Over the
Christmas break we made a couple of visits to the winelands. We took our
British tour guide friend Terry for a day trip to Agter Paarl and beyond, to
Vondeling
We were early
for our appointment so took a quick short right to Spice Route where we showed him
the brewery
and what was
on offer
Lots of beer
on tap
Our beer guide
had a terrible cold, but did not infect us and was charming
Some amber
nectar – the CBC Pilsner. A case of that went home with us, it is so
refreshing
Its a popular
place to visit. You can taste 6 beers for R35 and they are quite good tasting
portions
Then we went
to Vondeling, where Terry wanted to meet Dr Bridget Johnsen and find out about the
biodiversity of their mountain and its Fynbos floral kingdom
We shared one
of their very generous platters for lunch
Local meats,
olives, fruit and some ‘money bags’ filled with cheese and spinach
And there was
a very good cheese board with preserves and green figs
Lots of humour
Bridget then
took us to see their cataloguing of the plants found on the farm and the
mountain reserve. It is very detailed work, but they are finding amazing plant
species
And then it
was time for a quick call to see the Vermentino vines we helped plant last year
and have been made guardians of on Ayama. We did a little weeding of our five
vines with owners Attilio Dalpiaz and Michela Sfiligoi and then shared a bottle
of their Brut Rosé on the farm with them before driving home
Marvellous
views of the mountains over the vines
The back of
Paarl mountain
© John &
Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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