A break in the Wilderness

Our self catering apartment was in a house hanging high on the cliff top overlooking the lake, with the N2 and the sea behind us

The lake has a small island and reminded Lynne so much of a favourite childhood book Swallows and Amazons and others by Arthur Ransome, as it does resemble the Lake District in England

A view at sunset down the road at other properties and the far Outeniqua mountains

The bedroom area, with a very comfortable bed, crackly percale linen and a good warm duvet

It also has a seating and a dining area with the wonderful view from the ‘picture’ window. There was a small kitchen with a two burner stovelet, a bar fridge and a microwave, and a small shower and loo. We were very comfortable for the 4 nights we were here, if a little cold. They did bring us a fire. There are three other apartments with much more space and all have balconies

The view from the house changes hourly as the light and clouds alter the affect. Wonderful to paint

We saw so many birds, drongos and shrikes came to our windowsill, we had swallows or swifts nesting in the eaves above us and were enchanted when we saw at least 7 pairs of Knysna loeries fly past below us in the forested areas. And Lynne had one incredibly beautiful brief flash of kingfisher blue when we walked on one of the Parks Boards boardwalks

Fiscal shrike. Also known as a Butcher Bird, these birds eat anything and everything

A drongo preening on the upstairs balcony railing

A walk on the breathtakingly beautiful Wilderness beach. Temperature was about 9 degrees

Houses built right on the edge of the dunes

Barefoot beachcombers and sea mist

A young black backed gull struts

The gathering storm clouds were sensational

Golden sands and glimmering water

The tiny white-fronted plovers kept us amused for ages

And the water made beautiful reflections

They were feeding on Plough Snails

and John managed to get quite close

There are round and oval pebbles which make lovely patterns in the sand

Lynne finds a broken paper nautilus shell which had just washed up

Booty from our beachcombing walks on Wilderness beach

Lots of jellyfish had washed up after the last storm, this man of war was being picked at by the gulls

Plough Snails make wonderful patterns as they skate across the sand

They find a meal on a jellyfish

They look like opals on the  sand

A skein of cormorants suddenly appears

A cloudscape of note

How the light changes on the lake

At sunset it was mirror like

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Bottling the 2014 vintage from The Vineyard

You may not know that the Vineyard Hotel does actually have a vineyard in the gardens, on the side of the Liesbeek river, where they grow mainly Sauvignon blanc and some Semillon. We have been made custodians of one of these vines. 65 bottles of the Vineyard Hotel’s maiden vintage were bottled in August 2013 – an historic occasion that marked the first time wine has been produced in the Newlands area in over 150 years.

They had a very good harvest this year. Our grapevine produced 15 bunches, so much better than the single bunch of the previous harvest. And they managed to get 220 kilos of grapes this year which produced 184 bottles. They were vinified by Nic Van Aarde at Warwick and we were invited to come and assist with bottling them and taste these on Thursday , and enjoy some lunch afterwards where we tasted some good wines from Simonsig, Warwick, Meerlust, Waterford and Klein Constantia.

We all gathered at 10 am and enjoyed a cup of coffee in the reception area of the Vineyard Hotel

and then boarded our buses for the ride to Warwick in Stellenbosch

It was a rather cold and grey day

We had a warm welcome, especially from Tata Madiba, who is made entirely or wire and beads. The talent and creativity of our beaders never ceases to completely amaze us. Mike Bampfield Duggan looks completely dwarfed

A very welcome glass of Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel MCC bubbly

And some delicious warm fish croquettes

No chance of running out

Brian Cluver, Warwick Sales Manager, and Roy Davies, General Manager of The Vineyard Hotel

We started in Warwick’s tasting room

Next door, tables were arranged for the tasting and lunch

Glasses awaiting wine in the cellar

Empty bottles at the start of the bottling line

Some fine tuning was needed before we could start

This is how it the bottle filler works

The first two bottles are filled

and we are off. Everyone had a chance to fill two bottles of the wine

Roy Davies has his turn; David Wibberley, Vineyard Food and Beverage Manager, waits for his

Everyone stands a-waiting, but we had some delicious older sauvignons to taste while we did

Roy Davies tells us about the harvest and how much Sauvignon and Semillon were grown, picked and vinified

The indomitable Kitty Petousis, owner and matriarch of the Vineyard Hotel. She said she was grateful that the vineyard was providing them with some income at last. To her taste the wine was a “lekkerwyn” and she said it made her day

Everyone is wrapped or rapt. Warm winter clothing and close attention to speeches.

Great assistance from the Warwick team

Warwick winemaker Nic Van Aarde tells Roy and us how he made the wine

Still trying out the bottling line

It is a knack, but not hard to learn

We could taste 3 older Sauvignons from Warwick, the 2003, 2004 and 2007.

We loved the age on the 2004 and it is still very elegant. The freshness and asparagus with deep layers on the 2007 makes it a winner

Roy tasting and discussing the wines with Jos Baker

No sir, we may not take them home. Johan Malan of Simonsig obviously likes the new vintage.

Then we learnt how to cork the bottles

and back to Brian for another taste

Wines available for tasting with lunch: Kevin Arnold Shiraz friendly soft and with its spicy layers was very good with the food. The Klein Constantia 2009 Cabernet was elegant and mature and full of cassis

Making notes while we get ready to taste the wines

The Vineyard blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. From the left: 1. Direct press from 2013 juice. Dusty winery nose, nice blend of acidity and fruit. Elegant and much better than expected. 2. Fermented in barrel, 3 days on skins 2013 Good acids, long flavours, more Sauvignon showing than Semillon, needs time to integrate. 3. 2014 dusty. still quite ‘grapey’, clean and lean, nice tannins and good SB on nose. It will be a good wine. They are very classically made and taste exactly as they should. People were not expecting them to be that good but they were.

Warwick’s tasting room manager. Lawrence, pours for us

Platters to share were the starter, A good paté in the jar with some chilli, nice charcuterie, sliced mushroom topped with cheese. A baked camembert, shredded pork on tortillas and some salad.

Chef Dane Newton brings us a platter. Note the wood burning stove in the background, which was very welcome.

Main course was a perfectly cooked steak, topped with herb butter, some crisp chips and some good coleslaw. Simple, but so well done and all the steaks were cooked, perfectly, to order

A glass of Warwick Trilogy to accompany the steak.

The winemakers get together with David Wibberley of The Vineyard and Brian Cluver

Sponsors Johan Malan of Simonsig and Kevin Arnold of Waterford Wine Estate

The bus ride back home is always a jolly affair. We really enjoyed meeting Indaba Dube, sommelier at the Vineyard Hotel

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014