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Flagstone Sempahore rosé for WBW#9 – Think pink

by Jeanne Horak on May 11, 2005 11 Comments in Wine Blogging Wednesday

I love rosé wine.  I love its colour.  I love its soft, fruity flavours.  I love its association with happy memories of summer days.  I love the fact that you can serve rosé throughout a meal, with meat, fish and dessert and still be adhering to wine etiquette.  But most of all I love it because it reminds me of our wedding.  I’ve been reflecting on the happy occasion rather a lot lately as it was our anniversary last week and man, what a fabulous day we had.

Neither of us is particularly formal, so I could see no point in doing a huge, traditional formal wedding that would just make us both stressed and miserable.  And thanks to my mom, the least interfering mother-of-the-bride ever in creation, we got pretty much everything we wanted.  And when I baulked at the price of fresh oysters to snack on, she said: “Listen, you’re only going to do this once, so do it properly.  And in the grand scheme of things, what difference will another couple of hundred bucks make 5 years from now?”  Mamma – just so you know, you were right, as usual.  And so it came to pass that on a beautiful April morning, without a cloud in the sky, I woke up in my HUGE chalet in the beautiful Belvidere Manor in Knysna and sipped champagne and orange juice with my two best friends (my bridesmaids) while my mom brought in my dress and another friend Christelle did my make-up.  And at the appointed hour, my dad arrived and walked me along the paved path in front of the chalet, past the swimming pool to where Nick and his best man were waiting in the flower-bedecked gazebo, and where our 60 guests were sitting around the swimming pool.  And just like that, with a beautiful service and a reading of Leonard Cohen’s beautiful Dance Me To The End of Love by Paola, we were married.

While we had family photographs taken a few metres from the gazebo in the Manor gardens,  guests sipped Pimms cocktails and nibbled on fresh oysters.  And later I spread a big white picnic blanket on the grass and we unpacked our picnic lunches (one beautifully appointed basket of hand-made food per couple), uncorked the Rooiberg rosé and feasted.  I will remember forever that long sunny afternoon surrounded by everybody that I love, lolling on the blanket sipping wine and dancing to jazz tunes with my new husband.  And later in the afternoon we walked down to the bottom of the Manor grounds, which stretch to the lagoon and its lovely wooden jetty, for more relaxed photographs with friends.

 

 

But I digress.  In light of our anniversary being so close to the WBW date, I originally wanted to find some Rooiberg rosé to share with you all, but sadly I had no luck finding it in this country.  As an alternative, I found a bottle of Flagstone Semaphore 2004 Rose at Oddbins.  And one of the reasons that I chose it is not just because it’s South African, but also because it’s made almost entirely of Pinotage grapes.  Now there’s something you don’t see every day outside South Africa… a pink Pinotage!  Flagstone is an interesting lot.  They initially set up their winery in the middle of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town – in the Cape Town harbour and miles and miles from where the grapes are grown.  But they wanted to try a radically different method of making red wine, involving “cold soaking” the destemmed grapes prior to fermentation and since the best cooling facilities in the country were in Cape Town harbour, that’s where they set up shop.  Since 2003 though, all winemaking has moved to their newly-renovated Sir Herbert Baker building near False Bay.  The grapes are sourced from four Flagstone Core Growers, but rather than paying growers per ton of grapes, Flagstone pay a monthly rental fee to the farmers for the use of their vineyard land, and they determine vineyard management in conjunction with the growers.  The vineyards are therefore managed as if they belonged to Flagstone – an interesting concept in grape sourcing!  Whatever they are doing, they seem to be doing it well as their wines have garnered quite a few local awards and even prompted some complimentary words by Jancis Robinson.

Flagstone Semaphore Rosé 2004 (13.5% alc.  A blend of 94% Pinotage, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Sauvignon Blanc.  £5.49 from Oddbins)

C – The colour needs no explanation – look at the photo above!!  Beautiful deep pink – like those roses that are bright pink with just the vaguest hint of orange in their depths.  Just lovely.  Fyi, the semaphore men on the label are spelling out “Boogie”!

