Wine with a view

Beer is my first love.⁽¹⁾ I do get disappointed with the selection we have in this country, which is why I started brewing my own.  But this part of the world compensate for being a beer desert by producing great wines at affordable prices.  Vines are just another agricultural crop, but somehow, they manage to be cultivated in the better looking parts of the earth.  Wheat fields at harvest time are supposed to look golden.  To me it looks suspiciously like Highveld grass in winter. Dead yellow.  Sunflowers sure look perty when in bloom, but the area around them is normally dull and flat.  You won’t visit a brewery for the scenes of the barley growing all around it.   But wineries mostly avoid the duller areas and surround themselves with these happy grapes.   As it is basically a weed, it grows on slopes. That would be the lovely mountainsides that contribute to great views.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to go wine hunting and, in passing, I fell over some spectacular views.  On the way to Stellenbosch I drove past my favourite⁽²⁾ winery, Villiera.  It was 08:30, but the gates were open, so I took a chance.   The wines here are very good and offer value for money at all price points.  For the last ten years I have stocked my cellar with wares from this emporium⁽³⁾.  The vin du jour has evolved over time⁽⁴⁾.   Currently it is the Tradition Brut that is my favourite.  Tradition Brut is their Methode Cap Classique (bubbles with second fermentation in bottle).

The view from the tasting room is not the place’s best asset, but the view in the tasting room that morning was beautiful.  Turns out I arrived just as she was opening up.  Her day job is in the cellars, so she was just helping out on the weekend in the tasting room.  Between us we figured out the credit card machine and I left with 12 dinky bottles of bubbles.  “Is it for a function?” she asked.

“Home consumption”, in my poshest voice.

“Why the small bottles?”  What a fantastic view on life!  The small bottles are to stop me from drinking a whole bottle in an evening and to supply bubbles to The Blonde, who has been known to take a week on a full bottle.  This, missing the bit about The Blonde, I explained to the lovely girl.  And in my special stupid move ⁽⁵⁾ I did not even ask her name.

The breakfast of flapjacks, bacon and syrup was a mistake.  Don’t misunderstand me, it was very nice, but following it with Sauvignon Blanc at Tokara was unedifying.  They win numerous awards for their wines at Tokara.  I was slightly underwhelmed. The wines I liked most, was the easy drinking ⁽⁶⁾ red and the very expensive red. And the very expensive brandy. In the end I just could not buy a bottle of wine for the same price as a bottle of good brandy.   Did I mention the spectacular view over the student town of Stellenbosch?  Normally I would go the Helshoogte neighbour, Thelema, but as their new wines will only be released in September we went across the road to Delaire.

Part view from Delaire

The picture shows part of the view.   But only part of it.  You will have to visit to see for yourself.  Luckily there is a hotel on site that shares the view.   For R8000 a night you can stare at the mountains all day long.   You won’t have to get up to do anything as a butler is included in the price.  Now for that much money I want more than a butler.  I want Claudia Schiffer.

If you are too cheap for the hotel, go for the wines. Ask for Jacky to help you. See knows her stuff. She can tell you about the wine, where it comes from, how it was made. She also keeps it at the best temperature. The sauvignon blanc and rosé slightly colder than the chardonnay. Something they should start doing at Tokara, where the whites were too cold to taste properly. The rosé, by the way, is excellent. Dry, yummy. The sauvignon blanc is very good here. The one that won all the awards is sold out, but the remaining one is also very nice. The reds are less impressive.

So down the other side of the pass to red only Camberley. You walk through the barrel maturation area on your way to the 1st floor tasting room. On the wall of the stairwell hangs pictures of World War II , the sequel, aeroplanes. Behind the counter of the tasting room that Saturday, stood Wikus. He treated us, his first customers on his first day on the job, brilliantly. We tasted through the entire range, tasting interspersed with anecdotes about winemaker Johnny. The only thing I don’t understand about this place is why there are bottles left to sell. It is so good and so well priced that I can only assume no one knows about the place or else it would have been sold out. I bought bottles from just about every type of wine they make. Just couldn’t get to grips with the sparkling shiraz. The view here will be easier to get to once the deck is built, but in the meantime, just look out the window.

A not so hidden view

After an unmemorable lunch the day ended at the double misnamed Hidden Valley. It is on a hill and signposted. Not so hidden then. Owner is Dave Hidden. Maybe that’s where the name comes from. Valley, Valley? See picture for view. The two sauvignon blancs from StellenboschElim differ stylistically. I like the fruity, Stellenbosch one that smells a little like guava. The reds were not very special, the boot was full, the plastic exhausted and the palate jaded. So with the sun setting on a glorious day I turned the Honda’s head north-north-west and listened to the Bulls losing 15-12 to Province. So at least the day wasn’t perfect.




(1) After oxygen, food, sleep, blondes,...
(2) I don’t limit myself to just the one though
(3) At least one pompous sentence per post
(4) Maybe more
(5) Patent pending
(6) And cheap