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Food and Wine
magazine calls South Africa “The world’s most beautiful wine
country”. On October 8th you’ll see understand why.
Many wine experts say the best wines come from the most
beautiful settings, and if true then South Africa should be head
of the class!
The prime wine growing
regions extend northwesterly and east of Cape Town. The 400+
wineries are located along the country’s 13 wine routes; the
Stellenbosch, the Franschhoek, Constania and Paarl routes are
among the most popular. We spent two days in Cape Town,
including touring the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens
then traveled to the Stellenbosch region, the second oldest
European settlement in South Africa. We spent 2 nights in
Franschoek, a French Huguenot village settled in 1688, filled
with picturesque Dutch Cape architecture and nestled at the head
of one of the most beautiful valleys of the Cape winelands. The
valley is where historically elephants came to birth their
calves. The French first planted vines in this area over 300
years ago. Our small boutique hotel, L’Auberge du Quartier
Francais included one of the world’s top 50 restaurants in
addition to being a sister restaurant to Napa’s French Laundry.
We all “worked hard” to taste over 90 wines during the three
days!
South African wines include
everything from sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc to reds such as
cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. Unique to South Africa is
pinotage, a cross between pinot noir and cinsault and the
relatively new blend Cape Blend which mixes Pinotage with other
local varietals. See the June SWS newsletter article by Keith
Weaver “A Splendid Adventure” for more information on the
wines and wineries.
After this program you’ll be
inspired to add South Africa to your bucket list! You may want
to consider timing it so you can attend the Stellenbosch Wine
Festival (wineroute.co.za) in August. Or if you’re a cyclist go
during the largest paid entry cycling event in the world – the
Cape Argus Cycle Tour in March.
Our panel will include tour
leader and former South African resident Helmut Stieglitz,
Kuyper Hoffman co-owner Swirl Wine Bar and South African native,
and commentator Julie Mercer. Food will be provided by South
African chef Alta Broodryk. |
