Another jaunt to the winelands to show our
visitors yet another stunning view, taste some wine and eat a light lunch. The
view over the vineyards from Cape Point Vineyards is spectacular – Noordhoek’s
Long Beach is one of the longest beaches in the country. Here you can visit the
Thursday evening market where we used to work, have a meal in the restaurant or
order a picnic and have it on the lawns. We stopped to admire the view and then
told two young men in the small shop we were going off to the winery to do a
wine tasting ......
We went to the cellar, a kilometre or
so up the road, where we have often enjoyed tastings, only to find that the
tasting is actually back at the main farm which we had just left. And it has
been for a while. We were a bit put out that the two young men had not stopped
us going to the cellar, as they are the people who do the wine tastings next to
the restaurant! There is no sign above their door saying “Wine Tastings Here”.
Nor does there seem to be a proper wine tasting centre. Strange for a wine farm
Luckily, John bumped into the
winemaker Riandri Visser, whom we know and, although she was rushing to get her
grapes into the tanks, she took the time to chat to us and said we were welcome
to go down to see the cellar. They are making wine in good French oak barrels, but
also amphora and concrete eggs. It was a hive of activity and we didn't stay
for more than a few minutes. She offered us a tasting of the fresh juice, but
we didn't want to take up any more of her time; she was flying to ProWine in
Germany the next day to spend two days there and then rush back to finish the harvest
Hunger had now set in, so we found ourselves a
table at the Food Barn Deli. The menu is on the blackboard and breakfast is
served all day. In the evening, they have a Tapas menu that looks interesting. Second hand books for sale too and, in
the shop, lots of local jams jellies, sauces, spice mixes and, of course, the
bakery
Caught checking our phones! something
you won't see often!
An Eggs Benny with smoked salmon
Enormous hamburgers topped with bacon
and cheese, with sauté potatoes R125
An Eggs Benny with mushrooms and
spinach
An enormous ciabatta filled with not
much smoked salmon, and a garden sized helping of watercress. The dill cream
was spread on the top slice with the rather strong capers. And it came with a
huge salad, well dressed. R125
The Village Green
We then decided to go back to Cape
Point Vineyards for a wine tasting. As they have no tasting room, we had to sit out on the
terrace in a chilly, howling Southerly wind that cut through us like a knife. They
really need to put up some sort of screen and surely no one is going to sit
outside to taste wine in the coming winter?
We were the only people there, other than a large party on the lawn below
This is the "tasting room".
No seating and no sign. We thought it was a shop, as it is packed with branded
Cape Point Vineyards merchandise and a few bottles and a till
Wines available for purchase and
tasting. Three of us tasted the five wines and paid for three tastings. Nicolette bought
some wine. They charged us R80 per person tasting, with no refund if one makes
a purchase. Hmmm. Well at least they took pity on us and we tasted the last two
in the shelter of the 'tasting room' but had to stand, as there is no seating.
We really think this is not working and must put a lot of people off. Or people
simply miss tasting the wine because its hidden or difficult? We came to the
conclusion that they sell most of their wine to people eating in the restaurant. So
different from the tasting experiences in the many other wine farms we visit in the
Cape. The descriptions by the young man pouring the wines we were given were a
little wanting. Never should a wine be described as "harsh" or "high in acid" if
you are trying to sell it and his reasons for the development of the characteristics of the wines were quite creative
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
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