Wine Diva

Wine Diva and Stellekaya promise you a Joburg winter’s night to remember – with a distinct fusion of red wine, food and chocolate flavours at Kutya Restaurant in Fourways on 24 July 2009.

You’re invited to chase away the winter blues with us…
Stellekaya’s dynamic woman winemaker, Ntsiki Biyela and Caroline Lowings, Wine Diva invite ladies and gents to enjoy an evening of Stellekaya award-winning red wines paired with a delicious mix of Kutya’s South African fine cuisine. You will also have the opportunity to indulge in a Stellekaya wine and Lindt chocolate pairing.

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Diarise and book today!
Date: Friday 24 July 2009
Venue: Kutya Restaurant, The Buzz Shopping Centre , Corner Witkoppen and Douglasdale Road, Fourways
Time: 6.30 for 7pm to late
Cost per person: R250
Early Birds: Book and pay by 19 June 2009 and you’ll stand in line to win one of two gift packs of Stellekaya wine and Lindt chocolate.

Reservations required, limited seating!

Booking can be done by emailing wineclub@winediva.co.za or,
Phone Caroline on 083 263 2660

 Wines can be ordered on the evening.

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About Stellekaya Winery
Stellekaya is a specialist producer of only red wine from the Stellenbosch area. Stellekaya means home of the stars – Stelle is Latin for star and Kaya is iZulu or iXhosa for home. Ntsiki will talk you through the cellar activities surrounding the making of Stellekaya wines, a sort of light-hearted “virtual” cellar tour.

A South African Fusion of Stellekaya and Kutya
Kutya restaurant is situated in Fourways, Johannesburg. Kutya – iXhosa for food – is an elegant yet informal setting, with a pianist providing the relaxed and sophisticated background ambience. This fusion of Stellekaya wines and Kutya food flavours should not be missed. Winemaker and restaurant owner met last week to dream up and pair off a menu of wine and food to delight your senses. Note that the wine pairing may change slightly, as Ntsiki and Ben are still creatively sharing ideas with what will be most flavourful.

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Here’s what to expect on the menu:

Starters
Marula and apricot cured Springbok Carpaccio accompanied by mixed greens
and finished with apple cider dressing
(with Stellekaya Shiraz)
or
Fried camembert
crumbed and on a bed of greens accompanied by a cherry tomato compot
(with Stellekaya Hercules)

Main course – choice of one of the following options:
Option 1 (with Stellekaya Cape Cross)
Beef short rib curry (Mild) with basmati rice and condiments

Option 2 (with Stellekaya Cabernet Sauvignon)
Grilled marinated chicken de-boned half chicken in a spiced chef’s marinade
served with wholegrain mustard mash and fresh garden salad

 Option 3 (with Stellekaya Hercules)
Grilled Pacific cod with spicy cous cous,
roasted baby marrow and finished with a lemon butter sauce

 Option 4 (with Stellekaya Hercules)
Vegetable pastry wrap grilled vegetables of the day
with mozzarella wrapped in puff pastry covered with a napolitana sauce

 Dessert
Assorted dessert platters (milk tart, lemon tart, apple pie, baked cheese cake)
Assorted cheese platter and crackers

 Drinks
Please note that you will receive a welcome drink and a glass of Stellekaya wine per meal course, as well as tasting quantity of wine for pairing with the Lindt chololates, all inclusive. Any beverages and coffees over and above will be for your own account.

 Wine and chocolate pairing
Ntsiki will take you through a Stellekaya wine and Lindt chocolate pairing:
- Stellekaya Hercules (with Lindt Extra Creamy Milk)
- Stellekaya Shiraz (with Lindt Extra Fine Dark)
- Stellekaya Merlot (with Lindt Pear)

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Goodies and giveaways
- Everyone attending the event will receive a fun-filled goodie bag.
- Early birds stand a chance of winning Stellekaya wine and Lindt chocolate gift packs, see below.
- Stellekaya is owned by Dave and Jane Lello, and Jane is also the director and owner of the fine jewellery company, Rockprincess, also located in Stellenbosch. Jane has generously sponsored 2 pieces of jewellery (thanks Jane!) as giveaway prizes for the ladies attending the event.
- Lindt chocolate has also come on board and will be sponsoring samplers for the goodie bags and tables.

Bonus E-Booklet
After you have booked and paid, you will receive an edutaining e-booklet before the event, which will tell you all about Stellekaya, their woman winemaker, their wines, and wine and chocolate pairing. This will ensure that you get the most learning and fun out of the event.Please pass this on to your friends who may want to come along and enjoy the evening, it promises to chase away the winter blues!

