There has been plenty of foreign investment in the South African wine industry over the last 25 years. Camelia PLC purchased Linton Park way back in 1995, and has invested extensively at the farm, always with a sustainability and conservation focus. Camelia is a multinational company based in Kent in the UK, employing over 80 000 people worldwide. Their interests include tea, (with massive plantations in Bangladesh, India and Kenya), macadamia nuts, avocado plantations, engineering and food service and of course wine.
Malcolm Perkins is the Chairman of the group with a deep personal connection to the farm, visiting a few times a year, especially enjoying the harvest period from January through to March.
Malcolm and the management team at Linton Park hosted media to a very exclusive dinner in the private restaurant Isola at the One&Only at the V&A Waterfront on Wed 9 May 2018.
It was my first experience into the depths of the One&Only, and discovered a sea of blue lights, stunning views and a tucked away spot where we were treated to a stunning dinner matched with the very fine Linton wines. There are 2 MCCs in their portfolio, starting with only 600 bottles each, but I was glad to hear from their winemaker, JG Auret, that they have already expanded that to 3000 bottles each.
Their wines are a classic collection, with the MCC Chardonnay Pinot Noir on arrival sublimely matched with spicy oysters, one of my favourites.
The taste delights continued with their very creamy wooded Chardonnay matched with delicious firm seafood - crab, scallop and foie gras with white chocolate. Foie gras does not sit well with me - so had to give that a miss. The match was heavenly even though I am not a chard fan. It had a fair amount of Michelangelo bling on the bottle, so clearly it has also been recognised by the award fundis too.
The meal continued; Merlot with Duck, Pinotage with a delicious Duo of Lamb(a perfect match), followed by an unusual palate cleanser ice cream with Earl Grey tea (being tea merchants) being matched with their Rose Chard/Pinot Noir MCC.
The piece de resistance was the Cafe Cabernet - a world first - keeping wine in untoasted oak, something I've not come across before. It has been developing for a number of years, and has a very mocha chocolate feel, which I think will be very popular. It matched well with the Chocolate Crème Brûlée, but not so sure that it worked as well with the Orange Sherbet and Naartjie curd. A brave match! They are also working on a Cafe Malbec, and we had a taster to get an idea.
Hat's off to the chefs at the One&Only chefs - this is the Chocolate Crème Brûlée, Orange Sherbet and Naartjie Curd dessert.
With a heavy focus on conservation at Linton Park, Herman le Roux, their Commercial Director, stressed the importance of their philosophy regarding caring for the environment and its people. They have worked extensively on sustainability; eradicating alien trees to prevent soil erosion, introducing a waste water recycling system, installing solar power in the cellar, and actively working towards reducing their carbon footprint by 15% over the next 5 years.