MY first recommendation if you’re planning a visit to Glen Carlou, is to ensure you have enough time for a leisurely wine tasting. There are 14 to try (although you will choose five) and if you’re lucky enough to draw the Reyorn card “you can call me Rey” you’ll be in for a treat.
Rey knows his stuff – about wine in general and Glen Carlou in particular, and is able to talk at length on all of them in what actually ends up to be more of a discussion than merely a tutorial, as tips, facts and ideas are shared.
As it turned out, we got about two third of our way through the tasting when it suddenly became busy with lots of guests (a happy sight) and Rey (pictured below) wasn’t able to give us his undivided attention as we had to share him with the other people.
Hunger pangs coincided with Rey having to pour elsewhere so we ordered our starters before moving to our table, with its view over the vineyards and the mountains beyond. It’s a truly lovely location. Which is a redundant thing to say because frankly all vineyards and wine estates are gorgeous. Perhaps if you find an ugly one you can let me know and I’ll stand corrected. Me, I find a sense of peace enveloping me whenever I see the uniform rows of vineyards, before I even get to the farm or to the glass.
We rather loved the Petite Classique, a blend of Malbec and Merlot, and I always have a weakness for the Bordeaux-style blends so I enjoyed the Grand Classique as well, which contains all five grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot making up 85%, and Malbec and Petit Verdot the rest.
What is quite wonderful is that Glen Carlou is not at all pretentious, and its wines – and food – are reasonably priced. In fact, pop on over to the website for some excellent mixed case offers. I wouldn’t say no to the reds, for R714…
At our table, we were greeted by our waitress Muriel. Now, so you don’t get as confused as we were, Muriel has a twin sister, Mercia, who works there too; it’s not like there’s one of them who somehow manages to be in two places almost simultaneously, or has no sooner filled your glass than she’s putting your plate down in front of you.
The menu is one of those from which you’d happily order any or all of the dishes. Starters include fried squid with slow-roasted aubergine and yellow pepper; tomato soup with a goat’s cheese croquette (without if you’re all the way vegan); lamb croquettes with beetroot chutney and pickled pear; and blue cheese soufflé coated in crushed walnuts with spinach cream sauce and parmesan. We had the two latter dishes, and I reckon the soufflé was the bees’ knees.
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PHOTO CREDIT: Bianca Coleman ©