And Now Its Time For Wine - Stellenbosch

After the big city of Cape Town, we were looking forward to the 'winelands', the name given to the region east of Cape Town known for developing pinotage red wine. We had two days of wine tours that included small, high quality wineries that were located around Stellenbosch, where we were staying.                                                                                                                                                   

tasting by the fire on a cool day

Anura Winery, frog mascot

Anura Winery is located in the foothills of Simonsberg Mountains and is named for the Latin term for amphibian order of frogs and toads, started planting grapes in 1996. While they started with Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Granache, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Malbec, they expanded to whites and more reds including Pinotage. 

even the weather vane is froglike

mobile bottler makes the rounds to smaller wineries

cheese from their dairy farm makes great tasting

Anura even had a brewery

This area was settled by the Dutch in 1650's and the Cape Dutch architecture is visible in wine towns like Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek. While the Dutch did not make good wine, the climate supported the evolution of wine making with influence from other European countries. Most of the vines today are based on more recent rootstocks that were imported from Europe and the US to combat the phylloxera outbreak.

Simonsberg Mountains

just like California wine country, much agriculture

Delheim Winery for lunch

Cape Dutch architecture

 We stopped at Delheim Winery for lunch. At our table, one of the chairs was occupied by the winery cat who prefers a chair by the window!

Waterford Winery 

chocolate wine tasting at Waterford Winery

all important chocolate shop!

Similar to California...with mountains

Waterford winery creates their own chocolate in addition to their wines.

We found out that 'old vine' grapes are called 'bush vines' in South Africa. 

beautiful countryside

more Cape Dutch buildings

Our boutique hotel, River Manor Hotel, was in Stellenbosch so we could easily walk around the quaint town. The hotel was lovely and we had a special fire built for us each night in the lounge where we enjoyed an evening drink with new found friends.  

the pool area at our hotel

Dutch Reform church, 1686,rebuilt, in Stellenbosch

The old church had 11 stunning modern stained glass windows created using a French method where thick colored glass is set with concrete. The Turk and I were given a detailed tour of these by a church deacon that helped us appreciate the dedication of the church members.   

Most church members were buried under the floors of the church until 1803.

new pulpit built 1863

thick glass, modern design

three different artists created windows

We toured the Stellenbosch University botanical gardens which were started in 1922 and found, again, quite a collection of bonsai. The vegetable garden retains the original paths and plant history.

protea

protea

 More beautiful buildings, interesting signs, and delicious food and wine were part of our days in Stellenbosch. A relaxing end to our African adventures.

Oom Samie se winkel-oldest store in Stellenbosch - a bit of everything!

Spek and Bone are best friends, and the name of a great restaurant!

The oldest vine, and oldest Turk

 Spek and Bone was a favorite of ours, located behind the oldest store in Stellenbosch, and sharing its space with the oldest grape vine in the area. The owner explaines, "The restaurant is named after our pig and our puppy, Spek and Bone, who are surprisingly best friends and inseparable”. The pets were named after the classic food combination of pork and beans.  We also enjoyed OppieDorp for dinner.  Ostrich and springbok steaks. Turk had lamb shoulder. All with Neil Ellis Cab 2014, delicious! This is one of the wineries we visited the day before.

Cape Dutch

artisan creating giant beaded giraffe

home in Stellenbosch

original small dams to control river through Stellenbosch

larger gabions to control high water

Oldest home - the kitchen

There is a story behind these hand carved, very tall, giraffes. When I took the picture, I was chastised by a man from the store. Undaunted, I politely challenged him and he immediately backed down and wanted to talk. When he found out I was from the States, he proclaimed loudly, ' I like Donald Trump!'.   I was a bit surprised as this was the first time the entire trip I heard a comment supporting the Trump.  I asked him why.  He said, ' I am Zulu. In our tribe, we respect men who are confident. Donald Trump is confident.' 
I asked if he was respected when he made mistakes, and the answer, without a pause was YES.  I did not say what was in my mind - that this could explain the decline of the mighty Zulu tribe who blindly followed confident, and poor, leaders.!

Our 2 1/2 week visit to Africa came to an end. Our home survived Hurricane Irma prior to our departure. Our trip was revised to allow us to more time to get electricity running at our home. The logistics were seamless and remarkable in their complexity and success. The animals were beyond expectation. But most of all, the people we met were mostly warm and welcoming. They seemed truly happy to show us their country and answer our questions about their lives, their families and their politics.  Thank you Botswana, Zambia and South Africa!