Guest author: Pam McOnie, Cape Town and Cape Winelands tour guide
As the first part of our blog series on A Taste of Cape Winelands: A Vineyard Guide, we’d like to introduce the guest author of this series, Pam McOnie. Pam is a brilliant tour guide based in Cape Town, South Africa and is extremely knowledgeable about the Cape Winelands region and all of its prestigious wineries and estates. With an obvious passion and endless knowledge for food, wine, and her lovely city, Pam is the ultimate treat to anyone’s itinerary.
In this series, Pam provides information on some of her favorite wine estates, which she chose for the wine and / or the experience visitors have when visiting these estates. To see the introduction to this series, please visit our post titled Tips for Preparing for a Trip to Cape Winelands.
See below for Part I of this series, which focuses on a portion of the HELDERBERG WARD of the Stellenbosch wine region:
HELDERBERG WARD:
This region is about a 45-minutes drive from Cape Town and is nestled among the suburbs of Somerset West.
Vergelegen
This farm should be number 1 on your hit list if visiting the Cape. It is one of our most historical estates dating back to the early 1700s. The history is fascinating and worth delving into. The estate boasts extensive gardens that can be explored. Do not miss out on visiting the Rose Garden in the summer. At the estate you can explore the historical Cape Dutch Homestead, the gardens, the camphor forest, the yellow wood forest (note that this forest is very young) and see the Cape’s oldest camphor tree and the oldest oak tree (be warned it is small!). Note that Vergelegen often walks off with many of the wine awards each year–as such a wine tasting is a definite requirement when visiting.
Image above taken from the Vergelegen Estate website.
Additional attractions would be to book for a cellar tour and to book for a picnic in the camphor forest. Note that this is one of the most civilized picnics you will ever go to. They set the tables for the picnic randomly around the forest. You arrive and report into the kiosk in the Rose Garden and a waiter brings your prepared picnic basket to your table. It is a serviced picnic–so a waiter will pop in every now and again to check if you need more drinks. If you have the time in your itinerary, plan to arrive late morning for the cellar tour and spend the afternoon enjoying the picnic. It is an amazing day out. See www.vergelegen.co.za for booking details. Book your picnic well in advance in summer as it is often booked a month in advance (Note that the picnics only operate in the summer).
Morgenster
Directly next door to Vergelegen is Morgenster. Morgenster is noted for its very good Bordeaux red blends and its award winning olive oil. Visit Morgenster to do a wine, olive, and olive oil tasting. They do a formal olive oil tasting–yes, you smell with the nose and actually sip the oil. A scratchiness at the back of your throat indicates that it is a fresh extra virgin olive oil.
The farm has a wonderful setting with views of the mountains. The tasting room is stylish and the staff is knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It is a really fun experience, not to be missed. Open Mon – Fri 10am – 5pm, Saturday and Sunday, and public holidays 10am – 4pm. Tasting fee: R30.
For more details visit their website www.morgenster.co.za. Note that a new restaurant has just opened at Morgenster in November 2010 and it will be headed up by the really talented chef Craig McCormac–as such, if you are a foodie, this will be well worth a pit stop! The concept is to have a relaxed country bistro with simple and delicious dishes.
Lourensford
The wine here seems to be getting better with each year. The farm is worth a visit to meet the coffee roaster who is on the same premises. He brings in beans from various places and roasts them on site. He will offer you a cup of coffee so that you get to experience the sensational difference between fresh roasted beans and what you usually get at your regular coffee shop. For a small fee you can book him to do a talk on coffee and a tasting of various different coffee beans, which is approximately R50 per person (you need a group of a minimum of 6 for the talk–but feel free to pop in and drink coffee–it is free and you can taste all sorts of blends). www.lourensford.co.za
Image above taken from the Lourensford website.
This Article was written by Pamela McOnie who contributes to the foodie side of this website and also offers private guiding services and gourmet & wine tours of the Cape region.
Have a question for Pam or want to have Pam guide your next tour to Cape Winelands? Contact us today.
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