I was recently invited to a tasting dinner at The Wanderers Club. They’ve launched a monthly tasting menu which includes wine pairing. I attended the July seafood evening hosted in association with Groot Constantia winery. What a stunning experience it was.

The restaurant is located in a beautiful room at the back of The Wanderers Club: Centre Court Restaurant. The restaurant is very elegant and the fine dining tasting dinner takes place in an intimate setting of less than 30 seats. On our arrival we were greeted at the door with a glass of Groot Constantia MCC. Who doesn’t love a little bubbly to get your evening started? It wasn’t long till my benedict and I were served our very first course; oysters in champagne with grapefruit. While I’m personally not an oyster fan (the Friends episode of Joey ‘slipping on a giant booger’ still springs to mind every time I see one), this dish was beautifully presented in a mist of dry ice. Our next course was scallops served with bacon, pickled fennel and onion veloutte. Wow, I absolutely loved this dish. So elegant, flavourful and tasty! The scallops were paired with a glass of Groot Constantia blanc de noir. A superb dish with a lovely wine. For our main course we were served a seabass dish with mushroom buckwheat, cauliflower puree, fennel and a lemon butter sauce. It was beautifully served. The fish was perfectly cooked and well complimented by the cauliflower puree and fennel. The lemon butter sauce was rich and zesty; perfectly balanced. The seabass was paired with a glass of Groot Constantia shiraz. An unusual pairing, but I enjoyed it. For dessert we had the most amazing vanilla halva ice cream served with kiwi, white chocolate, honeycomb, strawberry and champagne syrup. This dessert was the highlight of the night and one of the most delicious and memorable desserts I’ve had. I would walk back to The Wanderers Club now for some more of that dessert. We ended off our evening with a glass of Groot Constantia Bordeaux blend. A little something I learnt from the winery on the evening… Apparently this specific blend is referred to as a “left bank” blend being predominantly cabernet sauvignon (as opposed to a “right bank” blend which is predominantly merlot). This little interesting fact clearly stuck with me since I loved this Groot Constantia Bordeaux blend.

The service at The Wanderers Club tasting dinner was brilliant. The restaurant is beautiful and I can strongly recommend this experience for a special occasion. The food was great and every dish was beautifully presented. I really enjoyed my fine dining tasting experience at The Wanderers Club and I look forward to visiting again soon for the next wine pairing evening.