It is our third year in a row to return to the wine region of South Africa. After traveling around the world, I can honestly say it is my favorite place. There are many reasons why. Some of which I can describe as breathtaking scenery, first class restaurants, beautiful vineyards and one of a kind experiences. What I can’t quite put into words is the feeling I have when drinking a glass of Pinotage (South African grape varietal) and enjoying a five-star dining experience while taking in the view. It was the perfect place to celebrate my birthday!
Once we decided to come back to Africa during our world tour, we set aside a full week to visit the winelands. Located a half hour east of Cape Town International Airport is Stellenbosch. Another half hour farther east is Franschhoek. The entire area around and in between the two is the wine region. We chose to stay in Franschhoek which is a much smaller community but considered to have the highest quality food and wine South Africa has to offer. The cottage we rented for the week was on the edge of a wildlife reserve. It was a special treat to wake up each morning to see the Zebras, Springbok and Wildebeests just outside of our window.
During our previous trips to Stellenbosch we visited many beautiful wineries for wine tastings and a few meals. This time we took a different approach. We searched for the unique wine experiences offered by many of the wine farms. Here are the ones we enjoyed:
Our favorite wine experience of our visit was a private cellar tour and wine blending and Rickety Bridge. It was top notch from start to finish. Our personal wine guide provided us a tour of the wine making process, the cellars and then walked us through each step of the blending process.
And a little secret… the whole experience for both us was R600 – $44.63 USD and we got to keep the two bottles we made.
We would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Franschhoek area.
The morning of our last day in Franschhoek we made a reservation to stop at Vergenoegd Low Wine Estate. It is the last vineyard before the highway back to Cape Town. The Vergenoegd Low Wine Estate has some unusual workers – Indian Runner Ducks. They have over 1,700 ducks on the farm who work in the vines as well as do a daily “duck parade.” We arrived at 10:30am in time to see the duck parade. Click here to see the parade – IMG_2884 .
Immediately following the parade we got a chance to feed the ducks. That was crazy as the ducks were stepping on your feet, squaking at us and pecking for food all around us.
After the interacting with the ducks, our private guide poured us a taste of wine and walked us out to the vines. There we were able to see the ducks at work eating bugs and snails from beneath the vines. As we walked with our guide through the vines, we tried a few more of the estates wines. This experience is “Wine in the Vine.” It was excellent!
We rounded off our last day with lunch at Asara Wine Estate. Their Bistro offers a large deck with an outstanding view of the mountains. The food was excellent.
Tomorrow we are off on our Nomad Adventure Tour to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and back to South Africa. It’s going to be an adventure…
You guys are looking great! Happy birthday Missy!