Wine Country!

Venturing into wine country--just an hour from town--on a brilliantly sunny winter day was quite the treat after Cold and Rainy Monday. The winter vineyards sported a burnished gold look. The grazing cattle and sheep seemed like details placed to enhance the setting. There are 9-10 wine areas in South Africa, most of them near Cape Town, including places with well-known names Constantia, Stellenbosch, and Franschhoek. These areas are akin conceptually to Sonoma, Napa, Marlborough, Rioja, etc.

Fairview reflecting pool

The long driveway at the first stop, Fairview, is lined with bird of paradise plants--all blooming just now. The sprawling white Dutch farmhouse that is the tasting center features atranquil reflecting pool and a goat tower--literally a tower with a spiraling stair on the outside. The goats go in and out and up and down and presumably at some point are allowed into wider pastures. A very handsome billy goat with a beard to rival Mark Murray's showed off by going up and down and around the spiral staircase.

At Fairview we indulged in a prearranged "master tasting" of cheese (recall the goats) and wine pairings. Of about 7
cheeses only one, a Gouda with cumin seeds (my all-time favorite Dutch cheese) was  imported. The rest, both cow's milk and goat cheeses, were made at the farm (and available in the shop). The tasting took place in a large hall dominated by a chandelier made from curly goat horns. The wines were also produced at Fairview, which is in the town of Paarl (pearl). We moved from comparing two Sauvignon Blancs of different vintage across the spectrum to the South African creation (now copied elsewhere) called pinotage, a combination of pinot noir and hermitage. The idea was not only to taste the wines but also to see how the combination with particular cheeses affected the taste. It was all good! This was about 10:30 a.m. Quite a way to start the day!

Fairview cheese and wine pairings

Fairview set a high standard for the rest of the day as we headed north into the area known as Franschhoek (French corner), named for Huguenots who settled there when they escaped from France. The Afrikaaners welcomed them on the condition they must drop French and learn Afrikaans, a deal they accepted. 

We then seemed to enter into the alternate reality of travel writing in the style of Lilian Langseth-Christiansen, who wrote for Gourmet Magazine in the 1980s. Her articles comprised my travel agenda for years (recall the Grand Asparagus Tour in Germany!). There we were with Lilian by our side entering a long drive through an arching bower of trees. At the end we were in front of a classic Dutch Farmstead, painted white with dark green shutters. This was the home of Graham Beck, a big name in South African wine, who died just a few years ago. His farm and property were purchased by his neighbor Antonij Rupert. The house looks like it should be a high-end (very high-end) B&B but for now it is simply preserved in the way it was used by Beck. The main floor rooms are very spacious, with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. The dining room is set for a wine tasting for maybe 35 people at one long highly polished table. Two bedrooms and the main parlor are sumptuously furnished with antiques and fabric that begs for a touch.

Rupert whites

Most famous for their Methode Cap Classique, they were regrettably unable to give us a taste, having long ago sold out their inventory. This wine is the South African version of champagne, a term that is legally the property of a region in France. Instead we did a tasting of four white wines--sauvignon blanc, riesling, semillon and chardonnay--produced on the Rupert properties. The sauvignon blanc that came from vineyards at an elevation of 500 meters was the best, in my opinion. The chardonnay here and elsewhere had very little oak by comparison to California or Australian chardonnay.

Beet-goat cheese souffle surrounded by other beets at La Motte

Our drive to lunch at another vineyard, LaMotte, was marked by views of the aptly named Drakenstein (dragon stone) Mountains, covered at the highest peaks with snow. It is not enough snow to ski but it was beautiful at a distance on a sunny day. We did not do a tasting at LaMotte but settled instead for a fabulous three-course lunch with wines produced there. 

NG Church in Franschhoek

We ended our day browsing the village shops in Franschhoek, which would be as great weekend destination--lots of lovely B&Bs and nearby wineries. Good roads for biking, fun shops, a picturesque Dutch Reformed church, a memorial to the Huguenots (thought about Stro's Grandma Jacot). As we left the village, the trunk was full of wine and other acquisitions. I was starting to wonder how we were going to get it all home to Congo.

Arrangements for this day, indeed for most of what we did in Cape Town, were made by Raymond Carelse, a Concierge Extraordinaire. So extraordinary that on the way back into town from our big day of wines he got a call saying we could have a table at The Test Kitchen that night at 8:30. According to locals, this is simply unheard of. One usually waits six months for a table. But Raymond has made friends with Katje, the reservation goddess, and she had a last minute cancellation. We did not hesitate to say yes, but it took a nap and a bath for me to regroup! We'd had a lot of wine.