Biltong and Red Wine Pairing, the Taste of Africa

Red wine and Red meat 🙂

At La Bri in Franschhoek they offer a sweet (chocolate) and savoury (biltong) pairing I only managed to stay for the biltong pairing but that just gives me an excuse to go back and experience the other tasty delights this charming winery has to offer. We spread out on the luxurious leather couches while the wines where explained to us: The pairing consisted of 3 red wines with 3 different “biltongs” 1. La Bri Merlot 2012 paired with Angus Beef Biltong Good beef biltong is always great and beef is the general accompaniment to a good red. The salty taste of the biltong brought out a few of the flavours in the merlot that I would not normally have picked up in this subtle vintage. To be honest I seem to have moved away from Merlot as a red wine. I feel the problem with tasting so many delicious wines as a “job”, I am struggling to find a merlot that has a sharp enough taste for it to be very memorable. This is by no means an insult to the wine. I feel it is a great wine that I would be able to drink all evening on a chilly winters night or even slightly chilled in summer (have I become one of those people?) and the salty beef managed to pull a few of the nuances out that enhanced a bit of the flavour for me.   2. La Bri Syrah 2012 paired with Droewors Droewors is generally quite a fatty snack, I really liked this with the rich tannins in the Syrah. The mild flavour of the wors did not have a huge effect in the wine itself, it was more the fatty, buttery taste of the droewors that softened the wine and as soon as that tannin was removed, one could linger a bit more of the berry rich tastes (instead of feeling like you have been sucking a dischcloth).     3. La Bri Affinity (Bordeaux blend) 2012 paired with Ostrich Biltong I am a huge Bordeaux blend fan and a huge ostrich biltong so I only have praise for this wine. I love looking at everyone else’s glasses after a tasting. You can see which wine was everyone’s favourite by seeing what they drank the most of – every single perosn had finished of this one. The Salt of the biltong brought out the almost cherry sweetness that I have come to love in a bordeaux blend, one that you can almost always find if you look hard enough, the richness of the biltong also worked very well with the richness of the wine to ensure you weren’t completely overwhelmed by either taste and that the wine and biltong complimented each other perfectly.   My review of the La Bri biltong tasting is a short and sweet one, although we did arrive at the wine farm early-ish to start on the red wines, the atmosphere was inviting and the staff friendly, so we did not feel rushed and when you are tasting red wines this early you need to take your time. This was the perfect start to a day in the winelands, and a great way to enjoy 2 of South Africa’s favourites – Red wine and Red meat 

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