Stellenbosch

One of the great things to do around Cape Town is visit the wine country.  We had a chance to visit Stellenbosch when our friend Jenne was here in October.  Here are some of the places we visited.

We stayed overnight at Zevenwacht.  It was quiet and lovely, and we scored a great deal on their sauvignon blanc.

Zevenwacht

View at Zevenwacht

Restaurant at Zevenwacht

We also visited Spier, where the wine was really nice, and the winery itself was a great mix of attractions and wine.  We saw their cheetah, and strolled through their circus-inspired

restaurant.  A very nice spot for a picnic.

Spier

Chris and Jenne at Spier

Then we visited Ken Forrester.  This is one of our favorite wines, and as you might expect, the winery reflected everything we love in a winery.  It was small and unassuming, with tremendous views.  It also, of course had, wonderful wines.   We even got a chance to talk to the vintner himself, Ken Forrester.

Cellars at Ken Forrestor

Lisa, Ken Forrester, and Chris

Here he is with Lisa & Chris, before we bought some chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc to go.

Our last stop of the day was Kleine Zalze.  This is a large winery, and there was a wedding happening.  It was beautiful to see the dresses and the flowers in this lovely setting.  The wine was also excellent, as was the restaurant Terroir.  Delicious food that highlighted local favorites.  We will  be stopping back there for sure.

Terroir at Kleine Zalze

View at Kleine Zalze

Tasting at Kleine Zalze

We end the day at De Trafford Winery.  Although it was closed to tasting, it was one of the loveliest spots we found that day.

Trail at De Trafford

Chris taking in the sun at De Trafford

Ending the day at De Trafford

The Veritas Wine Tasting

We went to another fabulous wine tasting while Jenne was here. It was back at the Cape Sun Hotel, and it was a celebration of the Veritas.  These are wines from all over the country that have been awarded the best of the best for the year.  We had a great time trying them! The room was filled with different wines to taste, and we showed Jenne some of our favorites. We also introduced her to some friends. We spoke with Johan at Kleine Zalze, he’s the vintner, and has been very nice to us at past tastings, explaining the processes and what to look for in South African wines.

The Three Of Us At Veritas

We visited together drinking great wine – it was a wonderful evening.

Wine X

We went to the biggest wine tasting of the year in Cape Town, and the largest consumer wine show in the Southern Hemisphere.  It’s called Wine X, and it features the best wines  from all over the country.  So clearly, we had to go.

Chris picked Lisa up from work, and we grabbed a quick bite to eat before we went in, we wanted to be ready.  We walked in the Cape Town Convention Centre, and huge modern conference facility, made of glass and steel, right downtown.  When we walked in, there were a bunch of servers in tuxedos to our right, so Chris walked right over and joined the party.  Come to find out, that wasn’t our party.  After a couple of snacks there, the servers told us the cool party with wine was futher on.  So we pushed on.

We passed the enormous cheese booth, and walked into the main room.  The room was huge, so big it was organized with large banners alphabetizing the room.  It went A thru Z, and then AA, well past LL.  We got out our booklet and pen, and started around the room.  It was absolutely packed with people, and honestly sometimes we had to throw a subtle elbow so we wouldn’t get pushed around.  Wine is clearly a big hit here!  It was a big hit with us too.  The night was a lot of fun.  We tried great wines, spoke to people from all over the country, and celebrated a great South African industry.

Some of our favorite winemakers are:

Ataraxia Mountain Vineyard

Bouchard Finlayson

Hamilton Russell

Backsberg Estate Cellars

Ken Forrester

Boekenhoutskloof

Capaia Wines

Kleine Zalze

Cape Point Vineyards

Black, white and red all over

This was written on July 30th:

Tonight we went to Caroline’s Wine Review 2008. It featured red wines from South Africa. The wine tasting was at the Cape Sun hotel in downtown.

We walked into the tasting at the end of a long workday. We came straight from our various daily activities, and met in the lobby for leftover pizza. The hotel patrons may have looked at us strangely, but we knew we needed to eat something before downing all of that wine.

Outside the actual wine tasting room, there was a large cheese booth, where cheese from all over the world was being sold. We partook of a number of different cheeses before grabbing our complimentary glass and heading into the tasting.

There were easily over 40 different wines being highlighted, and they were all the top end brands. We enjoyed the opportunity to try as many as we could (we took a mini taxi home). We started with the most expensive and went down the cost spectrum from there. The most expensive were good, but our favorites were:

• the 2005 Anthonij Rupert Cabernet Sauvignon,
• the 2007 Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir,
• the 2006 De Trafford Shiraz
• and the 2007 Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir.

Although not the most expensive, all were quite pricey, so we were glad to try them during this event.

All in all, our high opinion of South African wine was affirmed. We enjoyed seeing our friend Lynne from Main Ingredient in Sea Point, (one of our favorite shops). We definitely recommend this party hosted by Caroline’s! The next one is white wines!