.: A Weekend stay at Seven Oaks estate, Breedekloof

Seven Oaks Wine Estate is in the Breedekloof area and is on the way to Wolseley
We were invited by owners Patrick and Jacqui Pols to join them for a special Pop-Up lunch and, when we accepted,
we were invited to stay for the weekend and bring another couple
We had no idea what fun and entertainment we were in for
By the way, Seven Oaks has only six mature oak trees and a new baby oak
When the very hospitable owner Patrick bought the farm on an impulse in an auction, he thought he had counted seven!
The farm's logo shows six large trees and a baby and their best wines are labelled 6+1
It is set in the most beautiful countryside
The best route to the farm is to drive from Wellington over the spectacular Bain’s Kloof Pass
which brings you very close to the farm

We drove up through the vines until we came to the sign directing us to the cottages

There are four self catering cottages, named after grape varieties. Merlot was ours for Friday and Saturday nights

It is very spacious inside with a binne braai, dining table,
a relaxing seating area and doors which open onto the back garden patio

and there is a small and perfectly supplied kitchen
In fact, this was one of the best supplied cottages we have ever stayed in; they had thought of everything one could possibly need

Bedroom 1 has a large king size bed

Bedroom 2 can be fitted as two single beds or be made up a to provide a large king for our other couple

Once we had dropped our luggage and settled in,
we strolled off to the Tasting venue to check in, accompanied by the farm’s geese

Hmmmm… Christmas dinner? Love geese....

Violet and blue mountains looking over the vines. They are the Waterfall mountains to the West
This valley is on the watershed between the drainage basins of the Breede River,
which flows south to the Indian Ocean, and the Berg River, which flows north to the Atlantic Ocean

and after being warmly welcomed, we discovered that owner Patrick and Willem Viljoen,
his viticulturist and farm manager, were about to take us on a short tour of the farm
The initials on the truck stand for "Hier kom Groot Kak Wyn Motor"

Patrick and Willem gave us each a glass of the Seven Oaks Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy on the trip

A farm worker rolling the dirt roads flat!

A view of the tasting room buildings over the vines with the spectacular Witzenberg mountains behind them to the East,
where the sun rises and where the sunset turns the slopes to orange each evening

Next, a taste of the 2022 Seven Oaks Chenin Blanc, named Sam’s wine, a wine which quickly became a favourite
They found an empty urn in the vineyard, labelled “Sam” – presumably it had contained the ashes of a person or a pet
It gave a name to the vineyard

A small graveyard on the farm for previous owners and their family

Rosy peaks at sunset

John’s new lens can get incredible detail at very long distances;
here the crags and pinnacles of the mountain at sunset

Time to braai back at Merlot Cottage, so the fire is lit!

Very good Rooikrans Boerewors from Checkers and some tender lamb chops
and some good wines to go with the meal
Perdeberg Brut Reserve Chenin blanc Cap Classique got us off to a flying start
and, with the meat, a very supple and full Ernie Els 2015 Syrah

Baked potatoes and a simple salad and then a relatively early night for us all

John got up at the crack of dawn, which is about 5.30 this month (November),
and went off for a lovely walk around the farm with his camera

A cover crop of wheat grass between the vines

A new vine replacement just coming into leaf

Morning mist rising over the hills

Up a small hill

Looking over to the Breedekloof road

A new shoot on a grape vine

Blue mountains in the early morning light over the vines

Walking back through the vines to the Tasting room and our cottage which is on the left

A Cape Robin-chat (Cossypha caffra) on an apple tree branch

Insect war. A crane fly, aka daddy long legs, attacks a mating pair of Soapberry Bugs

Sitting down to breakfast outside near the braai and the hot tub
which is heated by burning wood in a pit under the contraption on the left

One of our favourite bougainvilleas, white touched with pink

Peter and Michele deciding which way to go for their walk

Early grape flowers on the Chardonnay

Apple blossom

The farm is a wonderful place for bird watching
We heard but didn't see a Piet my Vrou, named for his call. It is a red-chested cuckoo in the family Cuculidae
Here are a Cape sparrow or mossie (Passer melanurus) and a watching Cape white eye (Zosterops virens)
Lynne has never understood why the beautiful moss coloured bird on the right is called a white eye and not a mossie!

A speckled mousebird (Colius striatus). They have lovely long tail feathers and are a delight to watch

A malachite sunbird (Nectarinia famosa)

A southern fiscal, common fiscal or fiscal shrike (Lanius collaris)
It is also sometimes named Jackie hangman or butcher bird

It has a rather nasty habit of pinning its prey on barbed wire or thorns for later consumption

The bokmakierie (Telophorus zeylonus) is a bushshrike
This family of passerine birds is closely related to the true shrikes in the family Laniidae,
and was once included in that group. It is endemic to southern Africa

We had a very simple supper after the long Saturday lunch we had been invited to,
but we did succumb to opening some wines we had both brought to enjoy
Valmoissine 2019 Louis Latour Pinot Noir Burgundy, Glen Carlou 2017 Curators Selection Chenin Blanc
- one of only 3000 bottles, picked from old vines in the Swartland,
Newton Johnson 2015 Resonance, a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon White Bordeaux blend
They were all outstanding
The evening was perfect, still and warm and few insects to bother us