Vino, vino, vino

If any of you know Heidi and Jim, you know they are wine people and love good wine. If any of you know me, you know the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. We Bromley’s are wine people. And we have been drinking our way through wine bottles all across South Africa. Since we landed, we’ve been ordering and trying different South African wineries. We have been saving the corks from every bottle we’ve drank as memoirs. We are still unsure what we’ll do with them, but that’s what pinterest is for. Haha.

The wine here has been nothing short of exceptional. It has also been relatively inexpensive, especially to Canadian standards. In liquor stores and wineries, the max we paid was 140 rand, and in the restaurant, the max we paid was 300 rand, which is between 15 and 35 dollars for amazing, high quality wines. There’s nothing like a bottle of good SA wine to spice up our safari drives, campfire meals, dinners and good old family fun. Since arriving in Cape Town, we have learned of the Platter’s rating system, completed by John Platter and his panel. They rate the wines out of 5 stars, and they say if your wine hasn’t been rated, or scores under a 3, your wine isn’t worth drinking. There are also very few 5’s (I still haven’t found one), so apparently this John dude has fairly high standards.

Yesterday, we went on a private wine tour of the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek area with our tour guide, Graham. Within South Africa, there are 570 wineries and most of them are within these areas. The regions are about 30-50 minutes away from Cape Town, and they are beautiful in nature and wine. Stellenbosch is more of a coastal climate, where Franschhoek is a more dry, arid, mountainous region. They both produce awesome wines. We went to 5 different wineries yesterday. We started at Kannonkop, headed to Delhiem for lunch, went to Waterford Estate for a wine and chocolate pairing, then to Vrede en Lust for the most extensive tasting of 8 different wines, then to Grande Provence last. It’s really hard to tell the difference between all the wines by the 15 or 20^th one you’ve tried, but I can assure you, we enjoyed every one of them. We also tasted Pinotage several times, and easily loved it from the first drop. Pinotage is a red wine grape that is only grown South Africa. It really passes the Bromley standards for wine. We ended having dinner at “The French Connection” in Franschhoek, continuing to enjoy wine as we ate. It ended up being a lovely day, and we were all feeling wonderfully satisfied by the end.

The Bromley’s Top 5 Red Wines:

Muratie Alto Cabernet Sauvignon

Newton Johnson Pinotage  

Waterford Estate Shiraz

Vrede en Lust Boet Erasmus (Cab Sav, Merlot, petit verdot, and Malbed blend)

Springfield Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

The Bromley’s Top 5 White Wines:

Waterford Estate Chardonnay

Vrede en Lust Sarah (Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc & Viognier blend)

Springfield Estate Sauvignon Blanc

Gabrielskloof Sauvignon Blanc

Right Whale Sauvignon Blanc

We are now currently in coastal paradise, in a town called Hermanus, which is 1.5 hour southeast of Cape Town. We rented a car, and drove out here to stay 3 days. We are staying at the most amazing hotel here. It’s called Birkenhead House. According to our itinerary, it was noted as a B&B. Upon arrival, we soon learned that it’s a boutique all-inclusive hotel. It’s got 11 rooms, and the house sits right on the cliff above the ocean. Waves roll in continuously, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The meals have been nothing shy of amazing, having 3 course lunches and 4 course dinners. Plus all the wine and cocktails you can think of. The wine is great of course, as the region boasts some outstanding wineries! This is the perfect place to relax for 3 days before heading back to the grind of reality. The weather is warm and sunny, and I never want to leave. Having said that, we are excited to come home, as we all feel that we have been away for a very long time. On Monday we start our 50 hour trek home via Hong Kong. I’m not sure how well we will be functioning when we get home, but we are excited. Hopefully the weather is nice. Miss you all and we’ll see you when you get home.