When I visited Capetown, I signed up for a wine tour called Wine Flies. I can’t rave enough about this day and tour.
The price of the tour was ridiculously affordable at the time (a little over one year ago) – approximately $50 for a full day including visits to 5 wine estates, all wine tastings, cheese tastings, chocolate pairing, cellar tour, guide and transport, lunch, local treats. The Wine Flies website promised basically the best day you can have in SA. They were so right!
The wine van was scheduled to arrive at my hotel, the Radisson Blue Waterfront, Capetown (REVIEWED HERE) between 8:30 and 9:00 am. I woke up early and made 2 Nespresso espressos (I love that Radisson Blu hotels have Nespresso machines!). The van arrived promptly and we were greeted by our guide and driver, Grandwell.
There were about 12 of us on the tour, including a couple I know from Twitter, who had scored the same crazy Etihad (mistake?) fare to South Africa that I had. In fact, I owe the credit to them for the research and decision to book the Wine Flies Tour.
Back to Grandwell. . . as he was driving, he gave an overview of the day and events to come. Did I mention that he is also a Wine Lord?
As we drove, I looked out at the scenery. It was incredibly beautiful – I even saw a real zebra!
Our first stop, in the Paarl area, was Fairview Winery – a large and well known winery. Outside of the van, Grandwell gave us a little history before we proceeded inside to the tasting area.
The tasting was fabulous. We also had a chance to walk around the store and make purchases.
Plenty of cheese to taste!
Each winery was totally different, but all of them were wonderful. Our second stop was Muratie Winery in Stellenbosch where we saw beautiful gardens and tasted more amazing wine.
Next, it was time for another wine estate and lunch!
And then the tour continued to another winery! And of course, along the way, a group tour photo!
This is the Lovane Wine Estate and Guest House – another lovely venue with seriously wonderful wine.
The final visit was the world-renowned Vergenoegd Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, famous not only for its wine, but also for the daily duck parades (the ducks took the day off from parading on the day I visited)!
I should note that the wine prices were amazingly reasonable. Many people bought wine to drink during the remainder of their vacation or to ship home.
What an amazing event! This truly was an outstanding day in my life. The tour was a great mix of quirky and totally professional! (Kind of like me!)
(I note that did not receive any compensation in any form for this tour – I paid the same as everyone else).
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
!)
Leave a Reply