Week in the Winelands

I can melt in the beauty of the South Western tip of Africa in late winter. In this green season, the Western Cape is a place where the quartzitic sandstone escarpments are often veiled in a soft white cloud. Fynbos on the heath of the lower skirt stretches down past the steep grey crags towards white beaches that meet the cold Atlantic. The air herbaceous, fragranced with dark wood. But you soon identify the scent of a culture in this area: the wines, and the exquisite cuisine. How fitting that the Table of the Cape is set as an invitation for those who love to taste. 

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It was thus a simple decision. A Cape Townian was going to go on a week long winter Wine Tour. The route well researched, guest houses booked, four season outfits and reading material packed, and a mixed tape made with love for the road trip.   

In 2011, a snowless Winter passed. But as the end of August approached, I was wishing for some white frosted mountain tops. But the sunshine over the green was also welcome. The second cold front that I wished for never came to pass that year. But there will always be beautiful Winters to come. 

And yes, the more you wish for snow, the earlier Spring will come. But luckily early Spring has its perks too. 

Learning more about the wine making process.

Red needly Proteas on the back of a pick up farm truck. 

It was sunny, the day we arrived back in Stellenbosch, my old University town. This was the base for the first few nights, as the charming old Dutch town lies in the heart of the Winelands. In the evenings it was still chilly, and we thought at some point it might rain again. But the thought of a rainy night sounded wonderful, because somewhere in Dorp Street there was a fireplace waiting for you in a secluded little library, leather couches and a tough choice between Whiskey on ice and the finest Red with two wine glasses. 

Going for a walk in Jonkershoek after a day of good wine and good food in the Greater Simonsberg wine region. 

At first we thought we might be able to squeeze five wine farms in a day. But less was certainly more. Two to three wine farms a day, which included time spent over the wonderful meals at their Restaurants, seemed like the perfect amount of indulgence to contain. Which was why walks in the natural world seemed to balance all out quite well.  

(And how beautiful this place is). Almost beckoning 'just add wine' and a picnic blanket. Instead, we rested among Spring's new flowers.

Stark, and theatrical, the tree lined banks of the Breede River that passes through Robertson Wine Valley. The forecast of a cold night with the promise of a warm fire place and a glass of Rietvallei's 2008 Estéanna Red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. 

The beauty of a glass of Red. 

The Wine Journal: my Moleskine Notebook now not only filled with blank ink cursive notes, but a Journal of all the Wine farms we visited over the week. It contains every wine we tasted, our own made up little poetic verse of the taste, the nose, the notes, amateur but personal star-ratings and splashes of different translucent reds and plums and purples. (Most White Wines left no stains, but made the paper curl up with pleasure. A wonderful pastime indeed.   

The best holiday at home. Our chosen route started in Stellenbosch Valley, then Helderberg, and Greater Simonsberg in the Stellenbosch region. After that: Franschhoek, then Rawsonville, Robertson and ending off in the 'Hemel en Aarde' Valley in Hermanus. A highly recommended experience.

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