What is better than drinking top South African wines paired with delicious food? South Africans love their food and Cape Town is known for its variety of restaurants and different cuisines.
HQ has partnered with popular wine farms around the Western Cape. The Fine Wining event is a wonderful way to showcase the harmony of delicious food from HQ’s signature dishes paired with excellent wines from well-respected wine farms.
HQ is situated in the heart of Heritage Square in Cape Town’s city centre. They are renowned for their signature sirloin steak, chips and salad that brings an elegant simplicity and dining experience for every meat lovers’ taste buds.
For the last Fine Wining event for 2018, HQ partnered with Diemersdal. Diemersdal Wine Farm itself is beautiful with a country feeling and it is tucked away in the Durbanville valley.
We were welcomed with a glass of Diemersdal Sauvignon Rosé 2018. It consists of Sauvignon Blanc with just a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon. The Sauvignon Blanc portion brings very typical characters of granadilla and lime, while the small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon makes its presence known with nuances of strawberry and cherry. The palate is balanced and shows a racy acidity and loads of luscious fruit.
We made our way to our table where a delicious 3-course meal awaited us.
STARTERS:
A crisp salad of Cos and Iceberg leaves, toasted Pine Nuts, Parmesan shavings and dressed with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette.
The toasted Pine Nuts and parmesan shavings elevate this salad with a crunch of deliciousness and flavour. The Cos and Iceberg leaves are fresh and the Dijon mustard vinaigrette simply marries all the flavours together.
Wine Pairing: Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc 2018
The bouquet is delightfully multi-layered with notes of gooseberries, ripe figs and tropical fruit. The aromas on the nose are echoed on the palate, with an added minerality and a lengthy, fruity ending.
MAIN COURSE:
Not only does HQ cater for meat lovers but they also offer a vegetarian option. I decided to try out this option even though I am a big meat lover. I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Once you taste the stuffed portabella mushrooms you don’t even miss the meat.
Portabella mushrooms stuffed with a rich Duxelle, gratinated with Parmesan cheese and served with skinny fries & Café de Paris butter. The skinny fries are warm bundles of starchy goodness and simply delicious!
Wine Pairing: Diemersdal Merlot 2017
The nose seduces with beautiful ripe blackberry and dried fruit aromas along with spicy undertones. This wine is well structured with elegance and mouth filling fruit flavours. Hints of cedar wood, mint and spice flavours follow through on the palate.
DESSERT:
The dessert was the highlight for me. This is a heavenly dessert that deserves all the credit.
Spiced Plums with a yoghurt sorbet, served with a victoria sponge and a dark berry Sabayon.
Wine Pairing: Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2017
This dessert paired well with the Pinotage Reserve from Diemersdal. This wine shows a complex nose of red fruits, vanilla, exotic spices, and rich dark chocolate aromas. The palate is full flavoured and smoothly textured with oriental spice, chocolate and roasted banana flavours.
HQ Fine Wining is a monthly event and I can truly say it is a fun night out on the town. It is good value for money and a great way to enjoy the evening with family or friends.
Categories: Event
Loved it! Beautiful pictures too.
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed the article.