The morning of day two was a relaxed affair. After breakfast there was time to stroll through the picture perfect little town of Franschhoek and the nearby Hugenote Monument. But in the afternoon we picked up the pace a bit and visited no less than six estates and had lunch Delheim, an old favourite of mine.
Tastings at Thelema,Tokara, Stark Conde was followed by a visit to Quoin Rock Winery atthe base of the impressive Simonsberg. This is the first time that I have been to Quion Rock and to be honest I am not familiar with their wines at all. But I must say that it was well worth the visit. Their Cape Agulhas Chardonnay and Oculus were very good. I have been off chardonnay for quiet a some time now and have found many of the wooded versions over-powering. But it was not the case with their chardonnay’s that I tasted, they were really enjoyable.
Luhambo Tours' clients at Warwick wine estate in Stellenbosch
We then popped into Simonsig and Warwick, who’s wines need no introduction.
My clients had dinner at Le Quartier Francais – The Tasting Room and said that it was an absolute highlight.
First stop after breakfast was the family run Paul Cluver estate in the Elgin Valley. The sauvignon blancs producedin this area are brilliant and I must also mention that the Noble Late Harvest tastes like nectar from heaven. Rated 7th on the Grape Top 20 Wineries Poll of 2010, this vineyard is well worth a visit.
Vergelegen vineyards in Somerset-West
Vergelegen was our next stop and even though I have been there many, many times I am still blown away by the size and beauty of this old colonial estate. And the wines are pretty darn good too.
Ken Forrester was our penultimate stop before heading back to Cape Town. This estate was high on my clients list and they were really looking forward to the visit. The setting is great, the tasting room cosy and the young lady who conducted the wine tasting was very friendly and also knew her wines. The wines that we sampled made for easy drinking and I found the ‘Gypsy’ delicious and the Syrah/Grenache very interesting.
Our last port of call needs no introduction, Meerlust produces world class wines year after year and it is always a pleasure sampling the iconic ‘Rubicon’, cabernet based blend.
The perfect way to end the perfect tour. Taking clients to all these fantastic estates sometimes seems to be more of a holiday than a job. I feel privileged to take people from all over the world to see the wonders of our beautiful Cape.
Luhambo Tours wine tasting at Meerlust