Wines of the Cape - Regions

Wine RegionsWhen rough sailors first planted vines in the Cape they hoped to produce a drink whose alcohol content would let it stay fresh longer than plain drinking water, for their journeys on sea. They never could have imagined that their humble efforts would grow into one of the world’s most successful wine industries.

The South African Winelands region has many fine wine estates offering wine tasting and cellar tours as well as gracious farm accommodation and hidden restaurants. There are now hundreds of different wine farms producing anything from simple table wines to award-winning special vintages.

The Cape Winelands is a loose term used to describe several quite distinct wine-growing regions spread over several hundred kilometers.

Production zones in the Cape winelands are divided into officially demarcated regions. There are four main regions, the Breede River Valley, Klein Karoo, Coastal Region and Olifants River.

Breede River ValleyThe Breede River which flows through the fertile Valley, gives the Breede River Valley its name. The Breede River Valley region is the largest wine producing area in South Africa. It consists of Worcester, Robertson and Swellendam.

Worcester is South Africa’s biggest wine-producing district, producing nearly 25% of the country’s wine and spirits. It is the capital of the Breede River Valley and eencompasses Wolseley, Rawsonville and the picturesque Hex River Valley.

It is the most important brandy producing area and home of the KWV Brandy Cellar, the largest of its kind in the world. To the wine lover, Worcester offers a big Wine Tasting Centre, where one can savour the excellent Breede River wines. The KWV Brandy Cellar is definitely worth a visit.

Robertson is renowned for the quality of its wines. It is the source of some of the Cape’s finest red wines, particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The distinctive fortified dessert wines for which it was originally famed continue to be produced.Klein KarooThe Klein Karoo Wine Route in the Southern Cape is the most diverse of South Africa's wine regions. It is the easternmost wine producing region in the country and stretches from Montagu to Oudtshoorn in the west and encompasses the district of Calitzdorp. Calitzdorp is the source of the country’s finest Port wines. Port-grape varieties prefer a hot, dry, climate such as that of Calitzdorp.

There are many similarities between the climate of Calitzdorp and the Douro valley in Portugal.

These port - wines are produced from internationally recognized varieties such as Tinta Barocca and Touriga Nacional.

Coastal RegionThe Coastal Region covers what many would consider to be the most famous of South Africa's wine producing areas including Constantia, Paarl and Stellenbosch in the Cape Valley.

The Constantia Valley is the most historic of the country's wine growing areas. Four of the five estates in the region form part of the original farm, Groot Constantia, established in 1685 by Simon van der Stel, the first Dutch Governor of the Cape.

This is a good region for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet. There's a legendary Muscat produced here called Vin de Constance, a wine regarded by many as a benchmark.

Paarl is situated beneath a large granite outcrop formed by three rounded domes. This scenic town is home to the KWV and the venue for the world-renowned Nederburg Auction. It is one of South Africa's premier wine producing districts and some of the most prestigious wine producers are situated here. Chenin Blanc accounts for a lot of the vineyards, but Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut and Pinotage are widely cultivated.

Located close to Paarl, Wellington is known for its top quality red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinotage as well as old favourites such as Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

The Franschhoek valley is a small but significant region. The area is distinctively French and many of the wines are created in traditional French ways. With its profusion of trendy restaurants it can rightfully claim to be the gourmet capital of the winelands. It offers visitors a wide range of wines to accompany fine French cuisine.

Stellenbosch is a picturesque university town and one of the most visited spots in the Cape. Renowned for its Cape Dutch architecture and oak-lined streets, Stellenbosch is also home to many of the country's leading wine estates.

The district, with its mix of historic estates and contemporary wineries, produces excellent examples of almost all the noble grape varieties and is known for the quality of its reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage, and Shiraz.

Durbanville hosts several estates and wineries situated mainly on the rolling hill slopes of the Northern suburbs and make a wide variety of wine styles. This is one of the less commercialised wine routes but produces some sophisticated wines at affordable prices.

North-west of Durbanville is the Swartland (Black land), a region named for the characteristic dark foliage of its bushes. This region is particularly dry and harsh and a large percentage of the vines in this area are grown under dry land conditions in bush form. Vines are grown without irrigation and the resulting wine is of an excellent quality with various concentrated flavours.

Tulbagh is a small area east of Swartland and the vineyards of this district grow alongside orchards and fields of wheat. There are 16 wineries and several of them are relative newcomers making acclaimed wines with local cultivar Pinotage. Tulbagh’s historic Church Street boasts no less than 32 national monuments.

Olifants RiverThis region stretches in a belt from north to south along the broad valley of the Olifants River. It incorporates the Cederberg Mountains and Lutzville Valley.

