Grant and I recently snuck away for a wonderfully romantic lunch, at Harvest at Laborie Wines! He had been before, but it was my first time visiting the estate – what a fantastic treat! The weather was rather cold and wet, but we refused to let that spoil our day!
Harvest at Laborie Wines
Laborie Wine Farm is nestled in the fertile Paarl valley, with the beautiful Paarl rock as a backdrop. I am not too sure why I have not visited Laborie Wine Farm before. It could possibly be because we do tend to gravitate towards the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch wine regions.
Laborie is steeped in history, and the Cape Dutch farm architecture is reminiscent of the Cape as it once was, all those years ago.
The farm, granted to Isaac Taillefert in 1691, is named after the district of La Bri in France. Laborie has been producing fine wines since 1698 and more than 300 years on, is one of the oldest operational wine farms in South Africa.
Harvest Restaurant
Our first stop when we arrived at Laborie, was lunch at Harvest Restaurant. Harvest is headed up by internationally acclaimed chef Matthew Gordon. The menu is contemporary South African with ingredients sourced locally. Free range and organic Karoo lamb, beef and fresh line fish are regular features on the menu. Herbs and vegetables are harvested from the restaurant garden.
As you may know, I am taking part in a wellness challenge at the moment, so this lunch was a decadent treat in the making!
We picked a table right near the fire – what a perfect setting! Once seated we were greeted with a delicious glass of the Laborie Cap Classique Blanc de Blanc.
On the Menu
Next, we were treated to the chef’s taster or Amuse Bouche of Smoked Salmon on a Potato Rosti. If that was anything to go by, then we were in for a real taste extravaganza!
To Start
For starters, I chose the Tempura Prawns and Avacado, with Harissa Mayonnaise, Ponzu and Seaweed. The Avacado was also done in a Tempura batter, which made for an unusual but enjoyable taste experience!
My hubby chose one of the daily specials which were a Snoek Pate, served with, in his words, “utterly delicious” Onion Marmalade, which had just a hint of ginger in it and French Toasties.
Mains
For those of you who do not know I am a meat lover, I could never be a vegetarian and live a life without eating meat! I especially love beef steak, so my next choice was fairly obvious, but words cannot describe how stunning this dish was. For mains I ordered the Rump Steak, with a Black Mushroom and Cafe de Paris Butter, accompanied by French fries. Just another steak you say, I think not – probably the best steak I have had in a very long time! The Cafe de Paris butter complimented the steak, which was cooked to perfection. My steak was perfectly paired with a glass of the Laborie Cabernet Sauvignon 2012.
As well as a starch element, my dish was served with perfectly cooked seasonal veggies – my healthy item for the day 🙂
My man opted for a beautiful piece of Grilled Kabeljou, served on a bed of Mediterranean Veggies, Squid Ink Linguine and Squid. The fish was equally delicious; I always make sure I taste his food as well, just to make sure I made the correct decision with mine! Grant enjoyed his fish with a glass of the Laborie Sauvignon Blanc 2013.
Dessert
By this stage, you can well imagine how stuffed we were, but part of doing a restaurant review is trying at least one dessert on the menu. Most often we share a dessert but we could not decide on which one, so we each had our own! I picked one of my favourites, a Sticky Toffee Pudding, with clotted cream and berries, which was off the specials board. The pudding was wonderfully moist and sticky, complimented by the richness of the cream and the sharpness of the berries.
Grant picked a Warm Soft Chocolate Tart, with a White Chocolate Spring Roll and Orange Ice-cream. The Chocolate Tart was gorgeously warm and gooey. Orange and chocolate are one of my favourite classic dessert combinations – it was rather yummy {yes I did get a taste of it too}!
Naturally, no lunch would be complete without…
After what can only be described as the most fantastic lunch, we strolled across the lawn – at least the rain had stopped! We were then given a guided tour of the Historic Manor House, after which we made our way to the Laborie Tasting Room.
Wine Tasting
We were both incredibly full after lunch, and although offered a wine pairing, neither of us could manage it, so opted for the standard wine tasting. This consists of your choice of 5 wines off the tasting menu.
The Estate produces an array of award-winning wines, as well as an estate brandy and a unique fortified Pinotage dessert wine.
Laborie produces some of the best Méthode Cap Classique sparkling wines – a favourite of mine as you well know!
Below is the Wine Tasting Menu currently on offer:
- Tasting of 5 Wines R25 p/p
- Olive & wine tasting R30 p/p
- Divine choc & wine R35 p/p
- Choc & wine obsession R35 p/p
Contact Details & location
Contact Laborie via Tel: 021 807 3095 or email [email protected]. Address: Taillefer Street, Main Road, Paarl. GPS Coordinates: 33 45º 57.64° S 18 57° 31.84° E
Lunches: Mon – Sunday
Dinners: Thurs – Sat
Disclosure Ranking: 2
I used to hate the chocolate/orange combination, but I realised that I enjoy it now. Being vegetarian usually doesn’t have anything to do with the taste of meat.
Hi Natasha I especially love dark chocolate & orange – one of my favourite Lindt Chocolates! I think as with most things people become vegetarians for many different reasons – I have friends who are and they all have a different story to tell! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Yes, everyone is different. I love the taste of meat, but I don’t eat it anymore. My favourite is the Woolworths organic dark chocolate with orange. I love the Lindt swiss dark chocolate, but I haven’t tried the orange one yet.