Waterford Estate — Wonderful Wine at Waterford

Waterford Estate

It’s a beau­ti­ful sunny day, and I can tell the day is going to be hot. I’m head­ing down the high­way towards Stellenbosch, watch­ing the moun­tains come ever closer. My goal is the Waterford Wine Estate. To my mind this little winery is the jewel in the Stellenbosch Wine Route’s crown. Waterford is a rel­at­ively young estate, which was foun­ded by the Arnold and Ord fam­il­ies in 1998. Don’t dis­count it because of its age though; this estate pro­duces some fant­astic wines. The estate can be found in the pic­tur­esque Blaauwklippen Valley, and the winery was designed by archi­tect Alex Walker in the man­ner of the clas­sic Bordeaux chat­eaus of France. The build­ings are beau­ti­ful, and local stone was used to give the build­ings their warm glow ... Continued

A trip less ordinary — Riebeek Valley on a scooter

A trip less ordinary

While spend­ing time with fam­ily in Riebeek West over Christmas, we decided to embark on a wine tour and explore the verd­ant wine val­ley, on a scooter! We star­ted our ‘trip less ordin­ary’ at Kloovenburg Wine Estate, where we also took part in an olive tast­ing and enjoyed their deli­cious wine on the ver­andah. The val­ley has become fam­ous for its deli­cious olives, olive oil and wine and we were excited at the pro­spect of tak­ing part in tast­ings. We were treated to exquis­ite views made all the more enti­cing by the per­fect, wind-free weather in the well-known Mediterranean cli­mate of the Riebeek Valley. Continued

Dik Delta, fat-tailed sheep and cows with long horns at Solms-Delta

The cows at Dik Delta

I first hear about fat-tailed sheep dur­ing a first-hand account of the efforts at Solms-Delta in Franschhoek to ensconce a couple of ostriches in the pen with said sheep. Why? They act as a form of watch dog — who in their right mind wants to tangle with an ostrich? Think how you would feel after one of those legs con­nec­ted with you? (bet you didn't know that their knees bend the wrong way, or is that more dip­lo­mat­ic­ally speak­ing, the oppos­ite way to ours?)

It is the fat-tailed sheep, there­fore, that attract me to Dik Delta, the farm's new fyn­bos culin­ary garden — filled with really inter­est­ing and edible plants and herbs. My other half, it must be said, is here exclus­ively for the garden. Armed with a note­book and cam­era, he intends not­ing every one of the indi­gen­ous trees and plants he has yet to add to our already bust­ing at the seams veget­able garden at home (there is only so much you can fit in your back yard in Plumstead) ... Continued

Solms Delta — picnics, heritage and film-making

Solms-Delta pic­nics

I am a fan of pic­nics. Particularly when they are set in amongst vine­yards, sun-dappled trees and blue skies, as indeed this one turned out to be. But I had to have my wits about me, as we became so embroiled in frolic that I was in danger of miss­ing out on the beauty of our sur­rounds – one of the per­ils of the job, but hey, what is a girl to do?

A friend of mine is doing a bit of work at Solms-Delta, the Franschhoek wine farm that is so much more than a wine farm (I won't go into all of that here, but suf­fice it to say, it is really worth a visit — not least for their wines' quirky names, or the re-introduction of desic­ca­tion — an ancient Greek prac­tice that strangles the grapes) ... Continued

Events in May — Wine, wedding, wheels and other wonderful events

Events in May 2010

The days are get­ting shorter and the nights are longer — winter is on its way. But that doesn't mean the fun stops in Sunny South Africa — What can you look for­ward to this com­ing month? The month of May is filled with wine, wed­ding, cul­tural and agri­cul­tural shows includ­ing import­ant sport­ing events such as the Cadiz Swim and Comrades, and some great annual events.

Book lov­ers will des­cend on Franschhoek for the annual Literary Festival and the Travel Trade will take over Durban for Indaba 2010 in May. So don't let the slightly colder weather con­fine you to your couch just yet (save that for watch­ing the 2010 World Cup in June and July if you haven't got tick­ets to every match). For the next few weeks, get out there and join in the fun... Continued

Under the influence in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban

Wine Tasting

If you love wine then this is cer­tainly an exper­i­ence you will enjoy. Under the Influence is a wine com­munity who shares many South Africans' pas­sion for good wine. They offer you the oppor­tun­ity to pur­chase deli­cious wines from selec­ted pro­du­cers and take part in inter­act­ive wine tast­ings and mini courses.

I thought it would be a good idea to tell you all about the wine exper­i­ences that are hap­pen­ing close to you. Under the Influence and Lexus have col­lab­or­ated and joined fine wine and lux­ury vehicles in a wine tast­ing like no other. Lexus is cer­tainly equipped to offer not only a lux­ury vehicle, but a life­style exper­i­ence so why not join this one where you will enjoy fine wines and a chauf­feur drive ensur­ing your jour­ney home is a smooth and safe one. Continued

Simply Stunning Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch

Beautiful Stellenbosch lies just 55 kilo­metres east of Cape Town sheltered in a val­ley sur­roun­ded by moun­tains that include the Papegaaiberg - little more than a hill in real­ity - the Stellenbosch Mountain, Jonkershoek Mountains and the Great Drakenstein Mountains.

Stellenbosch is not only the second old­est European set­tle­ment in the Western Cape - it was foun­ded in 1697 by Simon van der Stel who promptly named it ‘Stel’s forest’ after him­self - but it is also steeped in his­tory. Its oak-lined streets, like Dorp Street, are bounded by typ­ical Cape Dutch-style build­ings that serve as the main thor­ough­fare of the local uni­ver­sity, where the con­ser­vatoire is the old­est music school in the coun­try. Continued

Route 62 — the longest Wine Route in the World

Route 62

Route 62 (reputed to be the longest wine route in the world) in the Western Cape is a slow, mean­der­ing wander through a series of fas­cin­at­ing small towns and breath­tak­ing scenery. The route is par­tic­u­larly well known for good food and excel­lent wine as it tra­verses some of the Cape’s most fam­ous farm­ing and wine pro­du­cing regions.

Route 62 starts within the greater Cape Town Metropole, and stretches as far as Oudtshoorn and Port Elizabeth. This is a moun­tain­ous altern­at­ive to the N2 high­way as it crosses a num­ber of moun­tain passes as it makes its way east­wards. Along the way, the vis­itor has the option to stop and explore any one of the numer­ous small towns loc­ated on, or just off the route includ­ing Barrydale, Ceres and Zoar. Continued

Cape Wine Tourism Conference

Thebe Conferences is organ­ising the first inter­na­tional Cape Wine Tourism Conference 2006 at Nelson’s Creek Wine Estate in Paarl from 10 to 12 April 2006. Gm of Thebe Conferences Zelda Ingram said:

"The fact that South Africa is host­ing the first inter­na­tional Wine Tourism Conference and Expo in Southern Africa is test­a­ment to the qual­ity of the local industry.”

The con­fer­ence will also bring value to the tour­ism industry accord­ing to Nokhuthula Dube, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited. She said South Africa’s repu­ta­tion for pro­du­cing excep­tional wine has added a greater depth to the country’s image. She said: Continued