DARN! It was sad to hear that the Wine & Bubbly Festival scheduled to take place on the beach at Plettenberg Bay in March had been cancelled due to ‘late withdrawal of the sponsorship’ – though good to read that Plett Tourism and Plett Winelands ‘will return with another world-class experience in 2020’. Instead then, the main focus of attention in the Cape this month and next will be on Constantia/Tokai, Robertson and Paarl – see below for the programme of top SA wine events in February and March 2019.

It took some of us a while to get our heads around the concept of a wine festival in one corner of Wine SA that (also) struts the good stuff of other districts and wards. This year Constantia Fresh will include beauties from Bot River, Elgin, Franschhoek, Hemel-en-Aarde, Robertson, Stellenbosch and then some. In 2018 the lovely outdoor event saw over 1200 with a taste for good living sip and sample reds and whites of 45 exhibitors, whilst eight of South Africa’s top chefs prepared food to accompany the wines – coffee, craft beer and live music also on offer throughout the day.

For those with big hearts and big pockets, the charity auctions at the Norval Foundation outside Steenberg in Tokai and at Buitenverwachting in Constantia proper are the places to be early-March. The cellars of Robertson and Paarl are welcoming wine lovers to participate in the harvest, and Caroline’s stores in Tokai and the Cape Town CBD have invited the producers of 5 Star wines, as rated in Platter’s 2019 Guide, to offer a taste of their finest.

13 FEBRUARY
Stellenbosch Street Soiree – Drostdy St

24 FEBRUARY
Constantia Fresh – Buitenverwachting

1 MARCH
Amex Barrel Auction – Steenberg (Tokai)

1 – 3 MARCH
Robertson Wine Valley’s Hands-On-Harvest

2 MARCH
Cape Wine Auction – Buitenverwachting

2 MARCH
Paarl Harvest celebration – various farms

6 MARCH
Platter’s 5 Star Wines – Tokai, Cape Town

14 MARCH
Platter’s 5 Star Wines – Cape Town CBD

21 MARCH
Fijnwyn Bubbles & Food Festival – Pretoria