Pic: Gerda Engelbrecht
We willingly agreed to join friends on a wine walk. I may
have missed some small print, and just saw ‘wine’ and overlooked the 45km walk (over three days) that joined the dots. But I need not have worried as the walk was aimed at ‘medium’
fitness and we coped fairly well. The wine was certainly a carrot between A and
B.
I love walking with a stick and halfway from Pongola (home)
to Durban realised that both our sticks were hanging with nowhere to go in our
kitchen. It seemed crazy to pay for new hiking sticks so I settled on a
geriatric walking stick from Dischem for a mere R145. And this did the trick.
Sad thing is that I left it in Cape Town as we boarded the plane back home. I
just hope it finds a happy new owner.
We arrived at Exclesior Manor Guest House in the late
afternoon after a stop at Bosjes, between Worcester and Ceres. It is so worth
the visit and it is comforting to see how much is being invested in tourist orientated
destinations – shows that there is optimism in our future.
Our room was ‘Duelling Duet’ – all the rooms are named after
famous racehorses. A grand hallstand was directly opposite our door with a
tempting array of old hats. We immediately picked out hats to suit – a top hat
for Rob and a large brimmed black hat for me. Swanning into the lounge we
announced our arrival and asked, with a shocked face, why no one else was
wearing a hat. Didn’t you get the memo? We were met a po-faced response and a
kind of ‘O my vok, wat gaan hier aan?’ (loosely translated ‘Oh my goodness, what’s
going on here!) I am not sure if it was the right way to meet and greet our new
walking pals, but by day 3 we were all groot mates.
Day 1: Zandvliet walk – a journey of 17kms. It gave us a
good chance to get to know each other and the ice was certainly broken by the
time we climbed the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains, with its sweeping
views of the valley. We wound our way through vineyards and orchards, the Cape
autumn displaying a magnificent array of textures and colours.First stop was Zandvliet Wine Estate and the home of shiraz. We enjoyed a strawberry infused gin from
Bonnivale before tasting five wines under the guidance of Michaela. These
included: 2020 Chardonnay, 2020 Shiraz Rose, 2017 Shiraz, 2017 Kalkveld Shiraz
and Hill of Enon Shiraz.
We continued on our merry way to Arabella, where we tried
Sav Blanc, Pink Panacea and a Pinotage. Arabella is famous for its racehorses,
which were probably more impressive than their wines.
And like well bred racehorses we made for home – the last
leg of the day’s walk.
Day 2: Goudmyn Walk – 14.5kms. Wine tasting started a short
couple of kms after breakfast. Whoever said that you can’t drink early in the morning
was fibbing. De Wetshof Estate is the home of fine wines, specifically
chardonnay, and Hendrick welcomed his early morning imbibers with grace.
Pic: Gerda Engelbrecht
We tasted: 2020 Limestone Chardonnay, 2020 Bon Vallon, 2019 Finesse
Chardonnay, 2018 Site Chardonnay, 2018 Bateleur Chardonnay and for a bit of
variety Sav Blanc, 2017 Nature in Concert (Pinot Noir) and two Rieslings. I
confess my notes were getting a bit scratchy by this stage.
Our great guide Jaco Bloom, from Route 62 Wine Tours and ShuttleServices, was learning to keep the group together. By now it was becoming like
herding cats, but he did a good job.
We walked to Van Loveren and Freda guided us through our
tasting. Here we started with MCC (Method Club Classique) – basically a glass
of bubbly, 2020 Christina Sav Blanc, 2020 Chardonnay, Shiraz and a Cab Sav.
Leaving Van Loeveren we walked along the Breede River and
boarded a boat which took us on a gentle ride for 45 minutes. Anchors Drift and
Boet Beer was served. Not sure I would write home about either of these, but we
had been spoilt at De Wetshof. Lunch was served at Viljoensdrift and we ambled
back home to Excelsior.
We gathered on the tasting deck overlooking the small dam.
Andries was passionate about the Exclesior Wines and we tasted 2018 Gondalier
(a Reserve Merlot), 2018 St. Louis Shiraz and 2017 Cab Sav. We were invited to
blend, bottle and label our own wines. This was great fun and something different
– giving us all a lovely memento of our stay.
By Day 3 (Klaasvoogds Walk 13.5kms) we were becoming family and very comfortable with
each other. It was sad that this would be our last wine while you walk day –
and there was really not too much whining. Although Jaco did slip in a hill
that we weren’t expecting which did produce some choice language from some of us…
well me.
We went by vehicle to Doms Brothers Blueberry Farm where
Mark gave us a very down to earth lesson on farming blueberries. Then we
climbed THE hill. The views were great and on the other side was KranskopWines. I think these were some of the finest we tasted and Newald Marais was a
very enthusiastic host. I nearly lost Rob here as he was willing to stay
forever.
We tasted: 2020 Sav Blanc, 2021 Viognier, 2021 Chenin Blanc,
2014 Viognier, 2020 Chardonnay, 2020 Petit Sirah/ Viognier, Merlot, 2021 Pinot
Noir, 2018 Tannat – it was certainly a generous selection and not one wine
disappointed. Later on I looked at our order sheet and it was quite a scribble
with a substantial order – so we must have had fun!
The end of the walk finished at Marbrin Olive Farm. It was
kind of ‘extreme olive tasting’ in the hands of Briony and Clive. This high
energy couple dished up a tasty lunch which we washed down with Excelsior wines.
It was such a pleasure getting out of the Covid cage and I
couldn’t have asked for better company, tastier food and kinder hosts. Thanks
to Freddie DeWet, Kirstin and James at Excelsior Manor Guest House for their perfect
hospitality. We could easily do this again….. again.
