I’ve long been a lover of Durbanville Hills wines.Β They’re fantastic quality as well as being so well priced.
I was also lucky enough to meet cellar master Martin Moore when we attended a food and wine pairing at The Village Table in Umhlanga before covid hit the country.Β I always feel a stronger affinity for a brand when I’ve met one of the people involved in it – and Martin was such a lovely, down-to-earth and humble man.
During our wonderful trip to the Cape, we were blessed enough to enjoy a wine paired dinner at The Tangram Restaurant – the gorgeous fine dining restaurant at Durbanville Hills.Β The venue is absolutely gorgeous – double volume (something we love, particularly as this is what we have in our home), beautiful wood and earthy colours, and the most STUNNING panoramic view over the vineyards and Table Mountain.Β At night, it’s all sparkling lights, but this just makes it that much more romantic.
On arrival we were greeted with a glass of the Durbanville Hills Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, a bubbly I’ve purchased myself and loved.Β Very tropical on the nose, but a light, fresh sparkling wine with a fabulous citrus punch to it.
Our meal was to be paired with the Collectors Reserve wines.Β We were lucky enough to receive a gorgeous collectors box of these at the dinner in Umhlanga, and had planned on keeping them until we moved into our new home.Β Then Covid hit and the alcohol bans began.Β We did open all 4 bottles, and they were all AMAZING!Β So I’m sure you can imagine we were excited to enjoy them again at Durbanville Hills on our trip.
For starters Nick chose the Pork Belly (burnt apple puree, raisin chutney, crispy shallot rings), paired with the Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Promenade Pinotage.Β It was beautifully presented, perfectly cooked, and each element worked so well with the others.Β The rich dish, paired with the Pinotage (notes of plums, strawberry and dark chocolate on the nose, and plums, red cherries and sweet spice on the palate) worked perfectly.Β Sublime.
I selected the Duck (spiced duck wrapped in a phyllo pastry parcel, fresh cucumber and orange salad, black berry jus), paired with the Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Cableway Chardonnay.Β The duck was divine, rich and still moist, but the crunch of the phyllo, and the lightness of the salad were the perfect combination.Β The Chardonnay made the most perfect companion, as the orange in the salad brought out the citrus notes in the wine.
Honestly, the starters were both incredible.Β I couldn’t have been happier with the wines chosen to pair with them, or the fresh, delicious ingredients in the dishes. Onto mains it was, which was a slightly more tricky one – the Tangram had unfortunately run out of their Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, so if we truly wanted to choose those dishes, we wouldn’t have the corresponding wine to sip on with them.Β Our delightful server informed us that the Pinotage would also pair nicely with them.
Nick decided to still go ahead with his main of choice, the Beef Fillet (biltong dusted fillet, caramelized onion mousse, pumpkin fritters, crispy onions, baby potatoes, jus), and he enjoyed another glass of the Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Promenade Pinotage with this.Β The fillet came cooked exactly to his liking, tender as could be, and the whole plate was just delicious.
While I’d originally had my heart set on the Venison (skewered, apricots, onions, spiced baby potatoes, vegetable puree, baby carrots, jus), I really wanted to try a dish with the correctly paired wine.Β So, I opted for the Chicken (mushroom and spinache roulade, butternut, baby carrots, potato croquettes, jus).Β The chicken was moist and tender, and the potato croquettes were a lovely addition both texturally and flavour-wise. My only issue with this dish was that it just didn’t have the same wow-factor of our starters, or Nick’s main – however I couldn’t complain as it was incredibly fresh, tasty and cooked to perfection.
This dish came paired the Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Lighthouse Merlot.Β What I DID enjoy was that it was a red wine paired with a white meat – and that’s where the dish came into it’s own for me.Β The red wine worked so well with the mushroom and spinach filling of the chicken!
Finally it was time for my favourite course – dessert.
Nick is a huge fan of anything ‘lemon’, so it was going to always be a given that he’d opt for the Profiteroles (lemon cream, caramelized white chocolate crumb, dark chocolate and honeycomb ice cream).Β The fact that it came paired with the Durbanville Hills Cape Honey Bee Noble Late Harvest was an added bonus – we both love a dessert wine.
The dessert was scrumptious – light, and airy profiteroles with a dreamy lemon filling.Β The ice cream even wowed Nick, who isn’t an ice cream fan for the most part.Β The Durbanville Hills Cape Honey Bee was SUBLIME!Β It paired so well with the lemon, caramelized white chocolate and the honeycomb in the ice cream, yet this dessert wine would stand well enough on it’s own as a sweet ending to a meal.
LADIES.Β If you are a chocolate fan, you NEED to try the dessert I chose.Β It’s rich, it’s creamy, it has crunch, and is the perfect balance of sweetness, saltiness and bitter dark chocolate.Β It was a bowl of complete and utter perfection – the Chocolate (brandy snap, dulce de leche mousse, chocolate biscuit crumb, chocolate sticks, miso salted caramel, dark chocolate mousse).Β The miso caramel still haunts my dreams, it was the perfect salted caramel with that added umami punch from the miso.
Even the paired drink was perfection, as I’m growing to love brandy more and more.Β The Durbanville Hills Merlot Potstill Brandy is sensationally good!Β On the nose you get mulberries, vanilla, glazed cherries and cinnamon, but on the palate milky chocolate (making it perfect for this dessert!), vanilla and raspberries.Β It’s smooth, delicate and the most perfect way to finish a delicious meal.Β Definitely a bottle I’d like to purchase for sipping on before a fire (be it fireplace or braai).
As we were leaving, we were handed a gift bag.Β I’d seen each of the tables being given one of these as they were leaving, and it contained a bottle of wine from the new Durbanville Hills Light range.Β We were gifted a bottle of the Cool Climate Light Chenin Blanc (which you’ll be getting a review of soon) – a lovely finishing touch, and a great way of introducing new product.
There was another goodie in there though – as Martin, the cellar master had asked them to sneak a bottle of the Cape Honey Bee as an extra gift.Β We’d planned on placing an order for this, as I wanted to do a review for my little monthly review club – so this was SUCH a lovely bonus (thank you so much Martin)!
Overall we had the most wonderful evening at The Tangram Restaurant, and I can highly recommend it if you’re looking for a wonderful dinner in a beautiful setting!
Have you seen my other posts from our trip to the Cape?Β Why donβt you check out another here: β
