Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa - Wine and Dine 2

So what to do for a special night out? We are lucky enough to stay in a suburb that allows us to go to Cape Town CBC with thousands of restaurants and still go home, but sometimes going home means you can't really enjoy yourself as you have to keep in mind that someone has to drive. Enter the Le Franschhoek Hotel and Spa!

We have visited their Wine and Dine evenings before. They showcase one wine farm in South Africa and pair the wonderful wine with some really great food. This time it was Blaauwklippen Wine Farm.  This place looks fantastic! It has a family market on weekends, a play area for kids and everything else you may think of. A special note of appreciation to the representative of the Farm: on previous evenings the wine maker would talk so long that you almost forgot about the food and wine. This evening was great: just enough information to make you curious and just enough talk to make you excited about the next course!

 We started off the evening with a rose bubbly (so good!) called "Ons Sprankel" and some smoked salmon canapes. This is always a good indication for the evening!

 The Menu

I immediately got distracted by what we will be drinking: a wine farm that does so many things - bubbly, wine, gin, schnapps and brandy! This is going to be great! Thank goodness we are sleeping over!

Squid and Cucumber

I have never had cold squid before. Neither one that has been poached so I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. I imagined something that would probably resemble a tuff tire. I couldn't have been more wrong! The head chef is really amazing as this salad was refreshing and it complimented som really good bubbly! They should actually just provide you with an order for right there as I aready wanted to buy the 2 bubblies we have been enjoying!

Grilled Tuna

The tuna was fantastic. It complimented the gin flavours so well and I loved the lemon jelly they served with it. It was so good!

One of the best gin's I've ever tasted! A 100% juniper berry gin that tastes amazing with some dry lemon, cucumber, lemon slices and a sprig of rosemary. This was so good! I almost forgot about the great bubbly! Even Hubby (who is not a gin fan) liked it and wouldn't share his!

 Asparagus Salad

This was probably the best salad ever! I couldn't have enough. This is a salad I will easily have a whole plate of for dinner. And the pear schnapps sphere was an amazing experience. The CEO of Blaauwklippen was explaining all about the products and he is originally from the Black Forest in Germany meaning this is proper authentic schnapps. This alone is a good reason to go vist the farm (if you did not have a reason already!)

 Blueberry Sorbet

This blueberry passion fruit sorbet was so good. It really made me miss the Little One as she would have loved this.

Duo of Duck

A duo of duck was not only amazing but served with a Zinfandel wine that was even better! The spring roll was amazing and so juicy! I would easily have 4 (or 5 or 6!) of those any day.

 Affogato Grappa

This was so good but the Grappa has a proper kick to it. It was served with a grappa coffee foam (not pictured) that was just as good. A beautiful way to warm the stomach making you ready for a good night's sleep.

So what if your hubby is not a wine drinker? Don't despair - they also do potstill brandy! Apparently they have a whole brandy tasting event on the farm where you get to taste small batch brandy from all over the Western Cape. So while wife tastes wine, aunty is tasting the schnapps and the cool nephew is doing the gin tasting, hubby can do a brandy tasting - this really is a place for everyone!

If Blaauwklippen was being showcased at the Hotel again, I would definitely go again.