Africa day 17 24th Feb

It was raining when we woke up, and Table Mountain was shrouded in cloud.  Today we went  on a wine tour to Stellenbosch and were collected from outside out apartment at 9am by Colleen in a minibus.  One other couple was already in the bus, and a third couple joined us at our first stop of the morning.

Our first stop was at Thelema, a beautiful vineyard nestling in the foothills of the mountain to the east of Cape town.  

We tasted 8 wines, six of them showing the differences in wine when the same grapes are grown at a high altitude, or a low one.

Our next stop was at the Zorgvliet vineyard.  Another very small vineyard, and this time we tasted four different wines while sitting under a tree.  The setting was magnificent, and even though the service was not as good as at Thelema, the wine was better.

Our third stop of the day was at Simonsig.  Another four wines, including two 'methode champagnoise'.  The wine was nice, and we had lunch there in their restaurant.  

Our last stop of the day was at the Vergenoegd Wine estate, where we managed, despite the resistance of all the other traffic on the road, to arrive in time for the daily duck parade.  They use over 1000 Runner Ducks to keep slugs and other pests under control amongst the vines, and every day at 3.30 pm the ducks are brought back into the main house area to their yard where they are kept overnight.

It was a delightful sight, and very funny at the same time!  More wine tasting, another five, then it was time to get back into the minibus for the return (snooze) trip back to Cape Town.

A thoroughly enjoyable day, but we bought no wines at all!  Several of the vineyards do have outlets in Europe, so we shall keep an eye out for them, and also look at what Stellenbosch wines the Wine Society can offer. 

We got back at 6pm, and went round the corner to a wood fired pizza restaurant/bar we had seen the previous evening.  Great pizzas, and an eclectic mix of people.  A fun atmosphere, but it got very noisy as the evening progressed, so we left, and were in bed about 10pm.