Actually it is the 2nd oldest European settlement in South Africa, and it is home to the Stellenbosch University. It was founded by Simon van der Stel , who was Dutch governor and the Cape Colony back then. More info – in Wikipedia.

We had booked the wine tour for which we were picked up at around 8 am from Cape Town. Ride to Stellenbosch was about 40 mins, and I managed to enjoy the landscape from the car’s window – beautiful streets with colourful trees, Cafes, houses (some in Cape Dutch style), and I loved the bright summery colours – white and pink everywhere. Of course plenty of vineyards too. In the meantime we were entertained by our tour guide/driver – as usual, Cape Tonian with sense of humour. I remember he mentioned the 1st wine in South Africa was produced in 1659, and Western Cape is Mecca for Cabernet Sauvignon. He asked us to introduce each other, and I realised we were joint by quite few French Canadian…guess going to the right place 😀

Anyway, by 9 am we were already in the first estate for the day. Actually on that day we visited 5 wine estates. Here are my impressions.

  1 Mitre’s Edge Wine Estate

It’s a family owned estate, producing small quality of boutique wines. Lovely house, surrounded by the vineyards. We were placed in a tasting room, decorated in classic European style. Our sommelier introduced us to the estate and presented the wines we were about to try. Here we tried 5 wines – each accompanied with type of cheese and crackers. I was thinking to myself – great breakfast, great way to start your day! I was quite interested in to hear more about each wine and why it goes with that specific cheese. And, I was reminded of the 5 S’s of wine tasting (they tend to mention that each time, don’t they?):

Sight – see the wine in the glass, study the colour

Swirl – so that some more oxygen can get in the wine and release its aroma

Smell – or sniff the wine

Sip

Spit

I am not that good in spitting, well at least if it is a good wine. By the end of the day, I knew spitting is a good idea unless you want to be tipsy by lunch! That’s not the point after all.

And I was interested to hear that they use Hungarian oak for the barrels. Hungary is known for its wines too, especially in the Tokai region (that’s another topic.). Another fact I noted – Shiraz is an Iranian grape, whilst Syrah is a way of making the wine. Shiraz is one of my favourite red wines, and actually my top choice from Mitre’s Edge wine list.

Our tasting was even more exciting when 2 of the Estate’s dogs came in the room. One of them sat for a while next to my chair, and he was staring at me which made me laugh. Maybe he wanted a cracker?

  2 Villiera Wines

This is the second wine estate. Yes, lovely landscape again and modern taste room. Here, the experience was less personable – the wine was presented by our tour guide and not local sommelier. The wines were sparkling whites, as this is the specialty of the estate. Villiera is 10 times bigger estate than Mitres, and it is known for green winery – they use real birds and insects to control the pest. I must say – I usually prefer red wines, but this time I was fascinated by the wine here and it was my favourite of the day. Here we tried brut rose (with some pinotage in), dry brut and we learned that South Africa is the second largest producer of Chenin blanc after France. I was fascinated by the Villiera Jasmine white wine – very light, subtle taste, absolutely gorgeous. I had finally found white wine that I like.

  3 Middelvlei

This was the 3rd estate at which we had lunch – braai (consisting of chicken skewer and black beef sausage) and potato salad, with some white wine of course. I liked the cottage style of the restaurant, and the fireplace – imagine it is cosy in the winter! I am glad not to be vegetarian when in South Africa, as otherwise would need to settle for rabbit food. After lunch, I enjoyed walk around the estate – green hills, vineyards, garden and fresh air. I was happy to see some goats, turtles and chickens walking free range! Great spot for a picture too!

At the end of our visit there – we got to pour wine in our glasses straignt from a barrel.

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  4 Lovane

Is 4th on our tour. This is one of the smallest wine estates, producing boutique wines. I enjoyed this visit, as the experience was very personable in an underground cellar- the sommelier was a nice girl, very engaging and informative with distinct accent. At Lovane we tasted the wines with chocolate. My personal favourite here was the Cabernet Sauvignon 2015.

  5 Vergenoegd

And we came to the last stop of the tour – it was still sunny day, and we enjoyed outdoors wine tasting. The estate has beautiful gardens and…some ducks. A very well -dressed guy presented the wines here, and we tasted both reds and whites. The final wine was sweet, port wine – I normally do not like sweet wines, but this one was quite nice and light.

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Sweet ending of the day, happy vibes and looking forward to dinner back in Cape Town.

              Stellenbosch wine tour – MUST do when in South Africa!

Our trip to Cape Town was getting better – after hearing a lot about Stellenbosch vineyards, it was time to visit the town and experience some wine tasting.