Cloetesville

We woke up, had breakfast and got ready for our private tour of Haute Cabriére. Tamo got ahold of his mom and arranged it for us. We spent an amazing 3 hours with Hildegard listening to the story of how her and her husband met and how they illegally smuggled in the vines to became the first all Chardonnay and Pinot Noir producing champagne in the region. Their efforts eventually lead the government to change the laws on what could be imported in for planting. Our tour ended with lots of tastings and her oldest son Takuan “whom runs the winemaking now” joining us and even letting us try his private reserve. We will never forgot this experience. We said our goodbyes and headed to lunch at Maison Chefs Warehouse restaurant and vineyard. The food was delicious, especially the risotto that was to die for. The back drop was picturesque with grape vines and chickens roaming around. After arriving back at the hotel we grabbed an aperol and talked to a lovely couple from Netherlands. We had reservations at Oku for dinner, even though we were not very hungry and a little tipsy 😂 we didn’t want to miss the chance to try this Japanese restaurant. Well it was an experience, I think all the Aperols hit Klaus just as the food was arriving. Lol!!! We had a couple of bites and headed back to the hotel which was a 15 min walk. Another bedtime dessert was waiting, this time chocolate mouse. We woke the next morning, had breakfast and checked out. We drove to Babylonstoren located in the Stellenbosch wine region. What an amazing place!! They have tours, gardens, olive oil and vinegar making, body and home products they make and sell, wine tasting, accommodations, and two restaurants. We did the wine tasting which was some of the best wine we have tasted so far and explored some of the grounds, we ran out of time to do everything. We headed next to Delaire Graff for lunch at Indochine. It is ranked one of the most prestigious vineyards in the world. It is located in Stellenbosch and owned by Laurence Graff of Graff diamonds. It includes breathtaking views, accommodations and a spa. We could have spent days or weeks in the two wine regions, so much to see and do, and the views were incredible. We left the wine region and headed to Cape Town, this time we opted for more of a residential area called the Gardens and checked into a cute B&B called the Derwent House.Read more