SO PERHAPS you are going to be in Bot River in the Walker Bay district of the Cape South Coast for the Spring Weekend. Or maybe you’re just contemplating this area of South Africa’s winelands as they put out an extra welcome mat, step up the charm and make a bit more noise at this time of year. What to
THE 2017 Drinks International Wine Tourism Challenge (UK) culminated with awards for Best Visitor Centre (Codorniu in Spain), Most Innovative Experience (Vineyard Tour Guide App at Yealands in New Zealand), Best Food and Wine Matching (Zonin’s Castello di Albola in Italy), Best Retail Experience (Gonzalez Byass in Spain), Best Promotional Body (Stellenbosch Wine Routes), Best Wine Event (Harvest and From Vine
EAT OUT, “South Africa’s Best Guide to South Africa’s Best Food”, might well come in for some flack after publication of their 2016 Restaurant Awards sponsored by Mercedes-Benz – only one restaurant from outside the Western Cape cracked the nod for a spot among the Top 10 and only three among the Top 20. Respected restaurant critic and publisher of Platter’s
SAO BENTO da Vitoria Monastery in Oporto, Portugal, was the venue for the 2016 Great Wine Capitals Global Networks’ Best of Wine Tourism Awards, the culmination of a competition entered by 359 wine estates from South Australia, Rioja in Spain, Bordeaux in France, the Cape winelands, Rheinhessen in Germany, Mendoza in Argentina, Porto in Portugal, Napa Valley in the USA and
IT’S A LOVELY drive through the countryside to the vineyards of Slanghoek Valley. Visitors typically head out along the N1 highway, taking the R101 to Rawsonville just east of the Du Toitskloof Pass/Huguenot Tunnel (or via Worcester) before turning north along ‘The Route Less Travelled’ than most others in the Cape winelands. It’s alongside the Slanghoek Road in the Breedekloof that the
BESIDES THE WINE, apart from the restaurants, over-and-above the farm stalls, gift shops, places to stay and the wonderful scenery, there are plenty of other things to see or do in the Cape winelands. CLICK HERE to see what bonus attractions are on offer near some of the top cellars in the country – a few examples shown below.
THERE ARE some stretches along the beautiful wine routes of Stellenbosch that offer a better hit-rate than others for those in search of the best – strips of road with members of the Top 100 ‘club’ on either side in the sort of concentration that makes it possible to visit several within an hour or two without breaking the speed limit. Off the R44 to Somerset
SMALL POINT BUT… Why have a menu at the home of such South African marvels as Beyerskloof Pinotage, blends including the country’s ‘indigenous’ variety, and the Pinotage burger, that lists some items in French, Italian, etc? However, moving right along… The Red Leaf Bistro is one of the hotspots on the Stellenbosch wine route, particularly since the restaurant was revamped and the range of
ENCHANTED it is. There’s nothing else like it in the winelands of the Cape. A boardwalk alongside a stream through a forest on the farm Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek, meandering this way and that between some wonderful trees that include Cape holly, wild almond and white alder, African red alder, white poplar and English oak. There is also some Cape Beech (Boekenhout) that the
IN WHAT AMOUNTS to a closing-down sale running until the end of March, the prices of everything at the Winters Drift shop next to the Elgin railway station east of Grabouw were slashed by 35% following a decision of the powers that be to cull the brand and to replace the vineyards with orchards – apples and pears. Apparently the wine side
‘THE WINE KINGDOM’ is a marvelous publication ‘Celebrating conservation in the Cape winelands’ – marvelous by way of stunning photographs of beautiful countryside, fauna and flora, marvelous by way of the many success stories and conservation-worthy achievements that involve an industry collaborating out of respect for nature and the environment. And although not a wine guide proper, the coffee-table book features
THERE ARE fine-dining tables indoors with artworks on the walls, but the views from the verandah of a reed-lined dam and the Helderberg are difficult to resist! The new restaurant destination on the Somerset West wine route that is 95 at Morgenster is not the place for a simple plate of grub and a glass of any old vino. This is a
IT WAS ABOUT TIME! Long overdue, you might say… By far and away South Africa’s leading producer of fortified dessert wines over the past 30 years or so and with a reputation for great-value quaffers too, Nuy Winery east of Worcester had made do with a rather humble cellar-door tasting and sales facility until the new showcase venue, restaurant and deli opened
IT’S ONE OF THOSE wine route destinations off the beaten track that’s worth seeking out for the wines but also for the location – above the basin and south of where most of the other Elgin cellars are to be found, close to the sea, and dramatic in terms of the scenery, the weather and the family behind it all. The
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW about the better restaurants, picnics and braais in the winelands of South Africa, i.e. on the farms, in among the vineyards, rather than in the cities, towns and villages. And with the emphasis on TOP – each table, bench or blanket given the nod of approval in the country’s leading restaurant guides Eat Out and Rossouw’s, and/or situated next
SCHEDULED to be launched to the public at the Sunset Market on the old square in the village on Friday 27 November, the Stanford Wine Route spans the area east of Hermanus, north of Gansbaai, south of Caledon and west of Cape Agulhas. Another beautiful part of the Cape winelands, it includes eight members on a meander that’s been growing and
IT WASN’T that long ago when the edibles in a Cape winery’s tasting room were limited to water biscuits or cream crackers. Today, some of South Africa’s best restaurants are located alongside some of the country’s top cellars and matching wine with food at the cellar door extends to a variety of different experiences, some offered even where there aren’t complete meals to
AS OF mid-July 2015, the following Top 100 cellars were open to the public on Sundays – unlike the others only open five or six days a week or strictly by appointment: Constantia, Tokai Constantia Uitsig – 10:00 to 17:00 Eagles’ Nest – 10:00 to 16:30 Groot Constantia – 09:00 to 18:00 Klein Constantia – Summer, 10:00 to 16:00 Steenberg – 10:00 to
WHEN SURVEYED mid-July 2015, the Top 100 cellars in South Africa included the following that were offering free tastings of their wines regardless of whether you purchase any afterwards: Ataraxia on Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge outside Hermanus Bouchard Finlayson in Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside Hermanus Bon Courage Estate in Robertson Glen Carlou on the Simonsberg in Paarl Hamilton Russell Vineyards in Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside Hermanus Le Riche in Raithby/Helderberg,
SOMETHING(S) to bear in mind if planning a trip to the Cool Wine & Country Festival in Elgin between 9am and 5pm on 2 & 3 May that involves a weekend pass costing R100 pp: Not every Elgin wine will be on show – non-participants include Richard Kershaw, Spioenkop and Sutherland (of Thelema), plus a number of other producers who
