ATKV Franschhoek Oesfees at Solms-Delta

This wonderful, very real Harvest Festival is a joy of music and laughter, great local food , and Solms Delta wine.   The workers of Franschhoek mingle and have fun together with the paying public and It gives one such a lift to see how SA really does join together to celebrate a harvest, hard work and the future with exciting local music and food. There is such real South African Gees.   We took our Dutch friends and they absolutely loved the event, as did we. 

As we arrived we walked past the braai (barbeque) area, full of smoke and superb flavours of fish

and sausages and lamb chops on traditional oil drum braais

The chicken drumsticks were not making such a fog

We found a table and settled down to listen to the music

Jazz, heavy rock, traditional boeremusiek, big band, marching band - all were there to entertain us. This was the Valiant Swart Band

Proud mums and gorgeous children

The Solms Delta Marching Band – The Delta Valley Entertainers

Everyone plays their tune, not necessarily together!

Loads of talent, and lots of enthusiasm

The tuneful tuba

and lots of style

had everyone singing and dancing along

It's a unisex band, with all the members coming from the Franschhoek area

and lots of great noisy drumming

They start early

Wonderful stands all around the concert grounds sold very traditional local food made by local people. These are Indian snacks

There were giant oysters

good coffee and slushies

biltong, of course, and droëwors

and the happy Solms Delta crew sold wine in abundance

Karen Zoid was one of the headline bands

The crowd loved her and the choir she sang with

This must have been between sets of music. It was really a happy crowd!

A very pretty local girl

Deafened visitor – he enjoyed it really

Do we have enough for another?

MY balloon!

Clown making merry

Very innovative: a windowed wheelbarrow brought cold wine to the audience

Indian biriyani for vegetarians

And the most popular act of the day was Loukman Adams who got the crowd really rocking and dancing and singing along

Having a bit of a jol

Everybody dance!

Vastrap and langarm too - Warren Daniels and his wife, having a great time

They were a lovely happy couple who sat next to us

Another band unites the crowd:

Ollie Viljoen and the choir

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Laborie and Harvest Restaurant in Paarl

Would you like to completely pamper someone you love? Then take them for a break to Laborie in beautiful Paarl for a night or two. The room rate for one of their en suite rooms is a very reasonable R485 pp with a huge breakfast served in the Manor House. You can be welcomed by a bottle of their superb Blanc de Blanc bubbly on the terrace outside your suite. You can eat lunch at Harvest Restaurant on their terrace or dinner inside with soft candlelight. You can do a wine and chocolate pairing in the tasting room, or a charcuterie and cheese lunch on the lawn under the trees. And you can come home with boxes of wine at very reasonable prices. How do we know? We were invited there and were thoroughly spoilt for two days last week doing all the above. We SO recommend this.

We were collected from our home by Laborie’s very friendly and experienced driver Geoffrey Samuels. Yes, our street is very steep

The Laborie Manor House is dated 1800

Warmly greeted by Zelda Oelofse-Cornthwaite, Hospitality & Events Manager at Laborie

There was a beautifully chilled bottle of Laborie Blanc de Blanc, always one of our favourites, to get us in the mood

Our suite for the night with our own porch, so we started with a glass of Blanc de Blanc while enjoying the view

Huge bed and nice lounge area. You can see the en suite bathroom leading off this room

There is WiFi and a flat screen TV, but we didn’t manage to find time to watch it

A well supplied drinks cabinet and the fridge was also filled with good wines and other beverages

The view from our terrace on the morning we arrived

Guests may wander into the Manor house to look around

The long table inside the voorkamer in the Manor House

The bedroom in the Manor House

The bright lounge

The library

The magnificent Gilgamesh panel by Cecil Skotnes, whose works are on walls throughout the manor house and Harvest Restaurant

One of the original windows of the manor house 

The view of Paarl valley from the manor house terrace

There are lots of squirrels on the werf, eating the acorns and pecan nuts

A rowdy Egyptian goose was soon chased away

by Cellar, the farm cat

Our next stop was the tasting room

where we met the friendly staff,

inspected the brandy still

and went to sit out on their balcony for the chocolate and wine tasting and the magnificent view of Paarl Rock – The Pearl

Rosé MCC, Chardonnay and Laborie's good Pineau with three paired chocolates

Cabernet, Shiraz and our favourite Cape Brandy, the Laborie Alambic, with another three chocolate pairings. We shared the tasting and enjoyed it very much indeed. Best matches for us were the brandy and the Pineau

Noelle Pheiffer, our tasting room hostess, explains how the tasting works

Franciska Pienaar, Public Relations Officer, runs the tasting room and is extremely helpful

Off to what we intended to have as a light lunch at Harvest restaurant, which is run by Executive Chef Matthew Gordon

An impressive line-up of different sizes of Laborie wine bottles, all full

Inside the dining room, it was not very busy because it was a beautiful day

and everyone wanted to sit outside, ourselves included

Lynne studies the menu

There are always daily specials on the blackboard

Zelda joined us for a drink

Lynne was extremely happy with her Chorizo and Squid salad

John opted for a Cape Malay lamb curry with rice. It was delicious and had lots of coconut, so it tasted similar to a Rendang, but the portion was much more generous than he'd anticipated, and he couldn't finish it

Afternoon light at the back of the manor house

John went for a stroll in the vineyards behind the Werf,

climbed the steep hill behind and took this view of the farm from up the hill

Owls live in these historic oaks

After a nap, we finished the MCC Blanc de Blanc and then it was time to go back to Harvest for dinner

Autumn was nipping the air, so most of us chose to eat indoors

The restaurant did fill up as it is a popular venue in Paarl for dinner

Our lovely waitress, Zethu Qalekiso, is full of life, laughter and personality

Chef Shirene Patrick came out to welcome us

Our starter was chosen by the chef. It was a tuna carpaccio, coated in sesame seeds, served with a salad

We both  chose the irresistible Springbok shanks for our main course. These were from an incredibly large springbok and one shank would have fed both of us. They were delicious

We couldn't face dessert, but could manage an espresso with the chocolate and brandy option. It was just right as an ending to a good meal

More spoiling as Nicole Arries, the Assistant Restaurant manager, presents us with a gift of two Laborie wines.

The manor house by moonlight. It was floodlit, but there was a huge harvest moon rising over the mountains

The morning view of the vineyards and tasting centre

Lynne on the way to breakfast in the manor house

The long table laid for breakfast with other guests partaking

The breakfast menu

Perfect breakfast for John

Perfect breakfast for Lynne

The wet winter has produced lots and lots of perfect acorns

The Paarl Rock behind the farm

The air is filled with swifts catching flying bugs and the lawns with wagtails looking for the crawlers

A Jonkershuis next to the swimming pool

The swimming pool for guests

Grapes turned to raisins

Autumn puts its colour on the vine leaves

Relaxing with the crossword and a glass of chilled Laborie Chenin Blanc

Here comes our lunch

This magnificent cheese and charcuterie platter, ordered from Harvest, can be had in the tasting room or on the lawn in front. We had it with a bottle of the Lazy Days Rosé which was so good that we bought a case to take home - and a bottle of the Alambic brandy. 

And then, when we were feeling extremely relaxed, Harvest's Assistant manager Martell Smit drove us home to Sea Point. Thank you all involved, it was a wonderful break for busy journos.

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014