Living POSH in StellenBOSCH

Stellenbosch 21 Dec-23 Dec

3 days, 2 nights in Stellenbosch and Cape Town on the Western Cape.  We stayed at D’Ouwe Werf Hotel a very posh, old hotel...that was in the middle of a remodel; hence, why we could afford it. It’s on the site of a church and was one of the first hotels in Stellenbosch.

We procured the last rental car available in the Western Cape through friends connections, and were rollin' sweet in a Nissan mom-mobile. Or as I look at it, plenty of room for all the wine we were to buy!

Sean and I at Van Ryn's

On our way from the Cape Town airport to Stellenbosch, we decided to swing by a couple tasting rooms...really kick off the trip right. So, being the Brandy connoisseur he is, Sean wanted to stop at Van Ryn's distillery. And boy was it a compound! We strolled through the security gates (as they all have in SA) and walked into a beautiful courtyard. Complete with gardens, a fountain, cafe tables, sculptures... Then, as we opened the big, old, but not heavy doors, a woman greeted us with brandy aperitifs.  She described it as their five yr brandy with apricot and lime, I think, pure deliciousness.  I looked around, expecting to see a tray of delicious aperitifs ready-made for guests, but there was none. Very clever, my guess is the guard radios in how many guests are coming in and they prepare welcome cocktails! I love this place!

So, feeling very posh, a word I used countless times during the next few days, we strolled into Van Ryn's and ordered a tasting of three brandys. Then we sat down on a comfy leather couch and admired the 1/2 brandy cellar, 1/2 tasting room. High ceilings, the smell of brandy barrels, some cellar hands skittering in the back ground, and a few other ultra posh people, like ourselves, enjoying delicious brandy. Then our brandy tray arrived and we were told all about each, how to properly taste, etc...while sitting on a couch. Love this place!
  

View from Asara

We swung by one other winery on our

way in to Stellenbosch, Asara. There too,we made our tasting

decisions from our table, on the patio, on a lake, with black swans, and a view of hills and vineyards; and then she brought the selected wines out to us. Posh.
  
 

 When we finally got into Stellenbosch, I was excited to see that it looked like a wine town from home. Small, a vendor market, lots of little bistros and shops. After a trip the wrong way down a one way street, and confusion with the lack of street names (they turned out to be marked on the curb) we finally walked up to D’Ouwe. We checked in, and a valet quickly (literally he sprinted) fetched our car and took it away. We were shown up to our room by a very welcoming concierge. Now, when we booked, we decided to save the extra R200 and get the basic room. But, when we walked in to two single beds pushed together, and a balcony over-looking the new construction, I made a fuss. Only a small fuss!  Aaaaand then the wonderful concierge moved us downstairs to a deluxe room...wow. Four poster bed, lavish couch, flat screen TV, boudoir (complete with robes), desk, massive chandelier, bathroom with claw foot tub AND shower, mini fridge, kettle, French press and an array of teas and coffees. Again? Must I say it? Posh.

POSH

 
The next day we visited 4 wineries, plus did a tasting at a wine shop. Of course, as any proper wine-o will know, after 3-4 wineries your pallet is pretty much demolished. But, due to the short period of time, we had to push it out. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were feeling good!
 
We first visited Beyerskloof, known locally as the ‘king of pinotage’.  Pinotage, for those unfamiliar with wines, is the varietal that South Africa is known for.  It’s not Pinot Noir with a different name (like Syrah and Shiraz), it’s a very fruit driven, smooth, easy drinking wine.  I’m not personally a big fan as I love serious reds like Syrah and Cabernet, and I find Pinotage to usually be too young and fruity.  However, with some age, I find pinotage much more enjoyable; the 2003 reserve pinotage was a favorite of Sean’s so he picked up a bottle.  Then, while taking photos outside the winery, he went on to leave both the R100 bottle of wine and a new pack of cigarettes on an outside table.  We remembered too late and counted it up as a loss.

