John & Lynne's Robertson visit

Spring green vines in the Bonnievale valley with rain in the valley beyond

Place of Rocks Chardonnay by Weltevrede, which really expresses the terroir

Lynne chats to Elzette in the Weltevrede tasting room. 

Notice the beautifully carved wine barrel behind them.

This l890 bottle of South African Cape Hermitage wine was bought at Sotheby’s in 1977 and is a proud possession of Weltevrede

Some of the wines we tasted there

Elzette Steyn, Tasting Room Manager at Weltevrede

Lynne chatting to Bonita Malherbe outside the very nearly completed new Van Loveren tasting room

Inside the centre, there is only the “final fix” to complete

Inside Christina’s restaurant

The menu is simple and concise and the food is great

Christina van Loveren Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc

Bonita telling us about the future plans for the venue

Lourens van der Westhuizen of Arendsig joins us for lunch

Discussion about wine, life and everything else

Lourens’ Margarita pizza

The famous sweet corn fritters are now on the menu

The Hawaiian with extra avocado

Lynne’s order of ASB – Avo, Salami and Brie with added mushrooms

John’s spicy Mexican with chicken and added olives

Another view of the tasting room with the water feature

Donkeys and horses at Excelsior

Horses out to pasture after a long life racing and as pets

The view across the dam from the Excelsior tasting cabin, which is built over the water

Getting to taste through their wines

A lovely wine tasting venue

Some of the alpaca herd with a baby

We think this one looks like Sid the Sloth from Ice Age!

At Ashton Winery tasting, again

These reasonably priced wines win some impressive awards

We finally found the Koo factory shop and bought a case of 24 tins of peaches with no labels for a silly amount.

Opposite was a cottage with a beautiful mainly indigenous garden; most of the plants grow locally

This is how you get your unlabelled tinned fruit. Tins may be damaged, so buyer beware

Queuing to see what they have.  Today it was tinned peaches or pears

We finally found a real farm stall with fresh produce, eggs, and home bottled items. Not filled with expensive gift items you don’t really need. We bought eggs and a bottle of boysenberries in syrup which we haven’t seen for years.

Photographs © John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2012

Robertson Wine on the River

The wine farm stands inside the marquee

Tasting some MCC on the Weltevrede stand and talking to Elzette

A great warm welcome from Paul de Wet of Zandvliet

Not that you would have wanted to with the river rising after the heavy rains

We could not resist the food sold on the Zandvliet stand. John had the crisp battered yellowtail with onion rings and chips and Lynne the tenderest lamb chops cooked to perfection with a very good marinade, also with crisp onion rings and chips. Only R45 a serving.

The muddy entrance to the festival: Lots of us wore wellies

Heading for the Chardonnays of the valley tasting where they pair all the wines with food

A bit wet for a boat trip. Next year!

The tasting in full swing Lourens van der Westhuizen chats to Bernhard Hess of Mimosa Lodge in Montagu

Fanus Bruwer of Quando making some notes

These wines were on the Tropical flavour table

These wines are on the Complex flavours table. In front is a list of the food pairing

These wines were classified Creamy. We don’t always agree!
Two bubblies for tasting

Lourens talks us through the tasting

Some “wrapt” attendees

A good crowd attends the tasting for each session, which is completely free. 

You just need to book your place

These are the food pairings

Zandi Beetge, the chef who made them

Elegant style indeed

Clark Truter from Siris Vintners, who represent some of the farms

Ivan Oertle, Wine Selector for Woolworths, and his wife talking to Lourens

A boat trip begins for a few hardy souls

Fanus Bruwer of Quando

How we ended the day. Those wines all dwindled as it wore on towards evening

The rain pouring down and the Hess children really enjoying it

The clouds begin to part and the river is suddenly calm

Fida Hess from Mimosa Lodge in Montagu and friend

Fashionable footwear this year was... wellies

We are discussing the next festival – Hands on Harvest in February. See you there?

No-one really wants to go home

Photographs © John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2012