Lozärn wines first caught my attention a year or so ago when I came across an article about this wine farm’s interesting and unique offering, producing Carménère (traditionally from Chile) on local soil. Seeing that I am a very visual person (in other words, I like pretty things), the super stylish packaging and labeling immediately fascinated me as well.
I just had to find out what the story is behind the duck skeleton on the label, because, let’s admit it, it is a little weird…. So I found this backstory, thought you will find it interesting as well!
The Lozärn story (provided)
“Many are intrigued by the wraparound labels that add dark elegance to Lozärn’s labels, adorned as they are with the skeleton of a duck. The story revolves around family matriarch Kathleen May, Granny Kay as she was affectionately known, who started life in Fish Hoek about a century ago. Her childhood embraced both South Africa and Europe, but as young adults she and her sister escaped from Germany at the outbreak of World War 1 to settle in Switzerland in the city of Lucerne. Back in South Africa several years later Kay bought land in the Robertson valley and started producing ducks for the market. Her son added grapes and orchards when he took over the farm, and today one of his three sons, Grant Smuts now farms here, focussing on tomatoes and other fruits. Happily for winemaker Salome, who introduced them to Carmenère, wine production is also on the menu. The Swiss-German version of the farm name – Lozärn – was chosen as the wine brand, and a skeletal image of a duck to illustrate the label.”
Wine brands with fascinating stories and legacies makes the experience always a little more quirky and distinctive don’t you think?
Having tried the Carménère rosé a few months ago, I was thrilled to get involved with a social media collaboration in conjuction with #SAVineShare and Lozärn. This time to try out their maiden vintage 2018 Chardonnay with what promises to be an interesting food pairing. Let’s see how that turned out!
The recipe we received was “Granny Kay’s Favourite heart-warming, self-saucing Lemon and Naartjie pudding”. Well, you heard about Granny Kay above, so this sounds like a real family favourite!
Here’s the recipe 🙂
Well, I haven’t made a baked dessert in ages, so I was ready for the challenge! Here goes!
Serve six
¼ cup caster sugar
75g unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup self-raising flour
2 x lemons for grated zest and juice
2 x naartjies for finely grated zest and juice
3 eggs
450 ml low fat milk
Melted butter for greasing
Icing sugar, to dust
- Preheat the oven to 190C, lightly grease shallow ovenproof dish
- Beat the butter in a bowl until creamy, then add the sugar and beat again until the mixture is light and fluffy
- Beat in the citrus zest
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time
- Sift the flour over the mixture and stir it in along with the milk, lemon and naartjie juice
- The mixture is quite runny and have a slightly curdled appearance
- Whisk the egg whites together in a clean bowl to stiff peaks, then gently fold into the citrus mixture, half at a time
- Pour into the prepared dish, then place in a roasting tin and pour enough warm water to come just over halfway up the dish
- Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until the top is lightly set and golden brown
- Remove the dish from the roasting tin, dust with icing and enjoy warm
I may tweak the recipe a bit next time, I think I made a mistake somewhere along the way, because it didn’t come out as ‘self-saucing’, but that wasn’t a deal breaker! If you have this with cream and lemon curd it will be fantastic! I will also add a little more sugar and citrus juice next time, it is all a matter of personal taste is guess!
The citrus flavours in this dessert compliments the chardonnay’s butterscotch/caramel and citrus notes beautifully. A delicious pairing!
Read more about this exciting wine estate here: https://lozarn.co.za/ You can also order directly from the website to purchase some of these gems at cellar door prices.
The social media collab also included a live chat with the winemaker, Salóme Buys-Vermeulen. So if you want to grab a bottle of the 2018 chardonnay, you can still taste along: https://www.facebook.com/lozarnwines/videos/2291783220929371/