Saturday, February 25, 2012

Neethlingshof and Kramer Sparkles.

Today we went to Neethlingshof a wonderful wine estate in Stellenbosch.  Another gorgeous day and perfect for lunch under the oaks.  Once a month my Aunt meets her high school friends and today they chose the Lord Neethling restaurant.  My cousin and I tagged along, we heard 'wine farm' and we had our shoes on and were ready to go.

Entrance to Neethlingshof 
 
Lunch under the oak trees in front of the main house.

The main house was built in 1814 and is now a restaurant.  We sat outside under the oaks and as you can see, the weather was perfect.  In honor of my Aunt's birthday, 14 February, I had brought with me a bottle of Kramer Vineyards Müller-Thurgau sparkles from Oregon.  We were going to open it on her birthday, but got sidetracked and my Aunt figured today was the perfect day for sparkles!  The manager was very gracious in allowing us to bring in our own sparkles for lunch and he charged us $3.23 (current exchange rate conversion) for corkage.  (You hear that Bent Brick?) 

This is the furthest South Kramer wine has been.  I win.

Chilling


Cork popped and the bubbles did not disappoint.

We all enjoyed our sparkles and I am glad I got to share a little bit of Oregon with my Aunt and her friends.  We all ordered our lunch and it was, as always, very good.  I was quick with the camera so managed to get food shots before I licked my plate clean. I decided to have Ostrich as on the way to Neethlingshof we saw a female Ostrich and her chicks.  The chicks were cute, but all I could think of when I saw mom was, mmmmm steak. (if you're vegan I apologize)

Cute chicks

Ostrich steak with a port and Cape gooseberry sauce.  Wine pairing, Pinotage.
Sole fillet with queen prawns, white wine hollandaise on mash potatoes
Bobotie (curried hamburger with egg custard) rice and condiments

Chicken schnitzel

Tuna salad
Antipasto platter

One of the main reasons we love this restaurant is for the dessert.  Lord Neethling surprise. 


Deep fried ice cream served with fresh berries.
The Wine Cellar

Another perfect day of great food, great wine and great conversation with family and new friends.

9 comments:

  1. Very disturbing... the photo of the cute chicks followed by the photo of the cute steak! But it simply made me crave some deep-fried ice cream.

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  2. That ostrich steak has me DROOLING.

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  3. Even though I just had dinner, this made me hungry all over again. I want some of that deep fried ice cream w/ fresh berries. Glad you are having such a good time. All the photos are beautiful! xoxo P.S. love the Oscar Wilde quote...I'm stealing that pic. :)

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  4. mmmmm I love ostrich! what a fabulous place - and that is sweet of you to bring some kramer bubbly all the way.

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  5. Oh my goodness, Lidia! You are my heroine! Such beautiful posts of of gorgeous scenery and delectable food!

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  6. I like it when you're a food blog too. Yum.

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  7. Yum city. That ostrich steak looks like it would pair great w/ Pinot!!! All the food looks amazing! Also, awesome that @KramerWine sparkles made it half way around the world! #JealousOfNubian&TheBottle - @ZTypeAlpha

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  8. You certainly know know how to have a good time, great food,great company, great place and of course great wine. It is so grey here I would like some of your sunshine.

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  9. Ditto to the cuby poet: the sunshine in these photos is ridiculous! I first tried ostrich when I was losing my vegginity . It was the perfect half-way point between chicken and steak.

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