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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 |
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