Wednesday, December 08, 2021

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 16. Keurbooms River, Plettenberg Bay

On day 10 of our trip, we were packed and ready to move by 9h45 and headed towards Plettenberg Bay; nearly 300Km, so achievable in time for a lateish lunch. We wanted to visit friends who have recently moved to Keurbooms and this was the closest accommodation we could book. It had been chilly the previous night and rain was promised. We wanted to miss Port Elizabeth, so headed for Uitenhage and did some essential food shopping there. And, as we left, the rain came down like a fully turned on shower and stayed with us until Jeffrey’s Bay. Not pleasant driving, but at least the road was pretty empty for most of the way. Once we passed St Francis Bay, we were suddenly on the well named Garden Route again. Lush green meadows, flowering trees, even a wheat field. And full rivers; then the Tzitzikamma forest

We made a stop for lunch just before Keurbooms and noticed that we were on the road leading to some of the wine farms which we had intended to find and visit! Great coincidence; no planning was involved. Having eaten our Pepper steak pies, what else was there to do but go and taste wine? First call was Newstead, owned by the Lund family. We had them at the top of our list to visit as we had heard and read very good things about their award winning wines. They were awarded the title of Best Producer at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge 2020. Anton Smal, whom we first met when he was making wine at Villiera, makes their wines (and does the same for other farms in the area)

They were pretty busy, so we were asked to take a seat outside on the terrace where we would taste the wines

It was rather open to the elements - rain and wind, and very chilly, but they did provide blankets

Vines just bursting into new leaf

The restaurant area across the lawn seemed very popular

The wine list with the prices for the tastings

and the drinks menu with descriptions of the wines

And whom should we meet but Susan Murray, who now works there as Restaurant Manager. We have known her for many years, as she worked at the Cape Wine Academy. We had a great tasting of their very good wines and Cap Classiques. The vineyards were planted in 2007 and they had their first harvest in 2012

They have two Cap Classiques: The Blanc de Blanc 2016 has vanilla, and rich buttery brioche on the nose with crisp dry limes, lemons and grapefruit on the long palate and a good mousse. The Cap Classique Rosé is 83% Pinot Noir and 17% Chardonnay. It spends 6 months on the lees. Lots of raspberries and strawberries from the Pinot Noir; it has a crisp bubble and is slightly creamy, with some perfume on the after palate

Next, the 2021 Sauvignon Blanc which has that classic cat’s pee and elderflower nose;
silky on the crisp palate with minerality and length. The vineyards pick up cooling breezes from the sea

Susan made sure that we were able to taste the 2015 Blanc de Blancs which has won many awards, including Five stars from Platter. More sophisticated and balanced on the nose; herbal hints, brioche. On the palate, it is crisper and more layered with lime and lemon notes, then richness fills the creamy palate. Very good

The 2021 Rosé is made from 20% Chardonnay and 80% Pinot Noir. It is full of strawberry, raspberry, cranberry
and rose petal aromas and flavours, lovely fruit, good mouthfeel, and a food wine

Happy Muragzikwa poured our wines and was a mine of information about them and the farm
They have three hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and the rest is planted with Chardonnay & Pinot Noir

A stool made in the form of a Newstead Muselet. The bottles, in fact, have a plain one

A view of the winery over the vines. We recommend a visit if you are in the area


Dietes Grandiflora, our indigenous iris


Further down the rather potholed road, we came to Kay and Monty wines, who have two wines to taste, Kay and Monty, who were the owners, have long departed this world but have left a good legacy, not only in the quirky naming of the wine. Owner Steph Legh comments “Kay & Monty Vineyards is a lasting tribute to my grandparents - On balmy summer evenings Kay was likely to turn to Monty and conspiratorially suggest a chilled glass of Champu”. The farm was bought by Chick Legh, an avid polo player in 2004. He converted it into a polo estate. Subsequently, it was one of the first estates in the area, after pioneering Bramon, to start planting vineyards


Currently, they have only these two wines available for tasting. Champu 2016 is a Blanc de Blanc Cap Classique which has pear, apple and brioche on the nose. Crisp and full of pear and apple on the palate. The 2019 SAV, is a Sauvignon Blanc from a very hot and dry season, we were told. Elderflower on the shy nose, sweeter more tropical in style, with loquat, apricot and yellow peach with a grapefruit bite on the end

The tasting room is huge and can be used as a function venue
We thought it would be ideal for lovely smaller weddings

There is comfortable seating and a welcome open fire - it was a very cold day, 10ºC at lunch time

The two nicely chilled wines

Prudence Smuppinya was so knowledgeable about the wines and was very hospitable

The last winery in the area, Lodestone, sadly, was closed so we headed straight for our overnight accommodation at Mandalay Guest House where we had a good garden apartment with a kitchen. Here The TV was broken, and we had a quiet night, watching some Britbox on our computer. We have not watched nor missed much TV on this trip. but we felt the need for some All Creatures Great and Small, or some Vera. The TV in the apartment is so old that it only gets a few bad choices, when it works. It was a cold night, but we had a heater and electric blankets. This is the small kitchen and lounge area, well suited to summer weather, with the tiled floor throughout

The bedroom, with the small shower room next door. There was plenty of storage space


Up the next morning to meet our friends, the Fishers, for brunch at the restaurant on the side of the Keurbooms Estuary called Down to Earth at 10 am. It is easy to find, as it is on the N2. The roads were busy on the Monday morning, as everyone was heading for work. It was a short 10 minute drive from Plettenberg Bay. A wonderful place to sit and watch the tide fill the estuary, if a little chilly that morning, but it did warm up


We sat and watched the tide come in


and the estuary birds feeding in the water, like this white heron



There are fishermen on the flats and in boats
Wonder what they are collecting? Crabs, shellfish, white mussels?

It has a very good breakfast menu with lots of choices that we like
and they bring honey to sweeten the tea rather than sugar, which we try to avoid
The coffee, tea and green juice came first and, a while later - they are very relaxed - the breakfast

Alexandra is on a short exclusion diet for her arthritis and had avocado, smoked salmon with sour cream, lemon,
fried mushrooms, and spinach which looked amazing

Lynne could not resist having her favourite breakfast, French toast with crisp bacon


John and Johnny had beans and sausages with eggs, toast and marmalade. John had scrambled egg



Johnnie had a poached egg

After spending a lovely long morning catching up on what we had all been doing during Covid and their move,
we went to see their beautiful house which is on the other side of the Keurbooms river


Alexandra in the kitchen




A happy smiling Johnnie

We walked around the estate and along the grassed front banks, past the jetties, admired their boat
and watched the birds, the fishermen and their dogs having fun, especially Molly, their Labradoodle

It looks like a lovely place to live; everyone keeps the public areas tidy and neat. We chatted to their neighbours and then it was back to the house and a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to continue the avid conversation; so good to catch up with old friends after too long. 

And suddenly it was 5 pm and time to get to our next stop, Belvidere Manor in Knysna (Click here)



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