Seafood Pairing With Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut

The Krone MCC team asked well-known foodie Georgia East to dream up some recipes for simply perfect dishes that seamlessly pair with Krone Borealis Vintage-Only-MCC 2019 which evokes a sense of discovery in dining, in a pure and simple way, elevating the oceanic.

Georgia - a highly respected cook, writer, food stylist, photographer, author of the cookbook West Coast Wander and blogger at Eastafternoon.com - opted for West Coast seafood prepared, styled and photographed on the shores of Britannia Bay on the Cape West Coast.

BY GEORGIA EAST

The saline complexity of Krone’s Borealis Cuvée Brut makes the ideal pairing for the simplest of seafoods, best served on the beach. I was able to realise my concept of a table set seaside and orchestrated a West Coast-themed shoot with a vintage table and chairs set up on the shoreline, using summer’s early pearly sunrises as a backdrop. I opted for local seafood in the form of Saldanha Bay mussels and harders fresh off the boats in Velddrif.

SALT-RUBBED HARDERS WITH A WILD GREENS PESTO

Served with Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut

The sardines of the West Coast, harders are small silvery fish from the mullet family. Like other oily fish, harders hold up particularly well to being cooked over the coals, especially when rubbed with coarse salt and served with a verdantly green pesto made from indigenous herbs. An extra bouquet of the dune sage and wild rosemary tossed over the fire flavours the harders as they cook, while a bright squeeze of lemon juice over the top of the fish ensures they stay juicy.

I developed this recipe for salt-rubbed harder with a wild greens pesto in celebration of simple flavours and sustainable ingredients.

Complimenting the harders’ delicate flavour, the saline complexity of Krone’s Borealis Cuvée Brut makes the ideal pairing for this simplest of seafoods, while the MCC’s bright acidity of kumquat and naartjie lend zest to the earthy aromatics of wild rosemary and sage.

Prep time: 20 mins /Cook time: 10 mins /Serves: 4

You will need:

8-12 fresh harders or sardines, scaled and gutted
500g coarse West Coast sea salt
large sprigs of dune sage (Salvia africana-lutea) or flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
large sprigs of wild rosemary (Eriocephalus africanus) or regular rosemary, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
The zest and juice of a large lemon plus an extra lemon for squeezing over the fish
Olive oil
Coarse ground sea salt

Combine a tablespoon of the dune sage with the coarse sea salt. Rub the salt all over the harders, taking care to not get any into the belly cavity. Set the fish aside.

Combine the chopped herbs, garlic, lemon zest and juice with a few generous glugs of olive oil. Season the pesto with a pinch of salt and combine to the desired consistency.

Shake the excess salt from the harders and braai the fish over hot to medium coals for 3-5 minutes per side, squeezing over fresh lemon juice. The harders are ready once the skin is golden and the flesh pulls away easily from the bones.

Serve the harders with the wild greens pesto, lemon wedges, crusty bread and a chilled bottle of Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut.

MUSSELS WITH SAMPHIRE AND SEAWATER PASTA

Served with Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut

Farmed in the nutrient-rich waters of Saldanha Bay on the West Coast, mussels are a low carbon-footprint food that taste delicious in almost any flavour combination. Here, these briny molluscs are steamed with samphire – a succulently salty water plant – and served atop spaghetti cooked in seawater. Although undeniably redolent of the ocean, steaming the mussels with shallots and a splash of Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut lends the dish notes of green apple, white blossom and citrus offset by the MCC’s distinctive oyster shell minerality.

Prep time: 30 mins /Cook time: 15 mins /Serves: 4

You will need:

4kg of fresh mussels, cleaned
2-3 shallots, finely chopped
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
250ml Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut
A handful of samphire, thoroughly rinsed
The zest and juice of a large lemon
Fresh fennel fronds, finely chopped
500g spaghetti

In a large casserole over medium heat, sauté the shallots in a little olive oil until soft and golden. Add in the garlic and fry for a minute before deglazing the pot with the MCC. Add the mussels and the samphire and steam for 8-10 minutes or until all of the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that don’t open.

Set a pot of seawater or salted water to boil. Once boiling, pour in a glug of olive oil and add the pasta. Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Without removing the pasta from the pot, drain out the seawater and add in the steamed mussels and samphire. Zest and juice the lemon over the mussels and scatter over the chopped fennel. Gently combine the pasta with the mussels and serve on a heated dish with an extra drizzle of olive oil over the top.

KRONE VINTAGE BOREALIS CUVÉE BRUT 2019

Blend: 73% Chardonnay and 27% Pinot Noir

Tasting Notes: Iridescent pale gold. Oyster shell and sea-breeze aromatics on entry lead to bright green orchard apples, white blossoms, lemon flesh and a treacle hit of salted caramel. The Borealis presents deft and athletic on the palate with a creamy, fine-textured mousse. Yellow apples, kumquat and naartjie evolve with a touch of lemon meringue framing an iodine core; taut and true to 2019’s growing conditions, the acidity is firm and cleansing, revealing white ginger root on the finish.

Purchase: Krone Vintage Borealis cuvée Brut 2019 is available for purchase at the estate, online at https://kronemcc.com/products/borealis-cuvee-brut and is widely available nationally at select liquor retailers and grocers.

Approximate Retail Price: R165 per 750ml bottle.

TWEE JONGE GEZELLEN

The 300-year-old Twee Jonge Gezellen Estate in Tulbagh is the historic home of Krone, a collection of vintage-only, terroir-driven Méthode Cap Classiques made from the finest, most distinctive grapes, bottle-fermented on the lees and then matured on the lees in the cool of Africa’s first underground cellar.

The making of vintage-only Krone MCC is a commitment to the vintage and the character of each harvest, celebrating a moment in time and place, the unique hallmarks of every vintage as directed by nature: from soil to vine to bottle.

Visitors to Twee Jonge Gezellen can journey through a series of extraordinary spaces, immersed in history, and filled with contemporary art, sculpture and collectible design - before moving on to sample Krone’s vintage Cap Classiques on the raised terrace which offers singular views of the picturesque valley and the Winterhoek, Witzenberg and Obiqua Mountains.

Twee Jonge Gezellen is also home to The KRONE X WHATIFTHEWORLD GALLERY, a collaborative space offering an immersive experience showcasing African contemporary art in the heart of Tulbagh, and now home to an Artist Residency Programme too.

Tasting Room Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 - 17:00; Saturday: 10:00 - 16:00
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 - 17:00; Saturday: 10:00 - 16:00
Twee Jonge Gezellen is closed on Sundays and Public Holidays