8 reds, 4 whites...

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21st January

We woke up early today, as our plan was to climb Helderberg, the close by mountain, albeit a small mountain, and wanted to do it early before it was hot. The weather was forecast to be cloudy and so we thought it would be a good time to do it but even at 7.00am it was obvious that it was another blisteringly hot day and so we went back to bed for a couple of hours!

Around 10 o’clock we set off towards Stellenbosch along the R44 after picking up the John Platter’s wine guide. Our first wine estate we stopped at was called Bilton, one of the farms along the, apparently best, road for wine in the county. Allendale Road. The beautiful tasting room was set in the original wine cellar dating back to 1824. We tasted four reds and one white, all of which were very unique tasting and had specific chocolates to compliment them.

The second estate we visited was that of Ernie Els. I had been recommended it by my mum who had visited it just over a year ago and by others for having breathtaking views and some of the best red wine in the region. They only produce red and we tasted all three of which my favourite was the Proprietor’s Blend priced at R220, so about £15. The estate itself was set quite high on the mountain and looked down on some of the other farms. No expense had been spared in the tasting house or the grounds.

The third and final estate was called Waterford. It took us a while to find it but after a few wrong turns and a long windy dirt track we found it. It was absolutely amazing. The nicest setting of them all and relatively quiet which was nice. They offered a tasting of 9 wines for only R30 but as I had already enjoyed 8 I said that 6 would be enough, as we had to get back to the guesthouse! They produced quite a few whites, which was nice for Lucie to taste some more of what she really likes. We ended up buying their Sauvignon Blanc at R45 and because we had bought a bottle we did not have to pay for the tasting! So we are going to enjoy that with some calamari and chips we have just got from down on the Strand!

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