Welcome to winter. It’s the perfect time for snuggling up to some good red wine, which is exactly why Wine Diva and Stellekaya are shaking off the winter blues, dusting off our warmest boots, packing in our woolie coats and a-coming round the mountain to Joburg and Pretoria in July 2009 for 1 night and 1 day only.

Ntsiki Biyela, woman winemaker of Stellekaya’s exclusive range of red wines, together with myself, will be hosting a Stellekaya Wine Diva dinner (for ladies and gents) in Joburg on Friday 24 July 2009, and a Stellekaya ladies luncheon in Pretoria on Saturday 25 July 2009. There will be lucky draws, giveaways and goodie bags to accompany the most delicious red wines paired with a scrumptuous 3-course meal, together with a wine and Lindt chocolate pairing.

Take a look at the fun we had in Feb 2009 at the Cape Town event and don’t miss out:

Ladies Luncheon Feb 2009

So watch this space for more details, or simply email me on wineclub@winediva.co.za to put your name on the early bird pre-booking list; and you know that early birds will always be rewarded!

What do you get if you pair red wine and Lindt chocolate? Girls that just want to have fun! And that is exactly what happened on 21 February 2009 at Stellekaya winery in Stellebosch. Women who love red wine (and Lindt chocolate) gathered from far and wide for the first Wine Diva Club ladies luncheon, sponsored and co-hosted by the lovely all ladies team at Stellekaya winery. Here is a picture of the two official hostesses, Stellekaya woman winemaker, Ntsiki Biyela and myself, Caroline Lowings:

Attendees were welcomed at the front entrance at 11.30am, which was quite a buzz with the usual Saturday morning market across the road, so our swish looking event was attracting much attention from passers-by. We had arranged for a clothing display by Inge Peacock of Lulu Tantan to be set up in the tasting room – so the ladies browsed through the clothing on display while enjoying their welcome drinks:

Ntsiki then led the group of women on a cellar tour and told us all about the interesting things that happen during harvest, which has just commenced at Stellekaya. Stellekaya,  home of the stars, is a specialist producer of red wine only. During harvest time a crane brings the berries up to the cellar, where the juice is extracted from the grapes using a wooden basket press. The punch down method and open fermentation are used for wine production. The wine is matured in French oak barriques for any period between 10 and 22 months depending on the style of wine being produced.

After the cellar tour, the ladies settled down at the luncheon table and Ntsiki led us through a wine and chocolate tasting, using Stellekaya wines and Lindt chocolate.

 Stellekaya Hercules (with Lindt Extra Creamy Milk)
The Hercules is a fruity blend of primarily Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a lighter style wine which can be enjoyed with tomato-based meals. The wine has a great balance of fruit and acidity (this is my favourite pairing).

Stellekaya Shiraz (with Lindt Extra Fine Dark)
The Shiraz is a full-bodied wine, deep red in colour, with lovely spice yet very well balanced fruit flavours. It’s lighter and elegantly different from the typical Shiraz.

Stellekaya Merlot (with Lindt Pear)
The Merlot is enjoyable and easy drinking. The wine is smooth with soft tannins and fruity
nuances of plums, chocolate and blackcurrant.

Even the ladies from Lindt couldn’t stand to miss out on the fun:

After the wine and chocolate pairing, there was a lucky draw for the early birds who signed up for the luncheon before 5 February 2009. Two lucky ladies won a bottle of Stellekaya wine each in a specially made box to hold the “matching” slab of Lindt chocolate. These gift packs will be a regular feature as of the end of March 2009 and available to purchase from the Stellekaya tasting room.

Stellekaya is owned by Dave and Jane Lello, and Jane is also the director and owner of the fine jewellery company, Rockprincess, also located in Stellenbosch. Jane generously sponsored 5 pieces of Armilla Jewellery (thanks Jane!) as prizes for the ladies attending the luncheon. Any ladies who had a Stellekaya cork in their goodie bag, won a piece of amazing jewellery. Wow, such treats.

Each lady attending the luncheon received a goody bag, containing Stellekaya soap made from their red wine, Lindt chocolates, a Wine Diva pen and note papers and some info about the Stellekaya winery. The table was beautifully decorated by the Stellekaya team, with the vine trunk on a bold orange cloth as a centre piece, and any woman’s dream setting with lots Lindt orange chocolates scattered all over and good helpings of red wine to be enjoyed with lunch, a generous and delicious combination of fresh salads and quiches – Lorraine, spinach and feta and biltong.

Everyone had a fabulous time, there was lots of chatting, catching up and making new friends.

 And when you gather so many good-looking ladies together in one room, there are bound to be some lunch crashers:

Thank you Stellekaya and all the ladies who attended for making the day an absolute success! For more info about joining the wine club, send an email to wineclub@winediva.co.za.

Take a look at this event’s pdf ebooklet

For more info on Stellekaya winery, go to www.stellekaya.co.za