Mooring House takes guest Wine Tasting in and around Stellenbosch

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Mooring House Guest Lodge Accommodation in Somerset West

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24 November 2011

Mooring House Guest Lodge in Somerset West once again went to explore the winelands past Stellenbosch. Today we took our Irish Guest, Peter, to taste some of our local wines. we left Mooring House just after 10:30am and our first stop was Blaauwklippen - I have a soft spot for this wine estate, havig spent some of my youthfull days here with friends and for me it is like re-visiting the past everytime I come here, but always enjoy some of their red wine.

They offer 2 options for wine tasting - any 3 for R15 or any 5 for R25. As a rule, I don't like paying for wine tasting, especially if I am buying wine from the winery. I must admit that this was the first time I didn't buy any wine from Blaauwklippen, so paid my dues and off we went through Stellenbosch, over Helshoogte Pass, stopping at our next venue - Tokara Wine Estate.

Miriam and myself haven't been here in at least 4 years and was pleasnatly surprised to find that we did not have to pay for our wine tasting., and we were served olives and bread with our tasting - Thanks Tokara. There are terrific views from the wine tasting room and it also boasts a huge, oversized wall mounted mechanical clock - you can atually see the mechanics at work as the minutes tick by.

Tokara also has a Deli and restaurant, but this is seperate from theWine tasting Venue so after buying some wine ( also very nice wines), we climbed into the car and drove to the Deli

Views from Wine tasting room

The Deli has adequate parking and has a lovely selection of nick nac's. One particular jar caught my immediate attention - creme nougat which you warm up and serve over cake - I will try it with fruit - should go well with strawberries. So I bought a jar to try at home.
 Silly me, I did not look at the restaurant menu so I cannot comment on choices or price.

View from Deli at Tokara

Our next stop was Boschendal, our favourite place for a good old colonial style picnic - a real must for all visitors to the area - weather permitting naturally.  As I was the designated driver, I did not partake in any wine tasting at this venue (tried and tested on previous occassions). I think Peter paid R25 to taste any 5 wines - again, a practice I am not too favorable with, and I think that it should be an acceptable practice to not charge if patrons buy wine, and charge if they do not.

Boschendal

We then headed off to Anura (almost next to Backsberg) as our final stop for the day. With a 15% alcohol content, I always find more than 1 bottle suitable for drinking and they really do have a good selection of both white and red wines. We did not have to pay for our wine tasting (maybe because I frequent the estate so regularly), and landed up purchasing a few bottles for my stock at home. After deciding on what we would drink with our lunch, we strolled over to the restaurant - Lilypad - always a personal favourite. After a lovely meal, followed by dessert and coffee we climbed back into the car and made our way back to Mooring House in Somerset West arriving home just after 4:30pm .   It was a good day.

My wife, Miriam

Mooring House Guest Lodge on outing to Robertson and the Kolgans River Restaurant

We left the Guest House in Somerset West on Tuesday (01/03/2008) shortly after morning breakfast was finished, taking Barclay and Kathleen (our Scottish guests) on an outing to the Kolgans River Restaurant in Robertson. We had never done this before so it would be a new experience for all - not to mention, the weather was not the best, it was a wet and rainy day we had chosen for this outdoor South African experience. Nevertheless, we (our Scottish guests or should I say friends, my wife, my parents and myself ) and off we headed along the N2 over Sir Lowry's Pass. The route we were taking would be along the N2 from Somerset West, driving through the apple orchards in Elgin and then past the Theewaterskloof dam (the largest dam in the region and main source of water to Cape Town), through Villiersdorp and on into Robertson.

After roughly just under an hours drive we reached the town of Villiersdorp and on the outer outskirts of the town we stopped at the Kelkiewyn coffee shop and enjoyed a quick cup of coffee and scones.

The remainder of our drive was spent hoping for the skies to clear but on reaching Robertson it seemed to get progressively worse. It took a little time finding the right turn off to the River Restaurant as the road markings were not particularly clear, but eventually landed up at Nerina Guest Farm in Robertson, the entrance to the Kolgans River Restaurant.

We drove down a short dirt road, my parents car in the lead resulting in my mother having to get out of the their car to open the farm access gate. With rain drops still falling she was not impressed with this exercise and we all had a good chuckle at her expense - the looks say it all.

Nevertheless, we got to the river, parked our cars and boarded the somewhat primitive resmblance of a river raft - it was floating and offered a canopy to shelter us from the rain and that was all that mattered so on we climbed.

The engine started, the rain was pouring and off we set for a river cruise. The table was already set so it wasn't long before we started eating - we first tucked into the home baked bread with butter whilst sipping our wine and enjoying the scenary (despite the rain). The remainder of the luncheon consisted of pumkin soup (which I found a little sweet bit the others all loved it) chicken pie, spinach quiche, roast potato's, pumpkin pie, salad and chocolate pudding with custard was served on the way back. The cruise lasted for roughly 2 hours and despite the weather it still proved to be an enjoyable experience - well. taking the weather into account, it definitely beat spending time in a shopping mall.

