It was great to catch up with Keith Prothero, Ryan Mostert and Sam Suddons on Wednesday for lunch at one of Cape Town’s most celebrated restuarants, La Colombe. It was my first time there, and I was impressed. It’s in a beautiful setting high up in the Constantia valley, located in the grounds of the Silvermist vineyard.
The food is beautifully executed and the flavours are good. No massive surprises: this is modern fine dining with good quality ingredients well prepared. The dining room is clean, attractive and nicely arranged so you don’t feel at all hemmed in by other diners. Service is pretty good, and excellent by South African standards. I liked the wine list, but there’s an expensive, unimaginative Champagne list that could be improved with a few decent grower Champagnes.
Keith very kindly provided the four wines below. Ryan and Samantha brought a 2002 Grivot 1er Cru but I didn’t get a proper note on this, alas. Tragically, the Coche was a bit corked. We tried to deny it at first, but it was pretty obvious by the end of the afternoon. It was just faint, especially at first, and we drunk it still. It’s Coche. The 1999 Jamet is a sensational wine. Truly superb, and with some time ahead of it yet.
Coche Dury Meursault 2004 Burgundy, France
Lively, complex and taut with a touch of matchstick and nice minerality, as well as some toasty richness. Serious, but unfortunately this was affected by some cork taint, so no rating.
Raven eau Montée de Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru 2006 Burgundy, France
Very taut and crystalline with lovely finesse to the mineral-driven lemon and pear fruit. Just a hint of creaminess in the background. So pure and fine with some oyster shell character. 95/100
Château Montrose 1989 Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, France
Smooth, broad and beautifully textured, showing blackcurrant, some red cherry and a fine spicy core. This is quite lovely: it’s showing some development, but is ageing really well. 96/100
Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 1999 Northern Rhône, France
This is stunning, and still so fresh. Fine, expressive and meaty with notes of iron and blood as well as black cherries and plums. This is so fine and expressive with lovely citrussy acidity, some iodine and some herbs. 97/100
An extra wine that Ryan and Sam bought. I love this stuff.
Texier Brézème Vieille Serine 2010 Rhône, France
Fresh, fine and expressive with lovely raspberry and cherry fruit. Has texture and freshness and purity. Some pepper notes too. So fine and youthful, with real potential for development. 94/100
These wines were shared by a neighbouring table:
Sadie Kokerboom 2014 Swartland, South Africa
Linear, fine and expressive with lovely pure citrus and pear fruit. There’s a hint of creaminess here too. Taut, pure and quite lovely. 94/100
Sadie Soldaat 2014 Swartland, South Africa
Pale red. Lovely fresh cherries and plums with nice sappy notes. Fine and expressive with cherry and raspberry fruit. This is a brilliant lighter-styled red. 95/100
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1 Comment on A lovely wine lunch at La Colombe, Cape Town, with Coche, Raveneau, Jamet and Montrose
Good to see you Jamie and thanks for the write up. Sorry don,t agree that the Coche was corked,although it certainly was not 100%. Think we were split down the middle on this.
I preferred the Montrose over the Jamet,simply because the latter is still quite young.It will be sensational in another ten years,and as I still have another ten bottles,lets try and taste a bottle a year 🙂
The 89 Montrose is one of my favourite Bordeaux,and this was just about the best bottle I have tasted .
Great company and fine food made it a lunch to remember.