Drakenstein

We both sleep pretty well. Today is moving day - we’re heading up to Paarl in the Vineland’s, then on to Franschhoek tomorrow. It’s been great to spend 6 days in and around Cape Town - one of our very favourite cities, but we’re ready to move on. Neither of us is particularly hungry, so we skip breakfast, and get on the road in decent time. Traffic is a little clunky in places, but we still manage to get out towards Stellenbosch a little after 11:00.

Our first port of call is a winery called Joostenberg, who produce (amongst others) a sensational dessert wine from noble rot Chenin Blanc grapes, a process where fungus is sprayed over the grapes to encourage intentionally a form of rot that sweetens and intensifies the flavour of the juice. I’d not tried the wine since 2003 until we each had a glass with our dinner at The Pot Luck Club last Friday. We want to grab a bottle, and see what else the estate has to offer. We are foiled however - the tasting room is only open Friday to Sunday.

Undeterred, we move on to Glen Carlou, which IS open. We’ve had a couple of glasses of their estate Chardonnay during our trip, and want to see what’s up with the rest of their range. Between us, we try 10 different wines - some good, some great, and a couple that are spectacular. We’re stopping here for lunch, and grab a bottle of the awesome Estate Cabernet Sauvignon to go with our roasted pork belly (Vicks) and ostrich fillet (me). Both dishes are sensational. The views accompanying our lunch aren’t bad either…

From here, it’s a short drive to Vrede en Lust, a winery with which neither of us is familiar. The enigmatic Abbey looks after us brilliantly, and takes us through a tasting of some 12 wines - again, some are better than others, and there are some real gems in there. We buy a bottle of their flagship red, a Bordeaux style blend called Boet Erasmus. We’re braaiing tonight, and it’ll be a fab companion to whatever we end up cooking. The views, again, are stunning. We enjoy them from inside the lovely, air-conditioned tasting room. The temperature is pushing into the mid 30s, and it is HOT. Thursday and Friday this week promise heat of 40C and above, which is the kind of temperature at which we both melt.

We stop in Paarl at a fab butcher’s shop for some steak, kebabs and boerewors, and grab some simple salad ingredients from the supermarket. We arrive at Mooi Bly a little before 16:00. The estate is a little slice of peaceful heaven. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the only noises audible are the dogs, geese, chickens and insects that occupy the lush, green surroundings. I was last here in 2005, and have been wanting to come back ever since. Our cottage is fab - everything we need, nothing we don’t. Liesbeth, the Belgian-born owner stops by to say hi, and we catch up over a glass of wine while Vicks has a well deserved afternoon nap.

By 19:00, it’s cooled enough to stand at the braai pit in the sunshine, tending to my fire. I’ve not lit a braai fire this organically in quite some time… I do a half decent job of it. Vicks has decided she’s not all that hungry, so I’m left with a chunky t-bone steak to myself. Again, I do a half decent job of it. It’s accompanied by a simple greek salad, and a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon left over from our lunch at Glen Carlou. We eat outside, under the vines that cover the patio trellis, and amongst the beautiful surrounds of Mooi Bly, as the sun sets to the West of us. It's a sensational way to spend an evening.

Vicki is in bed shortly after 21:00, and I’m not a million miles behind her.Read more