N – Turkish delight, strawberries, stewed apples with hints of butterscotch

P – lovely creamy mouthfeel with lots of fruit (strawberries?) on the palate.  Not overwhelmingly sweet though – a nice acid balance to offset the fruit and give it sufficient backbone to stand up to food.  A VERY long, caramelly finish.  Shows off some of the traditional “boiled sweets” characteristics that Pinotage is meant to have.  Delicious and very moreish.  Tastes deceptively unalcoholic – could be dangerous!! 😉

The wine paired beautifully with sticky pork chops (an apricot jam, soy and sweet chilli basting sauce, hence the name) and spinach.  It’s no shrinking violet of a wine and was complemented by the food rather than overwhelmed by it.  I definitely think, what with a long hot summer predicted for Europe, (yeeeehaaaaaa!!) I’ll be stocking up on this one…

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  1. Moira says

    May 12, 2005 at 4:35 pm

    Oh, Jeanne…what a lovely wedding day you had, and how nice that you shared your memories with us- thank you! Your write up of the wine was great, too…I’ll definitely be purchasing some for the summer on your recommendation. Now I’m sorry to say that I’ve never had rose before!

    Reply
  2. ejm says

    May 12, 2005 at 6:49 pm

    What a lovely description of your wedding! Ours was simple too but we never thought of having a picnic! (although a picnic in November in northern Canada is perhaps not quite the thing that some would find amusing. And dancing barefoot on frozen grass is perhaps not recommended either even if there are snowflakes dancing prettily down as there were on our wedding day!)
    I adore rosé as well. It’s often not very easy for us to find decent rosé here – for some strange reason, most of the rosés on the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) shelves are so often sickly sweet. But when we can find a dry one, we love to have rosé with grilled salmon steaks or with couscous and Moroccan style chicken with prunes and apricots. And as you say, it’s the perfect wine on a hot summer evening!
    -Elizabeth

    Reply
  3. Culinary Fool says

    May 12, 2005 at 8:24 pm

    Jeanne:
    I couldn’t even get to the wine tasting part – I had to comment on the wedding memories. 🙂 It all sounds absolutely perfect and I LOVE the picnic idea for the reception. Wonderful!!
    Okay, now back to the wine…. 🙂
    ~ B

    Reply
  4. alan says

    May 12, 2005 at 11:10 pm

    The wine sounds tasty, but it was the accompanying “digression” that provides this post with its sparkle and makes for a fantastic Wine Blogging Wednesday entry.

    Reply
  5. Jeanne says

    May 13, 2005 at 12:01 am

    Moira,
    Glad you enjoyed the memories – I enjoyed getting a chance to write about that lovely day again! And I think it’s high time you tried a rose, particularly in light of the hot summer they’re predicting for us!
    Elizabeth,
    Would love to hear about your wedding as well. But I do agree – barefoot on the frozen grass in Canada in November would hugely diminish the pleasure of dancing!! True what you say about rose wines – some of them can be sickly sweet. But when you get one that strikes the right balance – wow!!
    Hi B!
    Hope you did get round to the wine review in the end… although there are worse things to be distracted by than happy weddign memories!! The picnic was just such fun – and I’m still the only person I know who had a picnic reception!
    Alan,
    *blush* Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed the digression – I definitely enjoyed reliving it!

    Reply
  6. Bradley says

    May 13, 2005 at 3:22 pm

    Great rose read (and as others have clearly pointed out)and wedding notes. I didn’t get in on the big wednesday thing but, coincidentally, was trying a rose at about the same time! I’ll be posting about that shortly.
    Cheers!

    Reply
  7. Joolez says

    May 14, 2005 at 10:03 am

    My favorite rosé is definitely this one: Ernest&Julio Gallo Grenache Rosé
    I forgot if links are allowed in your comments, so to make sure, once again as text: http://www.gallo.com/UKE/cellar/wine_notes.asp?wine=sierra_val_gre_rose
    I don’t drink much wine, I am not sure if I had a glass this year already, but this rose is about the only wine I buy and at least have a sip of. It goes perfect with about any food and without. Amazing.

