Durbanville, sensibly, decided to have their Feast of the Grape Harvest festival on our Freedom Day public holiday on Wednesday, so off we went with John’s daughter Clare and all our Dutch visitors in tow. First to Durbanville Hills, where there was lots going on,
including tots crushing grapes by foot in a paddling pool and having a whale of a time.
We did a quick tasting, especially loved the Biesjes Craal Sauvignon Blanc and the Rhinofields Shiraz. The girls had a mid morning coffee and then off we pushed to see Oliver Parker at Altydgedacht. This year we were able to taste and buy the Ollo white blend and the lovely light Tygervalley Rosé, made from Cabernet franc, and loved the Gewürztraminer and the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc. We had our first taste of a 2012 Sauvignon, but it needs time to learn good manners, which it will undoubtedly do. Sadly the Gamay and the Cabernet franc are sold out, but we are sure Oliver is very happy about that.
We turned back to Nitida, where we saw racks of grapes drying on beds of straw and Nitida proteas, in preparation for making a Vin de Paille
Bernhard & Peta Veller, Nitida owners, having fun
Peta Veller Opening a bottle of Nitida sauvignon
and after our expensive snacking at Wellington we decided to have a sit down meal in Cassia and were fortunate to get a table. Most had the huge burgers with potato wedges,
Yvonne had a fig, ham and cheese salad
and Lynne had a great duck salad.
We drank a bottle or two of Nitida Sauvignon Blanc and one person succumbed to the mini Pavlova.
Then off for the late afternoon view from De Grendel’s terrace, a sight of their new restaurant,
and a taste of their lovely wines before heading home.
Errieda du Toit, Durbanville Wine Valley PR
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