Cheese and wine: La Cotte Inn, Franschhoek
LA COTTE INN WINE SALES, MAIN ROAD, FRANSCHHOEK, P O BOX 137, FRANSCHHOEK 7690. TEL 021 876 3775, FAX 021 876 3036, INFO@LACOTTE.CO.ZA, WWW.LACOTTE.CO.ZA.
How do you source your stuff?
Ludwig: I try to stock all the Fransch- hoek wines, but obviously space
is a real problem. I'm not interested in how many medals a wine has won - there
are so few wines with real character. The best way to find great wines is to
travel to different areas, go into the cellars and taste, taste, taste! It's
often in the small out-of-the-way places that you discover something really
special.
Lodine: We visit markets and specialist cheese shops in France. One of my favourite markets is Rungis, just south of Paris. This food market (through which 35 000 people pass every day) has a hall the size of the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town devoted only to cheeses.
What's the secret of your good reputation?
Lodine: We both love what we're doing, it's our passion! I spend a lot of
money on cheeses for tastings, but it must be about the experience. We know
exactly who our customers are and how they like their cheeses. Supermarkets
can't offer this kind of personalised service. It's not about the money, it's
about educating people. Five years ago when I started selling cheese from Ludwig's
wine shop he wanted to kick me out because of the smell, but when the people
started buying he realised there was potential in combining forces.
Ludwig: You have to have a long-term vision and a very good understanding of the products you're selling.
Do South Africans know their imported wines and cheeses?
Lodine: On the whole, no! But having said that, South Africans seem hungry
for knowledge. Most know only Brie, Camembert, Gouda and Cheddar. We're here
to broaden their horizons. I always tell people there are over 2000 labels of
Camembert alone in France. What is great is that I see more and more kids enjoying
cheese. A teacher at the local school, Bridge House, has a 13-year-old who is
just mad about Pont-L'Evêque, a washed rind cheese made from raw or pasteurised
cow's milk.
Ludwig: Our palates have become so attuned to our own wines that when South Africans taste Spanish or Bordeaux wines they taste flat. There are too many cultivar drinkers, which is sad considering that some of our most exciting wines are blends.
How do you spread the gourmet gospel?
Lodine: We're trying to organise cheese and liqueur trolleys for restaurants
to introduce diners to foreign cheeses and interesting drinks. We also offer
training for restaurant staff and daily cheese tastings for visitors to the
shop. The most important thing to establish is that every meal should be an
experience and not a rush. When we go out to eat we take five different bottles
of wine to experiment with - one needn't finish all of them!
Ludwig: I've actually given up on presenting tastings. You can't judge a wine on a thimbleful of wine. Ideally you have to drink a whole bottle of the wine with the right foods.
Best sellers?
Ludwig: Sauvignon Blanc will always be a favourite, especially in the warm
summer months. When it comes to foreign wines, South Africans tend to go for
the Northern Rhône wines, as they're predominantly Shiraz and we can identify
with them. We still don't understand Bordeaux wines and find them flat and insipid
- and Pinot Noir we really don't understand. I concentrate on wines from France,
and northern Spain. There are some interesting things happening in Argentina
and the Austrians are making some excellent wines.
Lodine: Some of my customer's favourites are the Brillat-Savarin (an industrial cheese, enriched with cow's milk), Epoisses (a washed-rind cow's milk cheese said to have been one of Napoleon's favourites) and Vacherin Mont d'Or (a raw cow's milk cheese flavoured with a spruce band). Gyles Webb of Thelema is addicted to the Brillat! I try to keep my cheeses back for them to ripen but I only have so much storage space. I get in new stock every two weeks from France but I sell out just as quickly!
Most
memorable food and wine experience?
Ludwig: People tend to think wine is the be-all and end-all of the meal,
but it's actually about the total experience. Many restaurants only see the
profit margin and they're missing the point. In France even the most ordinary
bistro can be amazing, while a three-star Michelin restaurant may be very disappointing.
We went to a highly recommended three-star Michelin restaurant in Paris called
L'Ambroisé and had the most terrible meal, for which we ended up paying R6800!
The food was very disappointing and the sommelier most unhelpful! Locally we
recently had an excellent meal at Bosman's at the Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl.
We've also had some lovely meals at Au Jardin restaurant at The Vineyard Hotel
in Newlands.
Favourite local wine and cheese?
Lodine: Local cheeses, none! They're doing some interesting things with
goat's milk cheeses in Natal though. I don't like flavoured cheeses and prefer
the natural taste - the cheese must stand on its own. The local guys might be
selling a lot of cheese but then they sit back and get complacent. Wines? The
white Palladius from Eben Sadie and the 1997 Boekenhoutskloof Syrah.
Ludwig: Hamilton Russell Chardonnay is always good.
Favourite foreign cheese and wine?
Lodine: My absolute best is the Vacherin Mont d'Or. In France we tried the
Ardi-Gasna and Ossau-Iraty-Brebis milk cheeses from the Pyrenees, with dark
cherry jam and a regional red wine. At first I thought what a peculiar combination,
but it really worked!
Ludwig: Wine - I love the Blanc de Blanc Champagnes and also the character of Côte Rôtie.
Lodine: Wine - the 1990 Guigal Brune et Blonde.
Are we capable of achieving the same quality locally?
Ludwig: We've got the potential and we've got many exciting micro-climates,
but it's going to take time to understand exactly what grows best where. You've
got to judge producers on their consistency. For instance, the Porcupine Ridge
second label wines from Boekenhoutskloof over-deliver time and time again for
the market they're intended for.
Lodine: The local cheese industry is very far behind by European standards.
As with wine, it's all about terroir. What the animals eat has a major influence
on the final product and the style of cheese. We need to pay more attention
to the ripening stage or affinage.
What's your idea of hedonism?
Ludwig: Sex, sun, sand, surf and yes, wine - but not necessarily in that
order!
Lodine: Good men, some Vacherin Mont d'Or and a good bottle of red wine. I
love to lick runny cheese off my fingers. I just close my eyes, sit back
and relax!
If cheese and wine disappeared from the surface of the earth, what could
you comfortably survive on?
Ludwig: Peanut butter.
Lodine: Foie gras!
Most expensive wine and cheese?
Lodine: Our Brillát--Savarin with truffles sells for R147 for half a kilo.
Ludwig: The Bordeaux wines of the early '80s and '90s can go for thousands. I had one guy who wanted to buy all my Latours, which at a starting price of R2500 a bottle is no mean feat! It depends how much I enjoy the wine as to what price tag they carry. Sometimes I even take the prices off and keep them for myself.
How much do you know of each other's area of expertise?
Lodine: Ludwig never ate cheese, he didn't like the smell of them. But when
we went to France three years ago I told him he can't sell the stuff and not
eat it. Now he's as passionate about it and his pronunciation is much better
than mine!
Red wine and cheese - sacrilege or match made in heaven!?
Ludwig: Because we're a New World country, we don't have an established
tradition of eating and drinking a specific region's specialities. In France
you're generally safe if you stick with tradition - you eat and drink what the
locals eat and drink. In the Loire, for instance, the Sauvignon Blancs and Chenin
Blancs have a high natural acidity that goes well with the local goat's milk
cheese. Certain cheeses are too strong for delicate wines, while a Côtes-du-Rhône
or Pinot Noir can stand up to slightly stronger cheeses. You want a wine with
texture, but the tannins must not be overwhelming.
How do you build up your knowledge?
Lodine: You really have to travel and experience the products and places
first hand!
