Africa - Cape Town, South Africa, Saturday, March 4, 2017

South African Wine Farms.

Vineyards are called "Wine Farms" here in South Africa.  There are over 450 different Wine Farms in the area and today, we are going to visit three of them.

First stop was at a charming college town called Stellenbosch.  We were scheduled to visit Village Museum, but Stevie, Lorri and I ditched the museum group and stopped for cappuccino at a corner coffee shop and then visited a few local merchants.  We've been dubbed "the walking stimulus package" for South Africa.  I bought a hand carved  box.  Not really intentionally, but the artists made me a deal I couldn't refuse.  

A short time later, and another bus ride, we arrived at our first Wine Farm, Boschendal.  The setting for the wine tasting was beautiful. Huge Oak trees created a shady canopy over tables set with glasses of red and white wines. 

Meet Jen.  She was with us on the NatGeo Around the World trip.

Let the tasting begin.

Our first tasting at Boschendal Wine Estate

It's a lovely setting surrounded by rugged mountains.

Office and wine store.

They were quite good.  Why is it the last one always tastes the best?  I had a couple of cases shipped home.  I know when I get it, I'll ask myself, "What were you thinking?  This tastes horrible!"  But it was quite good at the time so it's on the way.  So please come over for a tasting and let me know what you think!

We also tasted a new wine called Pinotage.  A young South African wine maker cross pollinated two grapes, the Pinot and Cincault (pronounced sin-saw).  The result, a Pinotage.  It tastes very much like a Pinot Noir.  Actually, it's quite good.  Now I can't describe the fragrance to you when "nosing" (smelling) the wine.   Does it have essence of cinnamon and elder berries or oak and currants or dirty tennis shoes and manure?   I just don't have a sophisticated enough nor discerning palate to distinguish between the different types of red wines.  A red is a red to me.  

On the way to our second tasting and lunch, we stopped briefly at the Victor Verster Prison, the location of Nelson Mandela's release in 1991.  Mandela is quite a hero to the South African people.  I guess I need to read up on this.  I remember it a bit differently.

Mandela's statue marks the entrance of Visitor Verster Prison.

Our second tasting and lunch stop was at Laborie Estate.  The wine was so-so, lunch was so-so, but the dessert was excellent.  Sticky Toffee Pudding that was almost as good as Andrea's at Michael's Grill in Tampa.  

Second tasting and lunch at Laborie Estate.

Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Almost as good!

It is autumn here in South Africa.  The grapes have been harvested, but I managed to find one tiny little cluster of grapes left behind.

Lorri checks out the grapes on the vine.

Awesome smile, Stevie!!

And our final stop was at KWV for a short cellar tour and tasting.  The cellar that we visited is now a museum of sorts.  When these huge barrels were in use, each one could hold 15,000 bottles of wine.   They have been beautifully hand carved with different wine stories.  

As our sommelier described each wine, we obediently tasted.  She began talking about a cognac that we were tasting as having a delicate fragrance of fruit and nuts and caramel and smoke, vanilla.  She further described it as being oaky with a hint of dried fruit and citrus.  IS SHE KIDDING???  Maybe she's had too much of this stuff or she's smoking some good weed.  It was such a foul tasting brandy that I went through the whole basket of crackers to cleanse my palate.  I did not ship any of these wines home as they were ... well ... not special.  I've had better wine out of a box!  Sorry.  

The huge barrels are no longer in use, but make a beautiful display.

Tasting?

At one time, this barrel could hold 15,000 bottles of wine.

The fronts of these barrels have been hand carved with wine stories.

Now for the REAL tasting.

Most of my wine was poured in the black cup!

Before.

After.

We arrived back to the One and Only at ... yup ... HAPPY HOUR!!  But first, we had to scoot upstairs to pack our large suit cases for a 9:30 p.m. pick up.  Other bags need to be downstairs by 5:15 a.m. tomorrow morning.  Ugh!!  What's up with that???  

Happy girls at Happy Hour.

We had dinner tonight at Belthazar, Cape Town's version of an upscale Outback Steak House.  They had interesting things on their menu like Ostrich, Crocodile, Kudu and Wildebeest ... to name a few.  I settled for a salad with chicken.

Back at the hotel now, packed and ready to ship out tomorrow morning for a brief stop in Johannesburg and then on to Namibia.    5:15.  REALLY???  Nite nite.

I don't know what the wifi will be like in Namibia.  If you don't hear from me in a day or two, it must be pretty lousy wifi.