Lourens and Lizelle van der Westhuizen at Arendsig, Robertson

Arendsig tasting room, rebuilt, with its Langtafel ready for interesting future events and delicious wine pairing dinners

Some of the current Arendsig wines, which are available for tasting

The small cellar where Lourens makes amazing wine, not just for himself but for several other farms in the area

Small cooling tanks and large oak fermenting tanks.  Much of the wine is made reductively.

Lourens believes in using older wood

Tank sampling in the cellar, lots of very interesting wines to come.  Watch this space.

Lourens waxing lyrical about his excellent Blanc de Noir

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, before we put a case in the car for later drinking – in a year or two

Lourens’s lovely wife, Lizelle

A view of the lovely Bonnievale valley from the lawn

Looking down the valley towards the Robertson valley and the Langeberg mountains

Vineyard workers having their lunch break on the banks of the Breede River. The river is in full flood after the heavy rains last week.

All these photographs are © John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus cc

Sunday fun at Robertson's Wacky Wine Weekend

Fun and sun in the leafy garden at Van Loveren

The indoor market at Robertson Winery where Lynne met an old school friend

Great music on the forecourt of Robertson Winery

The marvellous atmosphere on the lawn at Springfield

Queuing to buy lunch tickets and wine in the cellar at Springfield

The braai area at Springfield with the old vines making great coals to roast over

The freshest yellowtail and chips, half demolished already

Prego roll (steak in a spicy Portuguese sauce), chips and salad

Lynne chatting to Abrie Bruwer, owner winemaker at Springfield as he takes a break from braaiing

John Collins. Springfield’s distributor, and his lady enjoying life, good wine and a prego roll

The excellent jazz band in front of the dam

Inside the Springfield tasting room

A last late lunch at Zandvliet

Those burning wingerd stokkies (old vine logs) are waiting to braai fresh Norwegian salmon and steaks

All these photographs are ©John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus cc

Sea Point's new Backyard Grill

Great clean and modern layout

John’s rib eye steak with roasted baby potatoes

Which went with a mixed salad for the table

Lynne had half a rack of tender barbeque pork ribs with the potatoes and salad

Chocolate fondant with ice cream

Very moreish and sticky almond, candied orange peel and chocolate tart with ice cream

The covered terrace and outdoor grill

Our competent and charming waitress

A view down the restaurant toward Regent Road and the entrance

The bar room with relaxing sofas

Very good squid tubes and tentacles as a starter

Mussels in a cream sauce with garlic and lemon

A vegetarian starter or salad: mixed beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and avocado

All these photographs are ©John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus cc

Taste of the Helderberg

It was a great evening for us; Annareth Bolton, CEO of the Stellenbosch wine routes, laid on a microbus from the Waterfront so John and a few other drivers could taste properly. The weather was miserable, cold and rainy, the traffic horrific - 1½ hours from the Waterfront to the Lord Charles
All the food was in small portions priced between R25 and R30 and you bought vouchers to purchase it.

Mike Israel. chef at Pomegranate on Vergenoegd and the sales staff on their table preparing our Springbok Carpaccio.

It was soft and melting and had a lovely crust of roughly ground spices, good parmesan slices and great salad dressing for the leaves.

Craig Cormack of Sofia’s at Morgenster with his staff and the food they were presenting.

Sofia’s Trout Ballontine with mashed potato, served with baby greens

De Waal Koch of Stonewall: very good white wines at a bargain price - we bought the sauvignon and chardonnay

Capt’n Mark Bilton of Bilton Wines with his team

Stuart Buchan,  Eikendal marketing manager, Allan Forrester of 96 Winery Rd and Eikendal winemaker Nico Grobler with some of Eikendal’s great award winning wines

Former Springbok prop, Annandale's Hempies du Toit (wearing shoes - it was cold out) and his lovely niece

From top left: Duck and Cherry Pie from Ken & Allan Forrester’s 96 Winery Road, which we had with their marvellous match, Shiraz Grenache; Tomato and Mozzarella Tartlets with coriander pesto from Sofia’s; Smoked trout roses wrapped around a prawn and topped with caviar – so good with the bubbly from Avontuur

Sofia’s menu

The festival hall

Elizabé from Grangehurst, serving enthusiastic tasters including Lynne

Horrible traffic on the way to Somerset West and awful weather on the way back. John revelled in relaxing in the back and not having to drive

Dancing in the rain on the way home at the Waterfront and our big eye

All these photographs are ©John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus cc