Wine Country

Today we headed out to 3 wine regions. Paarl, Stellenbosch, and Franschhoek. Our first winery was Fairview where we did a wine and cheese pairing. The tasting environment was outstanding and the person giving the tasting was very passionate and knowledgeable about the wines. The winery also produces its own goat and cow’s milk cheeses. I wish we had something similar in our area. Both the reds and whites were outstanding. South Africa is known for a red wine called Pinotage. Kyle suggested we purchase a bottle, which we will enjoy some warm summer evening out on the dock and reminisce about our trip to Africa. Not sure what will have to come out of the luggage to accommodate that weight.

Our 2nd winery was Boschendal which means Bush and Valley. It is at a very old Dutch homestead and they had incredible organic Gardens and beautiful seating areas under very old trees. The wines were good but not as good as Fairview.

We had lunch at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the valley at Franschhoek called Rocca.

Many tourists plan to stay a couple of days in the area and I can see why. We went to Hidden Valley winery to do wine and chocolate pairings. Not something you usually associate with white wines but they were all excellent. It was a great way to spend some time enjoying a beautiful view, warm sunshine, and great wines. Next door to the winery we were at, was Ernie Els winery and nearby was another owned by Sir Richard Branson.

Dinner was at a restaurant called Gold which offers 14 types of African dishes. They also have a drum lesson prior to dinner and African dancing during dinner. The drumming lesson was a lot of fun as was the dancing. They brought many of the dishes together and it was a bit too many different flavours and textures on one plate. Not our most favourite meal.