Anthonij Rupert Wines teamed up with Port Elizabeth’s Bocadillos for a five-course pop-up food-and-wine pairing at the PEople’s Port Festival in the harbour last weekend.
Lauren Nash and her team operated their impromptu eatery throughout the festival, doing brisk trade during the day and then transforming the drab cement factory warehouse space into an appealing area for the enjoyment of fine food and wine on the Saturday night. It’s the second year “Boca” has staged a pop-up at the Port Festival. Nash chose an Italian-themed menu to tie in with the Rupert wines, most notably from their Terra del Capo range in honour of the late Anthonij Rupert, whose passion it was to bring Italian varietals to SA.
“I’ve done tastings in amazing places, but never worked on the docks before,” AR brand ambassador Carien Hugo-Waring, who shared stories about the wines and the famous family behind them, quipped.
The original farm, L’Ormarins, was bought by Dr Anton Rupert in the 1960s.
“We also bought the neighbouring farm owned by Graham Beck seven years ago and now it’s all one property.”
Johann Rupert (Anton’s son and Anthonij’s brother) heads the brand which also has farms outside of Franschhoek.
There could not have been a better partner for our first course of baked oysters than the elegant but always lively L’Ormarins Blanc de Blanc bubbly with its “Ferrari blue” label – pure class! Then came the two Italian-inspired wines – Terra del Capo Pino Grigio 2014 and the Sangiovese 2016. These were served with citrus prawn salad and ricotta-and-mushroom ravioli respectively.
Sangiovese loved tomato-based dishes, Hugo-Waring said, and the napolitana sauce that came with the ravioli was spot on. This was the undisputed pairing of the night for me. But I’m also a huge AR Optima fan and the beautiful 2014 vintage outshone its food partner, beef osso bucco, which had loads of flavour but was tough. We polished off our authentically Italian pud, tiramisu with berries, with the L’Ormarins Brut Rosé, which is incapable of disappointing!