Sunday, October 04, 2015

Stanford Wine Route Launch: Vaalvlei and Panthera Africa

Tuesday saw us up bright and early to gather for breakfast at Vaalvlei. This is the smallest producer on the route with a mere 3 hectares under vines. The farm, established in 2005, belongs to winemaker/viticulturist Naas Terblanche, a passionate conservationist and winemaker
It is the season for pincushion proteas
One of the strangest but most beautiful flowers in the floral kingdom. Each “flower” is actually a bunch of small flowers
Naas is also an expert on frogs and amphibians and he has put the endangered Western Leopard Toad on his wine label. They currently produce a Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and a sweet Cape Vintage port style wine. The 2012 shiraz is soft, sweet, mature and quaffable.
They had laid out a substantial breakfast/brunch of quiches
and more quiches
Yoghurt, muesli, honey and fresh fruit
Tiny quiches
Sausages and "oepsies" - a local traditional treat: bacon wrapped cherries, and bacon rolled around skewers
Cooked on the oil drum braai
We sat in the sunshine with coffees and teas and enjoyed the spread
It is Watsonia season and there are great views of the mountains from the farm
Imagine waking up to this view every morning
We went inside for a quick visual presentation by Naas of the frog species found in the area; some are very rare. He goes out at night with his camera and records them and their sounds. We found the presentation very interesting and it has sparked an interest in frogs for us. He certainly knows his subject
A country road
We made a stop at Panthera, a non-profit refuge for rescued wild cats run by South African Lizaene Cornwall and Norwegian Cathrine Nyquist. Their stated aims are No breeding, No trading No interaction. Well meaning
However it is hard not to interact with these magnificent animals and our visit was interaction. While we were there, there was a tour by the local fire department who need to know how to react if there is a bush fire in the area
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Stanford Wine Route Launch: Don Gelato, African Queen

A great finish to Tuesday was a visit to a Gelateria in Stanford, Don Gelato followed by a braai on the African Queen River Boat on the Klein Rivier, which runs through Stanford and empties into the lagoon
Don Gelato is in the centre of Stanford so easy to find in Queen Victoria Street
Lionello Giovannetti immigrated here from Naples a few years ago and wanted to get South Africa to taste real gelato. To quote Wikipedia : "Gelato is a type of soft ice cream containing a relatively small amount of air. Gelato can be made with milk, cream, various sugars, and flavouring such as fresh fruit and nut purees. It is generally lower in calories, fat and sugar than other styles of ice cream. By statute, gelato in Italy must have at least 3.5% butterfat, with no upper limit established"
The also sell coffee so you can enjoy an Affogato (in Italian, 'drowned') - an espresso with a dollop of ice cream (and it sometimes has a shot of liqueur or grappa but I don't think he has a licence)
Some of the selection of flavours
Inside and, in good weather, outside seating as well
Midweek main street in Stanford. It's a nice sleepy little town during the week
There are some very old and interesting buildings in the village
You find them on the Wandelpad at the riverside on the edge of town. There is plenty of parking
The African Queen. The trip on the river was a wonderful experience, one we hope to be back to enjoy again in the summer
Lots of bird life along the river. We hoped to see kingfishers but it was too late in the day
The sound of wind in the reeds is marvellous
Overhanging trees about to break into bud
Shimmering water
Reeds colonising the waterway
All the members of the Stanford wine route joined our party and they had all added some of their wines to make the party swing
It can be windy in Stanford, but this was a perfectly still evening as we floated down the river
Tariro Masayiti, Chairman of the Wine Route, officially opening the Stanford Wine Route. the 21st in the Cape
We celebrated with an MCC which was ably sabraged by Jorika Dreyer
Ducks taking off with the Misty Mountains in the background
Soon there will be some local MCC, but tonight we celebrated with some Woolworths Villiera MCC Brut
Sunset over the silent water
Ripples and birdlife
It was like being in a watercolour
It’s a painters dream
and so still and quiet, when the boat's engine is turned off! Although it is not that noisy
We dropped anchor to have supper as the twilight died
Someone was having a party at their house on the riverside
Salads out for supper
They have two metal braais (barbeques) suspended from the rails of the boat, so they can cater for a lot of people and the smoke doesn't seem to come into the boat, as their chimneys vent above it
They have a searchlight, so you can see the reeds and the wildlife. There are otters, frogs, and other water creatures
Braai broodtjies (dampers), lamb chops, boerewors sausage on this side
The chicken kebabs were cooked on the other side of the boat. In some parts of meat eating SA, chicken is regarded as a vegetable....
And there were large mixed salads with avocado and strawberries
and cous cous
Girls having fun
Time to depart after a great celebration with good food and amazing wine
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015