Stellenbosch

Yesterday began with breakfast on the veranda overlooking the formal garden at Boone Esperance. The weather seemed just about perfect and the red eyed doves were persistent with their calling. By the time we checked out and loaded the car, we were about 1/2 hour "behind schedule," but it didn't take long to get to the first of five wineries for the day.

We started at Kanonkop just north of town. The entrance is down a rose-lined driveway next to a a vineyard with a beautiful mountain for a backdrop. the mountains, particularly those a little more to the south, were made especially more dramatic by a large imposing cloud ban which they seemed to be holding back from the valley. Those clouds sat there most of the day while we we enjoyed warm, mostly sunny weather.

Kanonkop had nice wines, a beautiful large tasting room, and a lovely art gallery. It was one of the most beautiful wineries we visited all day, and probably gets our vote for the best overall setting. We bought a lovely ten-year-old "vintage" Pinotage there. From Kanonkop we went to nearby Beyerskloof. It sits on a small farm just off the highway and has a contemporary tasting room with an outdoor patio. We enjoyed some nice wines there including a side-by-side tastings of different styles of Pinotage.

Kanonkop

 We had received a call from our B&B asking us to check in between 11 and 3, so after Beyerskloof we headed back into town to find it, stopping on the way to buy water and mail the key to Zulu-Nyala. Our new lodging, Aan de Vliet, is on a large property in a secluded setting. The names means "by the river," and since we are in a tree-lined valley we don't have any mountain views here but we have a nice jacaranda tree out the window near the balcony. We haven't walked around yet, but when we do we hope to meet the dogs, one of which is a German Short-hair Pointer. The rooms are large, contemporary suites, so it's very pleasant here. After moving our bags in, settling the bill, and making dinner reservations, we headed back out to the wine farms.

For lunch, we headed to Mooiplaas, which had been recommended to us by our friends Reagan and Willem, as the owners are related to Willem. It was off the beaten path, in the hills west of Stellenbosch. Mooiplaas, which means beautiful farm, was an old farmstead with a beautiful manor house. The tasting room was in a rustic old building which had been uniquely converted. We had arranged to have a picnic lunch there, so with our glasses of wine we sat outside under a tree and enjoyed baguettes with a lovely pesto spread, prosciutto, white cheese, brie, olives, tzatziki, and jams.

Mooiplaas Manor House

From Mooiplaas we headed to L'Avenir where we sat on a patio overlooking a pond for our tasting. It was nice, but not the most scenic setting of the day. Fortunately, they had some very nice wines - overall, probably the best of the day. We bought a a bottle of sparkling wine there (Blanc de Blanc) which we might enjoy for New Year's, and Gywen bought a Chenin Blanc to drink with dinner.

The fifth winery Barry had selected closed at 3:00, so unfortunately we missed it. But L'Avenir recommended a place nearby that stayed open until 5:00 and we headed up the road to Knorhoek. It's actually close to where we started the day at Kanonkop, so it had the same lovely mountain as a backdrop. We had our tasting on the patio so we could enjoy the view of the mountain and the woods around the farm. Since we were late arriving, we only got to sample three wines, but they were very nice and we bought a bottle of Pinotage to have with our dinner.

Back in town we did a little shopping in the historic downtown area, then went back to Aan de Vliet for about an hour before returning downtown for dinner at the award-winning steakhouse Hussar Grill. We weren't disappointed. Gywen had a very nice filet while Barry and I enjoyed terrific thick cuts of ostrich. We hardly needed desert, but ordered some malva pudding to share. It was passable, but as we were eating it the manager sent over three complimentary chocolate vodka drinks. Well, Gywen was done and Barry doesn't like chocolate, so the responsibility to drink them fell to me. We went home and more or less went straight to bed.