The Olifants River is famous for its rooibus tea, citrus fruits as well as fine wine. The region is home to the country's highest cellar, situated 1150m above sea level.

The wine route winds over 200km through the Cederberg Mountains and Namaqualand, famed for its profusion of wild flowers in South Africa’s spring.

Nestled between the picturesque Cederberg and surrounded by numerous orchards of citrus fruits is Citrusdal. Citrusdal Cellars produce exceptional wines from grapes grown high up in the Cederberg and Piekenierskloof mountains.

Tourists should visit the "Goede Hoop Citrus Koöp" as well as the Golden Valley Wine Cellar. These two can be described as the heart of Citrusdal. The Golden Valley Cellar has wine tasting facilities where visitors are welcome.

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Stellenbosch Accommodation

Cape Town and all its beauty

Where does one begin when trying to describe Cape Town?

Africa’s southern-most city, home to Table Mountain and international award-winning wines, the biggest shopping centre in the Southern hemisphere (Canal Walk), a city with two oceans (Indian in the east and Atlantic in the west)…These are just some of the descriptions by which Cape Town is known.

Let us begin with a brief history: Cape Town’s written history can be traced back as far as 1487 when the explorer Bartolomeu Dias set sail from Portugal to find a sea route to the riches of the East and landed at Gouritz River Mouth after having unwittingly rounded Cape Point.

But it was not until Jan van Riebeek of the Netherlands, at the behest of the Dutch East India Company, landed in 1652 at what was to become known as Cape Town to establish a refreshment station for travelers on their way to the East that European settlement began at the Cape.

It was in the early 1800’s that a notable exodus to the Cape from the cooler climes of Europe began. Since then there have been significant periods of upheaval, peace, war and the dawning of a bright future in 1994. Cape Town’s population is made up of such a diverse mixture of people from a wide from range of cultural, religious, political, and ethnic backgrounds that it is a truly cosmopolitan place to live and visit.

Back to modern day Cape Town and this is a city that competes with the best cities in the world in terms of all it has to offer tourists and locals alike. It is often regarded as one of the world’s most spectacular cities because of its geography.

There is the ocean with all that it has to offer from sporting pursuits to magnificent sunsets; there are the Cape Winelands where some of the finest red and white wines in the world are produced and where visitors are welcome to spend an entire day – and longer – sampling the tastes, sounds and lifestyle of this majestic area. Visitors and locals are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting a restaurant at which to eat. There is an international flavour in this city that is rivaled by few others. From German to Oriental, Italian to Cuban, Fusion to Cape Malay there are elegant fine-dining establishments and conversely casual eateries to suit all preferences and palates.

The night life in Cape Town is unrivalled by any other city in South Africa. One can dance the night away in a number of venues located in the city centre, one can enjoy an evening of jazz music in a cigar bar, enjoy sundowners at Clifton beach or enjoy late night shopping at the V & A Waterfront.

Cape Town really does cater for everyone – what ever your heart desires you will find it in Cape Town.

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Eating the wine route

In training for the Stellenbosch Wine Festival this month, Nancy Richards does a whistle-stop tour of the new dining spots in the vineyards.