    Reply
  8. Lady Amalthea says

    May 14, 2005 at 2:35 pm

    This was such a delightful story. I was instantly sucked in. Congrats on your anniversary.
    PS, I’ve just discovered your blog and it’s fantastic.

    Reply
  9. Jeanne says

    May 15, 2005 at 11:34 pm

    Hi Bradley! THanks for stopping by and glad you enjoyed my memories of our wedding day! Look forward to reading about the rose you tasted.
    Joolez – good call! If you’re only going to drink one kind of wine, rose is a good choice!! It goes with almost every food and it’s just so pretty… I haven’t tried the Gallo Grenache rose, but I’m sure I’ve seen it over here, so will give it a try.
    Lady Amalthea – thanks for dropping in and welcome to Cooksister! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed the wedding post and hope to see you again soon.

    Reply
  10. Sam says

    May 17, 2005 at 3:39 pm

    Jeanne, This was a lovely post. I am such a sop when it comes to weddings. Having never had one myself, other peoples’ often reduce me to tears. Thank you for sharing, esp the great pic!
    You know what me leaving a comment on your post means? It means I am actually getting closer to posting up my pink round up. Fingers crossed it will be there later today and so I won’t quite make it to the End Of The Month.
    sam x

    Reply
  11. kosher wine says

    August 1, 2007 at 4:31 pm

    Jeanne, you had such a lovely wedding ceremony. And also good read on the part of wine on your post. Certainly a good post.

    Reply
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Jeanne | Stylish food & travel


Are you a cook... or a baker?
I fall firmly into

Are you a cook... or a baker? 
I fall firmly into the "cook" category. Baking is too precise, too fiddly - and best left to those with an affinity for it, I always say! But every now and then, only a cake will do. Say, for example... when you celebrate your blog's SIXTEENTH birthday!! 🎉🍾 Yes, last month Cooksister.com turned sweet sixteen, and to celebrate I baked this sticky spiced plum upside down cake. It's a very forgiving recipe and it's worth every single calorie 😁. Click on the link in my profile to see the recipe or save this post so you can find it later: https://www.cooksister.com/2020/06/sticky-spiced-plum-upside-down-cake.html

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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Anybody else got Lockdown Itchy Feet Syndrome...?? If it isn't an official disorder,  it certainly should be!

I have always been a dreamer, a planner, an explorer. Few things excite me more than stepping onto the soil of a country I have not visited before. When I am going through tough personal times, my go-to self-help therapy has always been to arrange a trip - to throw off the metaphorical bow lines and sail away to a new adventure. 
But then... Corona 😞  I can honestly say that I am enjoying working from home; enjoying having the time to run every day; enjoying cooking proper meals; enjoying my own company; enjoying the lack of FOMO. But OH MAN, I miss travel. 
This image was taken 2 years ago in St George's, Grenada - my first visit to the Caribbean but  certainly not my last. This photo has me dreaming of the day I can throw off those bow lines and travel again... How are you dealing with the lack of travel during this time?

Am I the only one feeling faintly sad at all the S
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When people tell me they don't like Brussels spro
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For 4 people you need:
500 g Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved and cooked (I roast mine in a hot oven)
1 x 2cm piece of ginger cut into fine matchsticks
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
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2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Salt & pepper 
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"Don't just stand there, let's get to it: strike a pose there's nothing to it!" (Madonna)

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Even if you are not a French speaker as such, you
Even if you are not a French speaker as such, you may be surprised by the number of French words you already know: rendezvous, entrepreneur, souvenir and ricochet need no introduction. All have been adopted into English wholesale, with their original French meaning and spelling. Perhaps they should apply for settled status post-Brexit... But sometimes a word’s literal translation in French bears no resemblance to what the word has come to mean, such as canape. Although we know the word as meaning a small piece of pastry or bread with a savoury topping served at drinks receptions, the literal translation is a decorative antique sofa. When a clever chef first came up with the idea, the topping was thought to sit on the bread or pastry like a person reclining on a sofa, and the snacks came to be known half-jokingly as canapes. Fact! 
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1.  The closest station is Liverpool Street which is only a 5 minute walk from the market.
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Thanks @meetakwolff for the 📸

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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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