With the river trip over and having paid our fare for the event, we thanked our "Captain" and decided to visit van Louvern wine estate (also situated in Robertson), their rose bottled under the Four Cousins label is an all time favourite of my wife. So the slight back-tracking through the town of Robertson was more to satisfy her curiosity. The wine tasting area was humming with people tasting wines but we found a spot a sampled a few of their wines. With wine tasting over, it was back in the car and time to depart for home, stopping briefly in at the Affie Plaas farm stall (a shop on hte road-side selling odds and sods and curios, small gifts and food. The weatehr was still miserable and so as a last stop we decided to have a coffee break at the Rooiberg Winery (Bodega de Vinho restaurant) just outside Robertson.

We left after coffee and took the wrong turnoff and landed up driving through Worcester and then backtracking a little.

It was another long, but enjoyable day.

What to do in Somerset West and surrounds

Welcome to this blog page which we trust will be of help. Please have patience with us as we regularly update the contents on this page. We will only be posting those places we have personally visited so that we can give you an accurate account and description of the venue

EIKENDAL WINE ESTATE - Roughly a 6 minute drive from Mooring House Guesthouse along the R44 one finds the pleasant outdoor luncheon venue at Eikendal. The Estate is open for wine tasting, lunch and dinner and patrons have the option of sitting outside in a garden type setting or indoors. In the last 12 months we have enjoyed both luncheons and dinners on at least 8 occassions.


Although service on the last 2 occassions have been rather poor, the setting and food has made up for the lack of service and we still enjoy ourselves whenever we visit.





VERGELEGEN An Estate steeped in history and elegance. Also only minutes away from Mooring House Guest Lodge, the venue at Vergelegen is one not to be missed and adequate parking is available. Enjoy a tour through the vineyard and wine cellars and end up tasting or buying some really super wines or buying a gift at the adjacent curio shop. If that doesn't interest you then stroll through the gardens on this vast estate and visit the historical buildings of a past era. There is a restaurant on site aswell as a coffee shop which overlooks the rose garden. And lastly, the real treat at Vergelegen is the picnic venue. Set in a treed (almost forest like) environment this event should be enjoyed by most. Table are set under the trees and waiters supply food baskets to the various tables and if there are children involved, then there is a treasure hunt surprise for them. The picnic ends with a dessert and coffee or tea. We have been visiting Vergelegen for picnics on an annual basis for the past 5 years and have found 2 negative factors. Firstly, there is an entrance fee payable at the main entrance gate to Vergelegen. Although it is only a small fee, it is in my opinion that one is still spending money inside the Estate - either buying wine, picnic or lunch etc and on doing so one should be refunded the entrance fee. The second complaint is that although the ladies are always satisfied with the quantity of food provided, the men still feel they have room for a little more. If you can overlook these two issues, then Vergelegen should not be missed. 24hour advance booking is required for the picnic and due to the outdoor venue it is only held during the summer months.



ST GEORGES MALL, LONG STREET, THE CITY GARDENS OF CAPE TOWN AND THE CAPE TOWN MUSEUM

The Family took a trip into Cape Town last Friday (28 December 2007) and parked at the bottom of Long Street. From there we walked up through St Georges Mall (pointing out the Cape Times Building (where our newspapers are printed) and up to Green Market Square where we spent some time browsing through the arts and crafts stalls ( actually the children did the browsing). From there we walked through the City Gardens (or originally known as the Kompanje Gardens" ) and showed the children the Houses of Parliment and then strolled on through the gardens to the Cape Town museum and the Planetarium. We spent a good 2 hours walking through the museum and watching a 30 min show inside the planetarium. Even our little one (aged 6) was mesmerised and totally overjoyed at seeing the dinasour skeleton display in the one section. From there we had lunch. We could have had lunch at the restaurant inside the Gardens but decided to sit down at one of the side street cafe's - there are numerous to choose from. After lunch we strolled down Long Street browsing in almost every shop we passed. By the time we reached our car it was past 5pm - an exhausting day, but thoroughly enjoyed.


RIVERSIDE RESTUARANT AND PICNIC SPOT IN FRANSCHOEK 09/01/2008

Today we decided to drive the long route to Franschoek via the winelands of Stellenboch and Paarl. Once in Paarl we back-tracked into Franschoek. The pavements of Franschoek (mind you Paarl aswell) was lined with coffee shops and small bistro's all occupied with both tourists and locals. Once in Franschoek, our first stop was the renown Franschoek chocolate factory. Quite decieving as it is actually a small shop tucked away on the main street of Franschoek. So small one could easily just drive past it. The front of the shop has the display goods (chocolates, chocolates and more chocolates) and in the background behind glass panes is where the actual chocolates are made. For an exquisite chocolate it is well worth visitng this venue. Although I must add that the chocolates are very expensive - but the taste well worth it.