates many and it’s easy to get caught up in his fervour. Along with this is a very casual approach to the food, Giles and his team want to you get stuck in and to relax and just indulge with a sense of plenty and trust me, you will.

The next food and wine pairing happens on the 16th May 2018 and will be featuring Klein Constantia Wines. Bookings are limited to call to enquire about further details and to secure your place.

latete.co.za | 021 418 1299

spioenkopwines.co.za