If eating too much fish explains why I’m feeling a little woody today, then I must make a point of drinking more wine next time I go to Bouillabaisse. Moreson wine, that is. They were at Bouillabaisse last night. Winemaker Clayton and marketing manager André challenged the Bouillabaisse chefs to come up with dishes that would complement their wines.
We were welcomed with Moreson Blanc de Blanc – a lovely sparkling wine, brut, and alleged to be chosen within the 10 best SA sparkling wines – and little starters, including fresh and tempura oysters and spring rolls. Yummy. Look, I’m not going to hide this, or make you read it between the lines. I love Bouillabaisse. I love everything about it. From the charming personalities of Camil and Ingrid and their staff, and the job–well–done by the interior designer to the unusual food concept and extraordinary tastes and textures. Bouillabaisse is in a class of its own.
Next up was the basket of prawn, coquille Saint–Jacques, yoghurt dressed tomato salsa and apple–miso with Chenin Blanc – which was probably my favourite wine of the evening, but I don’t take myself too serious, I don’t reckon myself a connoisseur. A fruity, fresh, crisp and elegant wine. Our upfront confusion about the apple–miso –“hmmm, what is this doing on our plate, we don’t understand, Garth, can you please ask Camil what this is all about, there must be a reason, that's how we know Camil”– was kindly taken care of by Ingrid, who explained that the sweet fish bouillon was there to balance the food with the crisp Chenin. Hmmm, we all nodded in agreement, be it a little puzzled by so much food intelligence at such a late hour.
Then came the monkfish and tuna, with a great performance of their own. It was served with the Moreson Chardonnay, a young, light and fruit–driven Chardonnay we were explained by Clayton and Andre, and we couldn’t find any reason not to believe them. Moreson is proudly driven by young talent, and it could make sense to say that this is reflected in their wines. “Yes, we’re a young team, we all grew up in the winelands, wine is in our blood,” André shared with us. He further told us that up to 50% of their wines are exported, to far away places like the Seychelles and Europe, that some of the grapes are brought in from Stellenbosch – in particular the red grapes, since Stellenbosch soil would provide better red grapes – and that he has no problem with screw caps. Well, we talked about that for a while. The pros and cons, romance and tradition versus usability and all the right noises from Australian top white winemakers, who resolutely choose for screw caps. We all seemed to agree that either cork or screw caps are cool, but the synthetic corks found in some wine bottles are bollocks. Good that we have that out of the way.
The lamb was introduced with Moreson’s two top red wines: Pinotage and Magia. “We couldn’t decide on which one would best complement the lamb, so we’re letting you decide,” Ingrid explained. Clayton added: “The Magia got its name from an Eastern European man, who, when tasting the wine, shouted out Magia! Magia! with undiluted Eastern European fervour.” It means magic Clayton has been told, and no one in the audience dared deny this fact. Why deny such a good story anyway – if this is how winemakers give names to their bottled babies, we should expect a lot more funky labels. And I support that.
Last, and certainly not least, the surprise of the night if you ask me, was the dessert: strawberries with what looked like pink sushi, but tasted like pommegrate. Waw. A perfect match with the Moreson pink sparkling wine. It was at that exact moment, when the last bubble entered my mouth, that I already started looking forward to the next food and wine pairing at Bouillabaisse. Not to be missed. See you all there! Text and photographs by Jeroen Seynhaeve |
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