After spending two days marveling at the incredible animals and scenery on the Inverdoorn Reserve, our traveling trio headed to South African wine country. We started in Franschhoek, a charming little town with a cute main strip of restaurants and shops, then headed right to the vineyards after grabbing a quick lunch.
Winery #1: Haute Cabrière. Wines purchased? None. Unfortunately this vineyard had much better views than wines! Known for its Pierre Jourdan Cap Classique, this winery boasts panoramic views and a (supposedly) top-notch restaurant. We went for the wine tasting but didn't care for a single one; we left without buying a bottle. Can't beat the scenery though!
View of Franschhoek from Haute Cabrière.
Alex and I kept thinking about all the missed opportunities for wedding venues!
Winery #2: Mont Rochelle. Wines purchased? None. Alex - who graciously offered to serve as Designated Driver for the ladies - drove us to this vineyard, which was recently acquired by "Sir" Richard Branson. Expecting great things given his success in various other pursuits, we were a little let down by the quality of the wines. However, tasting trays cost about $3 and the views were again amazing so we had nothing to complain about!
Standing on the opposite side of Franschhoek at Richard Branson's vineyard, Mont Rochelle.
Apparently horseback guided vineyard tours are offered but we decided to pass...
Winery #3: Grande Provence. Wines purchased? Three bottles. This was our final stop for the day and we definitely saved the best for last. While the views weren’t quite as spectacular as the previous two vineyards, the wine was the star attraction here. We ended up buying multiple bottles and really enjoyed spending an hour in the beautiful courtyard.
Entrance to Grande Provence.
Oops, we forgot our chopper!
What a beautiful vineyard!
Our courtyard setup.
Since it was already getting late – by small-town standards, anyway - we relaxed a little at our guest house with a bottle of wine from Grande Provence before walking to Dutch East for an amazing steak dinner in town.
We woke up early on Wednesday so we could make it to nearby Stellenbosch in time for our full-day private wine tour. Elle, our guide and driver - no driving responsibilities for Alex today! - picked us up promptly at 10am to begin a great day of wine tasting. We made it to five vineyards plus a beautiful lunch spot before parting ways.
Winery #4: Stark-Condé. Wines purchased? None. Our first stop in Stellenbosch was beautiful and we had a very informative host so we really enjoyed our visit. We only tasted a few wines but none really stood out to us...at least the views were great!
Very peaceful setting to enjoy our first wines at 10:30am!
Winery #5: Delaire Graff. Wines purchased? One bottle. This vineyard was the epitome of luxury: the resort included a diamond boutique and clothing shop selling $600 blouses...not to mention every room was beautifully decorated with stunning views. Unfortunately, the wine didn't live up to its surroundings; we only purchased one bottle of chardonnay (but we really enjoyed it!).
One of our favorite views from the day.
Three amigos paused for a photo among the beautiful scenery.
Winery #6: Rustenberg. Wines purchased? Two bottles and 1 full case (to ship home). This was one of the vineyards we liked best - the wines were great, we had the entire area to ourselves and our sommelier was incredibly helpful. Even with shipping charges, it was a steal to send some of the wines home to NY!
The views at Rustenberg weren't as impressive, but the wines were!
Winery #7: Peter Falke. Wines purchased? One bottle. We chose to visit this vineyard based on the delicious Pinot Noir we tried at a restaurant in Cape Town, but, unfortunately, both the wines and the views were disappointing. They no longer carried the vintage we loved so much, shipping costs to the US were astronomical and the scenery just couldn't compete with the other wineries we visited.
Okay, fine, the Peter Falke vineyard was also pretty inviting.
Winery #8: Ernie Els. Wines purchased? Four bottles. By far Dana's favorite vineyard, given the golf connection, this place was definitely beautiful with great wines too. Alex and I didn't appreciate the "Ernie Els angle" (seriously, I didn't know who he was) but we can still appreciate a nice rosé!
Alex, his beard and his ladies!
Exhausted after a long day of drinking, we picked up pizzas from the closest restaurant nearby, Brenaissance – which totally surprised to the upside - and ate dinner in our guest house before sleeping off all the wine we drank!
Thursday was a more low key day of leisurely wine tasting. We slept in, had breakfast and then set off for the few vineyards we hadn't gotten to visit on Wednesday. Alex again graciously agreed to drive Dana and I around for the day so we could enjoy the tastings - I think he is angling for husband of the year!
Unbelievable morning view from our guesthouse in Stellenbosch.
Winery #9: Uva Mira. Bottles purchased? Two bottles. Elle had told us this place was overrated and that the wines weren't that great. She was wrong on both counts. It was here that we decided that Elle - like so many of our tour operators in Asia - must receive kickbacks from certain of the vineyards (and obviously Uva Mira isn't on her list). This ended up being one of our favorite places - the views cannot be beat, the wines were great and we had the entire vineyard to ourselves!
I mean, can you beat this view?
Winery #10: Jordan. Bottles purchased? One bottle (we also realized we weren’t going to be able to fly to Europe with all our wine!). We were able to try eight wines here and also enjoyed a bottle of rosé and an amazing lunch spread. The fancier sit-down restaurant is fully booked months in advance so we “settled” for the smaller bakery next door.
It has become very difficult to think about leaving South African wine country!
The best kind of lunch spread includes rosé and a cheese platter.
Feeling like we definitely had our fill of wine-tasting over the past three days, we headed back to our guest house to relax. We asked our host to take a taxi into town to walk around a bit and were surprised when a tuk-tuk came to pick us up! We were a little disappointed that most of the shops were closed (according to Elle, shop-owners close early to start drinking wine by 5pm!) so we headed to Craft to have a beer tasting (when in Stellenbosch...) before dinner.
We walked to nearby Oppie Dorp for dinner, which ended up being one of my favorite meals in South Africa. The lamb fell off the bone and Alex's ostrich fillet was tender and juicy (who knew?). We also had a great bottle of wine from La Motte, a vineyard we hadn't been able to visit in Franschoek. All around, a perfect end to the day!
Tomorrow we are spending the day driving to the Cape of Good Hope and back to Cape Town for Dana's last night!