We headed up the oak-lined lane to Oak Valley
Where they had small ponies for small people to ride
Reminiscent of the English cartoonist Thelwell
And people were happily sitting under the autumnal trees enjoying the wine and the music
Two happy ladies serving the wines
And serving popcorn to the crowd was Stef Ellett
Chef Gordon Manuel on his last weekend at Oak Valley. He is moving to Wildekrans
We ordered his amazing rosemary burgers with really good crisp chips for lunch
and enjoyed them with glasses of Oak Valley Pinot noir on the terrace by the pool, chatting to Maddy
Reminiscent of the English cartoonist Thelwell
A cheery Fabio, the Oak Valley tasting room manager, was on the tasting stand
They had moved it to the lawn for the weekend so that the restaurant would not get too crowded with festival goers
And there we encountered an old friend, Maddy Rawbone-Viljoen. She and her husband Anthony own Oak Valley. We tasted the slightly tropical fruit 2018 Fountain of Youth Sauvignon Blanc, enjoyed the Beneath the Clouds 2018 Chardonnay, a steal at R120. The aptly named Stone and Steel 2018 Riesling is dry and crisp with no sign of terpenes and the 2018 Sound of Silence Pinot Noir is full of cherry and raspberry flavours with hints of rose, very soft and very quaffable. R145
and enjoyed them with glasses of Oak Valley Pinot noir on the terrace by the pool, chatting to Maddy
And who should arrive but the girls from Destinate, a destination management and tourism marketing agency;
Annareth Bolton and Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, who have been working on the Festival
As we drove out, we had to stop to admire this orchard of ripe Pink Lady apples. It is the middle of harvest
All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
No comments:
Post a Comment