Those of you who know Jennie and I well might have picked up, just very subtly and only from time to time, that we like wine. So it's fair to say that we were rather looking forward to spending a few days in wine country after crossing the South African border on our way to Cape Town.
The Stellenbosch region is of course South Africa's most celebrated wine producing zone, but we didn't have to wait until we were that far south to get our grape on, thanks to Drew's connections with Highlanders - a lovely campsite near Citrusdal in the Western Cape which makes its own wines and is also part of a local wine cooperative. Established by "Sparky" - an ex-electrician and overland guide who decided he wanted a change of tack - it's a lovely place and was a perfect stop to break our travels south.
We were booked into a hostel in Stellenbosch, so this would be our final night of camping and as such we had the rather tedious task of unpacking and cleaning pretty much the whole truck before we could get our evening started. They do say, however, that delayed gratification is a sign of maturity, and so we were feeling pretty bloody mature by the time we got up to our wine tasting session in the bar above the campsite. There we were treated to a tasting of seven different wines from the cooperative - accompanied by a most welcome plate of cheese. The wines were excellent - the Chenin Blanc and the Rooibos tea-infused African Ruby Vermouth were particularly good. And even better was when Drew bought a couple of bottles down for us to enjoy with our barbecue dinner. He's a good man, that Drew.
Wine appetite sufficiently whetted, it was on to Stellenbosch and our rather aptly named backpackers lodge, the Stumble Inn. Stellenbosch is, after Cape Town, the second oldest settlement in the Western Cape and it has the unmistakeable feel of a very classy, upmarket historic town, while the University - and the large student population that comes with it - gives the town a vibrant and energetic air as well. The food is great, and the ice cream is wonderful.
The old buildings, boutique shops, sidewalk cafes and gourmet restaurants were all well and good of course, but we were there for the wine and so we boarded a minibus and joined a day-long winetasting tour comprising four vineyards (Simonsig, Fairview, Dieu Donne and Boschendal) and a promised 25 tastings.
I won't go into detail about every vineyard and every wine, suffice it to say we had a fantastic day. Particular highlights included Mercedes winning a bottle of wine, the lovely views accompanying the wines up at Dieu Donne, Fairview - which not only combined our favourite wines of the day with a room of endless free cheese tastings but also gave us a close encounter with one of the local lizard critters, and finally the fact that through judiciously spreading our efforts (and lying through our teeth) we managed to increase our promised 25 tastings to something over 40. Result.
And thus ended the classy portion of the day's entertainment. After a day's wine drinking, and combined with the knowledge that you have to get up the next morning to make the final hop to Cape Town, you would think that the smart move would be to have an early night. We did this:
The drinks flowed at Stumble Inn, and then continued to do so at Trumpet Tree bar just around the corner, and I justified my indulgence by claiming that the ingestion of vast quantities of alcohol was healthy for me as it took away the pain of my crushed toe. I might have almost been ok had I stuck to wine, but I decided in my wisdom to help myself to a large collection of beers and shots as well (including one Stumble Inn version of a Jaegerbomb with some green stuff) - I assumed that if this was a poor idea then one of my more sober companions would have spoken up. The fact that none of my companions were remotely sober proved to be the minor yet fatal flaw in this plan.
I managed to stumble in to Stumble Inn (see what I did there?) at ridiculous o'clock and set a new personal best by needing three attempts to find my bunk in our dorm. The first (a top bunk) was empty but something clicked in the back of my head that I was sleeping in a bottom bunk, not a top one and so I tried again. The bottom bunk I then tried was occupied by Mercedes who - bless her - was thankfully as drunk as me and didn't even notice me nearly climbing into bed with her. Finally a voice rang out across the dark room "Sean, over here!" I responded to the effect of "thank you, disembodied voice lady!" and fell into my actual bed. Turns out the disembodied voice lady was Jen - who'd had the sense to call it a night a little earlier. So that was good.
The following morning was not. We've arrived now in Cape Town, which I have no doubt will look much nicer when I don't want to quietly die.
Things Jennie will Remember:
1) Our wine tastings at Simonsig:
Kaapse Vonkel
Chenin Blanc
Gewurztraminer
The SMV (Shiraz, Mourverde, Viognier)
Frans Malan Reserve
2) Our wine tastings at Fairview:
Sauvignon Blanc
Viognier
Viognier Special Late Harvest
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
Pinotage
Goats Do Roam Rose
Goats In Villages Shiraz Pinotage
Special Reserve Chakalaka
Spice Route Chenin Blanc
La Capra Pinotage
La Capra Chenin Blanc
3) Our wine tastings at Dieu Donne:
Methode Cap Classique 2009
Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Merlot 2008/2007
Viognier 2008
Rose 2010
Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Belair Rose
Rose 2010
Rose 2010
Rose 2010 (Well it was very nice!)
4) Our wine tastings at Boschendal:
1685 Chardonnay 2009
Blanc De Noir 2010
Le Bouquet 2010
Lanoy 2009
1685 Shiraz 2009
5) I can't remember anything else...I was drunk.
Here are the photos:
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