Tag Archives: Western Cape

After mooching around the house in a brain melting heatwave, discovering Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden was a real winner.  Botanical Gardens have timeless appeal to us (we married at Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden in Jo’burg) and our favourite places to eat or drink are those with outdoor seating. Despite visiting the Western Cape annually for about 10 years, this was a special …

As often the case, our decision to visit Bilton Wine Estate was driven by the children’s play area.  We have previously tasted and purchased Bilton wines at the Joburg Wine Show, but that was several years ago and we have never visited the estate.  Cliff did a full tasting and I took sample sips from his glasses.  The ‘Sir Percy’ …

On previous visits to the Cape we have ummed and ahhed regarding a visit to Die Bergkelder (literal translation, the mountain cellar), which falls under the large corporate Distell banner.  We decided to do the tour this time.  One can be put off by the fact that they also do an ‘Artisanal salt tasting’ which sounds a load like bs …

Very few things are impossible, including climbing a mountain with a 3.5 year old, whilst we have proven that this is possible it is also foolhardy.  There are two routes to Elephant’s Eye Cave on Constantia mountain.  Apparently one takes 2 hours, parking at a higher point.  The other is described in the book ‘Hiking Trails of South Africa’  as …

As a rule I prefer the family owned and run wine estates, still some of the corporately owned estates are well worth a visit.  The buildings and gardens at Neethlingshof are beautiful.  The wines are excellent, a rare instance where not one seemed lacking, each wine tasted was well above average.  I chose a single glass of Chardonnay and Cliff …

Returning to visit the Cape we delight in the prospect of visiting new wine estates.  This year our first stop was Overgaauw which ticks all the boxes which matter most to us.  I love family run estates, they have a warm sense of home and history.  The current wine maker is 4th generation and a new addition to the family …