’Glass of bubbles?’’ It’s 10.20am and we’re early for our gourmet tour of Stellenbosch, starting at the recently revamped house of mousse, JC le Roux.
“Or perhaps a quick look around first?”
As effervescent as the product, Rozanne Hackart guides us through the tasting room and aerial restaurant and into the lightly chilled processing chamber, where racks of tilted bottles are mid remuage, the twist-and- turn process that settles the sediment in the neck.
“This is the bit that gets frozen, the ice plug is then popped out, the bottle topped up, capped, foiled et voil€! One visitor wanted to know if he could buy the ice plugs to use as lollipops!”
It’s all irresistibly fizzy at JC — fresh, white, blond and light with a bubble motif sandblasted on the glass, with plush pink the accent colour.
We feel the first frisson of a 2004 pinot noir in the silver-white Oyster Bar, followed by a peach-bloom rosé (98% pinot noir, 2% cab merlot) to wash down the platter of shucked, iced molluscs.
But the experience isn’t over till the scintilla sings — the royalty of the range has a dedicated tasting room in green-and-black velvet, where Hackart outlines the plans for sweet and sparkling pairings of their wines with nougat, rose water Turkish delight, fudge and caramel cashews.
On December 24 last year, the winery was struck by lightning. One can only imagine that Bacchus must have been feeling impatient — or jealous.
But not as jealous as he might have been at Dornier, where Zeus himself is immortalised on the wine label, metamorphosing into a twin-headed swan to attract the lovely Lira.
But let me not get ahead of myself. The drive to Bodega (ex La Masseria) on the Dornier estate was an opportunity to let the bubbles settle and find out about our guide, Stellenbosch Wine Route’s CEO and festival organiser Annareth Jacobs, whose wedding plans at this stage are eclipsed by the forthcoming Wine Festival.
Conversation is arrested as, from the homestead’s wide verandah, we take in the magnificent view of the undulated wine cellar and waterfall tumbling down the Helderberg.
Like the wines, stories flow thick and fast here. Swiss owner Christoph Dornier’s father was a well-known aeroplane designer back in the day, and the Zeus/swan logo derives from a painting by Christoph of his son Raphael, who oversees the estate and the restaurant, where the kikoi and Kente- cloth décor make it as colourful as a packet of jelly beans.
The “entry-level” chenin, Cocoa Hill 2008, comes with another story about one-time resident Long Ben the pirate, but gets interrupted by the arrival of a gorgeously, thick and creamy mushroom-and-broccoli soup, matched with another, more wooded chenin.
Twin glasses, splashes of pinotage on the right, merlot on the left, come together with starter rows of vertical prawn and roasted- vegetable spring-rolls; aubergine- wrapped pepper and goat’s cheese with pesto-and-wild-rocket topping; butternut strips with a red onion fan and feta.
Louine du Toit, restaurant and wine-lounge manager, whose years in the trade have given her an impressive savoir, talks us through the Christmas-cake flavours of a 2004 Donatus flagship blend and suggests that a bottle of palette- warming pinotage should be taken neat with no food, and that a good merlot needs lamb.
Next time, she recommends we try their speciality flammenkuchen — a wafer-thin pastry base topped with crème fraîche and anything else that takes your fancy.
Chef Naas Pienaar, whose own kitchen creds could paper a dining- hall wall, emerges beaming to see how we enjoyed it, and we leave just as a small but merry party starts a wine-tasting around the fireplace.

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Stellenbosch Accommodation: http://www.wildmushroom.co.za/

Stellenbosch Wine Route

Stellenbosch Accomodation| Wild Mushroom

A tour of the famous wine route through the vineyards of Stellenbosch is, without question, one of the most pleasurable things to do on your holiday to the Cape. History and scenery, stories and wine combine to form a fantasy journey into the past. Intrigue, romance and award-winning vintages mingle in a rich tapestry that will linger in your memory long after you leave the emerald valley.

What is “The Wine Route”?

There are several ‘official’ wine routes in Stellenbosch and many unofficial ones too. You could even try exploring the area on your own but it is highly recommended that you try at least one of the ‘official’ routes first since they are designed to give you a good understanding of the area which will make it easier for you to find your way around by yourself.

The other advantage of a guided tour is that you will be driven to all the farms and then back to town again so you can taste as much wine as you like without having to worry about getting a little tipsy. Driving drunk is never a clever idea and nobody wants to be left out of tasting the glorious wine just because they have to drive!

Each route will take you to a different set of farms where you will get to taste their wine and get a brief history of the place. Most of the farms in Stellenbosch have very interesting histories and plenty of humorous anecdotes which will have you smiling (or laughing out loud) into your wine glass!

So Many Choices!

Before you choose a tour operator, it’s a good idea to decide what you want to get out of the experience. Do you want to do as much as possible because you have limited time, alternatively, do you want to relax and have plenty of time to explore each farm without being rushed back into a crowded bus?

Different operators offer different selections of activities and “busyness” levels. All good operators will be happy to give you information on exactly what their tours include and most of them have websites with all the information you need. Some tour operators cater specifically for large groups while others offer flexible, individual tours.

Good Advice

A good way to find the perfect tour for you is to ask someone who knows the area and is familiar with the tourism industry. A great place to find a person who can give great advice is to ask the staff or management of the guesthouse or B&B where you are staying. A good guesthouse will have friendly, knowledgeable staff who will be only too happy to help. The other advantage of asking for advice is that you can tell the person exactly what you need instead of reading through a whole lot of websites and pamphlets that turn out to be unsuitable after all.

With a bit of good advice and a clear idea of what you want, your trip to the magnificent wine lands of Stellenbosch will be an adventure to remember.