House of Mandela and Me!

After Beyerskloof, we visited Hartenberg Estate, a recommendation of Sean’s cousins Lara and Vicks. We had absolutely the best experience, mostly thanks to Xolani our sommelier.  The wine was great, and Xolani was so passionate about the wine, and pairing it with food it was awesome!  We were once again sitting at a table outside and having the wines brought out.  Plus, a great meat and cheese platter!  Our favorite was called House of Mandela, a 2008 85 % Cab/ 12% Syrah/ 3% Mouved blend.  So delicious!  And, at R250 the most expensive bottle of wine I bought the whole trip.  However, with the exchange it was only around $33 USD.

After about two hours at Hartenberg, we sadly moved on to another recommendation of Lara and Vicks, Villiera Wines.  They specialize in sparkling, but offered 32 wines for tasting.  32!  My thoughts, are when you make so many different wines, you aren’t going to have too many specatular ones.  However, I loved their Brut Rose and picked one up with the intention of drinking it in our claw footed bath tub later.  I did make a blend of my own with their 2010 and 2011 Sauv Blancs…the 2010 was very green and high acid, the 2011 was very tropical, but not balanced and had low acid.  Put them together? Wonderful!  They should hire me.

Waterford Estate

We finished off the day with the third recommendation, Waterford Estate.  By this point we weren’t tasting much of anything so we ordered the wine and chocolate pairing.  The Family Reserve Heatherleigh ‘Natural Sweet’ with their Rose Geranium Milk Chocolate was my favorite.  We also had a 2008 Cab with Rock Salt Dark Chocolate, and a 2008 Shiraz with Masala Chai Dk Chocolate.  We took some funny photos, and ventured back to our hotel room!

Our 3rd and last day in Stellenbosch, we made sure to hit a few wineries recommended to us....Tokara, Thelema, Grande Provence and Vrede En Lust.  Tokara and Thelema were good, pretty busy, we bought a couple bottles.

Grande Provence, outside of the Stellenbosch region in Franschhoek, was…grand.. I put a star by absolutely every wine, plus the olive paste they served with warm bread.  From the Viognier/Chenin blend, the gummy bear Sauvignon Blanc to the eucalyptus minty Cabernet Sauvignon, it was all good.  But my favorite, surprisingly, was the Pinot Noir.  I am notorious for disliking Pinot, but this was the most amazing one I have ever tried.  It was balanced, had perfumes of strawberries and cherries, the tannins were silky and not too drying like most Pinots I have encountered.  It was R190 and I should have bought a case!

Vrede en Lust

Last, but not least was Vrede en Lust, nearer to Paarl region than the previous two regions we tasted in.  They had a great tasting room, that had been used for filming of a local movie, and very organized staff.  It was so organized that they were reading off a script…disappointing.  We had such a great table over-looking the vineyards, that the distracted and rehearsed attendant didn’t bother us too much.  Vrede en Lust exports all over the world, so they gave me a list with US prices so I didn’t have to convert everything on my phone.  We picked up two wines, a dry rose and a malbec for cheap!

Lion's Head, Table Mountain, Haute Bay

It was a bit rainy but still a nice time. We went into Cape Town to meet up with an old rowing buddy of Sean's and to get the sights. I was reluctant because I figured "a city is a city" but Cape Town is some beautiful landscape. A major port, it is snuggled under and around the foot of Table Mountain and Lion's head, then continues to the east similar to that of Malibu. (A load of posh homes rammed into the cliffs).  You come around the corner from a bay into another bay and more breathtaking views, like the 12 apostles, Haute bay, Camps bay. We did 'sundowners' sitting at a cafe in camps bay. With the palm trees and the South Atlantic Ocean, looks like it could've been California! Therefore…once again…loved it.
 

A plus about flying domestic in SA: liquids are all good, we brought a case and a half as carry-on luggage back to Johannesburg.
 

Sundowners in Camps Bay