Strange as it may seem, there does come a time when perusing yet another menu of delicious-sounding food becomes wearisome. So it was with a light heart that we made our way out to Delheim Restaurant for their Cheese Fondue and Sunday Jazz lunch – because we didn’t have to think about what to order, we had something to occupy us as we ate (I’m entering my second childhood now, and always need entertainment at the table to keep me happy) and we were going to meet up with good friends who we hadn’t seen for some time.
Delheim is a lovely, cosy, gentle, warm, fluffy-bunny of a wine farm. Set up by the legendary Spatz Sperling, that pioneer of so much that is good and great about the Cape Winelands, and now run by his daughter Nora and son Victor, it has a lovely family-feel about it which frankly, just makes me always happy to be there. My friend Annelize used to work in the tasting room some 20 years ago now and tells me that nothing has changed there at all. ‘Even the gluhwein tastes the same’ she whispered, sharing scurrilous tales of brewing it up all those years ago.
The Fondue
The fondue was everything you could hope for – made to a family recipe and definitely featuring more than a good slug of wine and Kirsch, it was thick, gloopy, cheesy and completely heavenly. Baskets of cut-up baguette appeared at regular intervals at the table – if I had a criticism at all, then it would be that it would have been nice to have something else to dip as well. Maybe some of the divine sausage which the kids were piling into, or perhaps some cherry tomatoes or chunks of ham? Whatever – the cheese was definitely the star of the day and since we all scraped the pot bare and went through a shaming 5 baskets of bread, we can’t have really felt the lack of very much.
The wine
Obviously, we were washing all this down with vast amounts of wine. Delheim has a wide range of wines to choose from and nearly all of them are available by the glass as well. We decided to go entry-level and were drinking the Shiraz-Cab and the Chenin-Sauvignon, both of them priced at R65 a bottle (I always like a place which offers a genuine, good value, entry-level wine) but we did dither awhile about whether or not to try a glass of Gewurztraminer which I thought might have done rather well with the cheese. Next time perhaps.
We finished off with some delicious slices of cheesecake and a darned fine Malva pud from the a la carte menu. Some friends were in the main restaurant hoping to try Delheim’s ridiculously good-value Dollar-rate deal, but they had got the dates wrong and that only starts again in a couple of weeks time – book now, is my advice.
An excellently-priced experience
In the meantime, at R220 per couple for gluwein, fondue, coffee and cover charge for the charming trio beavering away in the corner, this is an excellently-priced alternative for everyone who wants to be wrapped up in a warm blanket of good food, delicious wine, lovely music, well-being and happiness. I can’t wait to go back.