Article Source: www.isnare.com

Stellenbosch Information

Stellenbosch Accomodation | Wild Mushroom

Travel Destinations : Reasons to visit Stellenbosch in South Africa

Posted by Gerald_Crawford on 2008/9/1 15:08:25 (124 reads) News by the same author

This Historic Town was founded in 1679 by Simon van der Stel became the second governor of the Cape Colony, at this time the Cape Colony consisted of a fort and a few small farms clustered around the Table Bay region. The colony had been established to provide a provisioning point for the eastward bound ships of the Dutch East India Company and Simon van der Stel felt that wine would make a welcome addition to the supplies he was charged to supply. Expeditions were sent out to the mountain slopes and valleys inland and one night after camping in the bush along the Eerste River (First River) he announced that he would have a town built there. The town was duly established and named after his nights camp in the bush - Stellenbosch. Rate and Review : Reasons to visit Stellenbosch in South Africa Every year on his birthday Simon van der Stel would preside over a fair held in his honor, in those days Stellenbosch was a rough frontier town where hunters traders and adventurers would mingle with the farmers and the celebrations included competitions of hunting and shooting, games, feasting, and no doubt a certain amount of imbibing of the local product. The town that Simon van der Stell began is to be seen to advantage today, He had spacious streets laid out and oak trees planted along them for shade (The trees are full grown now - they had a longer view of town planning in those days). As the years passed by, the frontier moved further inland and Stellenbosch lost the rough edges of a frontier town and the farmers became more prosperous and genteel, today central Stellenbosch contains streets of the finest examples of Cape Dutch architecture. The Stellenbosch Village museum is a group of well preserved buildings, each restored and furnished to give you a look at a different period in the history of this fascinating town. Today Stellenbosch is at the heart of South Africa\'s wine producing region. Lest you think that Stellenbosch is a dusty old display cabinet, be aware that it is also home to one of South Africa\'s finest universities, so parts of town have a young trendy feel with nightclubs and cafes. Historical Buildings and Landmarks: The Kruithuis Built by the mason Michael Rambusch in 1777, this old powder magazine and arsenal has survived from the days when the Cape was a possession of the Dutch East India Company. It is now a museum that has a collection of military items from the history of the Stellenbosch, including a collection of 17th century cannon. Historical Buildings and Landmarks Oom Samie se winkel Oom Samie se winkel - (Uncle Sammies shop) has remained the same since it was first opened over 150 years ago. As you duck through the low doorways you step back in time to a period in the past. The rooms of this frontier era general dealer are packed full of a wide variety of goods for sale, these range from tools and antiques to wine, clothing and food, a glimpse into the days when these shops had to provide all the requirements of their small communities. Moederkerk The original church was one of the foundations of the town of Stellenbosch, burnt down in 1710 a series of dificulties prevented the rebuilding until 1722. In 1814 the church was enlarged. Finaly in 1863 the current church was completed. The community of Stellenbosch had been able to secure the services of the German architect Carl Otto Hagar who designed a neo-gothic masterpiece. The sheer beauty and history of this Stellenbosch landmark attract many visitors. Village Museum This group of four well preserved and carefully restored buildings represent examples of the housing and lives of the settlers of Stellenbosch. The earliest of the houses dates back to the original pioneering time when Stellenbosch was a frontier town. The Last dates from the Victorian period when Stellenbosch was more established and sedate. Architecture: The Wine Industry The early houses in this area were built in the Cape Dutch style, this style is unique to the Cape and is unquestionably beautiful. The style has roots in mediaeval Holland, Germany, France and Indonesia. The early houses were single-storied. They usually consisted of three rooms in a row with steep roofs supported by rafters. Houses were generally built of local materials, thick walls were made of clay or rubble cemented with a lime-mortar, restios were used for thatching the roofs. In 18th century, with increasing prosperity, houses began to grow larger and more ornate. They began to reflect the growing wealth and ostentation of their owners. It was then that the front gable made its appearance, the front gable is one of the most distinctive features of the mature Cape Dutch Style. These houses were built to a symmetrical plan with a central door flanked by an even number of windows. Most houses had a central front room (voorkamer) into which the entrance led, from here doors led into the rooms on either side and sometimes to a back room (agterkamer). Later wings were added to the wealthier homes giving rise to U-plan and H-plan designs. Wonderful examples of these styles are to be found in and around Stellenbosch. Irrespective of the period, all the Cape Dutch houses were painted with whitewash, which when combined with the gray of the thatched roofs and the green of the trees and vines which have been planted around many of them gives them all a particular charm and beauty. Central Stellenbosch has many well preserved houses of this style, the majority of them are still in use, and there is a series of four buildings that have been made into a museum where you can see the furnishings and styles of different periods. If you have an eye for architecture and history, or if you just enjoy beautiful buildings and towns, then a walk through the heart of Stellenbosch is an experience that is sure to give you great pleasure. Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and African travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on. E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: http://www.12234455.co.za