Coming to the last two days of our trip in South Africa, we’ve almost reached the end. Still, we’ve got some good wine to taste, good food to swallow, all mwah mwah mwah!
Day 14
Today, we’re visiting the vinyards and doing wine tasting. Yey!
There are several wine routes you can choose from. We decide to stick to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. And in between, we’ll stop by Boschendal.
Having had a detailed look at the wine route booklet we grabbed from the Info Center, we make a list of vinyards we want to visit. Off we start.
First Tokara Wine Estate in Stellenbosch.
We love the neatly planted trees and the full, purple grapes clinging from the branches. I especially want to taste a single Shiraz grape, one of my favorites, but I have to settle with just taking a photo. It’s still early in the morning to do the tasting but we can have a look at the barrels behind the windows. Looks quite prestigious and professional. Before we leave, we see the wine art hanging on the walls. Beautiful portraits of local women drawn with Tokara red wine. Unfortunately they’re not for sale. We sigh and move on to the next vinyard on our route.
Boschendal.
This is a quite big and touristic facility where there’s wine tasting for crowded groups. Hmm, not our taste really. But once we see the beautiful gardens, beautiful flowers, trees all around, and also the lovely old mansion turned into a museum, we go ‘OK let’s have a look’.
First we visit the mansion. It definitely utters the words of a history close by. I don’t know why but I was especially touched by the bedroom. This was a young couple’s room. There was a small crib and a china tub for a little baby. Felt out of an old movie.
Then we wanted to give the tasting a try. We were seated outside in the garden, the irrigation and water jets worked continuously spraying the garden with water in a harmonious chorus.
We made our preferences from the wine list and selected several red, white and rose wine. All came simultaneously served with a glass of water to change the taste in your mouth after taking a sip from each one. The tasting was OK, pas mal, but we didn’t find any of them worth buying and carrying back home, so skipped the shopping part.
Yes, I repeat, Boschendal is the definition of a typical ‘touristic’ wine tasting experience with the tour buses arriving one after another with scheduled reservations, but still is worth a try.
We cut it short, and off we drive to Franschhoek where we have reservations for lunch.
La Petite Ferme.
This is one of the few locations we definitely wanted to visit, both for the wine tasting and the awarded cuisine. We have a table with a view looking down to the valley and the vinyard.
Beautiful.
The place is run by a family for 2 generations. The wine, the cuisine, the atmosphere, the service – everything’s just excellent. The owner of the restaurant welcomes his customers personally, greeting at the entrance and later visiting the tables asking everyone if everything’s OK. Very welcoming, sincere and hospitable attitude, with prestigious, exquisite food and service. This is far most the best food we had in South Africa. A definite reccomendation.
If you’re curious on what we ordered (and yes, I have proof!), I had duck prosciutto followed with risotto of the day. My husband had rabbit savoring every piece of meat on those ribs! All were yummy, totally! And a bottle of Fume Blanc accompanied these fabulous food.
We stopped by the wine cellar before we left and bought a bottle of Fume Blanc and a Shiraz. (All turned out great by the way) We also bought the cookbook of La Petite Ferme. Though we didn’t try it here, there’s even malva pudding recipe. A must try at home!
Our final destination was a difficult-to-spell-and-pronounce wine estate.
Boekenhoutskloof.
This is another special and boutique place. It feels more like you’re at a residential property than a commercial one. There’s life here with several houses and half naked kids running around. I saw a great Weimaraner that just passed us by and wanted to have one. (This is before Coffee of course)
We feel like settling and living here.
Oh, and the wine tasting?
We liked their Shiraz but it was out of stock.
Shame.
We left empty handed looking back at the kids and the dog.
On our way back, we stopped by Franschhoek checking some art galleries and having a glimpse at the city. The architecture and way of living is similar to Stellenbosch, we liked it. We hear there’s competition between cities for the vinyards they have and wine they produce. Well, Franschhoek definitely wants his label on top of the mountains, don’t you think?
We end the day in Stellenbosch with a bloody mary in java Cafe.
This is our last night.
15 days blew away, just like that.
Yet, it was a beautiful day, a beautiful end.
Day 15
Final shoppings before check out.
A Cederberg Shiraz from Wijnhuis.
A rutile ring from Traumerei. (Yes, I got my semi-precious stone ornament!)
A 6-pack Savannah Dry cider for Cape lovers in the family.
A white Merlot from Zandberg in Helderberg Wine Route.
And off we’re on N2 driving towards the airport, passing by the ghetto districts.
End of 17 days together with the flights.
End of an unforgettable experience.
End of part II.
We’re coming home.
MINDMILLS 