Stellenbosch Wine Festival

The hubs enjoying the wine and weather.

A few weekends ago we went to the Stellenbosch Wine Festival and had a wonderful time.

The drive over from Cape Town was nice and the only “moldy spot” on the day was getting lost. The directions online were vague and we didn’t Google the location before we left (doh!) and then didn’t see any signs for it once we got to Stellenbosch. Luckily, our friends got us sorted out and we met up quickly. 

The cutie pie we spent the day with.

There were approximately 73 wineries represented. They each had 3-6 wines, a mix of reds and whites; overall, there were 24 different types of wine to taste! 

There was a coupon system for tastings, but only some stands were actually collecting them. It was basically a free for all! 

There were some interesting flavours, some sparkling wine, and some Grappa. Grappa smells like pure alcohol, and I couldn’t even take a sip of the teeny sample I was given. Too strong. However I know someone who bought two bottles!

Lead singer and violinist for Zamar.

 There was a clever way to track which wines you’d tasted, which ones you liked, and which ones you wanted to buy. There was a list with check boxes that you could use to track (we didn’t) and you could also get stickers with the name and a barcode on them. With that, you could go to the shop and buy what you liked best. What was nice is that every person was given a R20 discount card to use on any bottle of wine you purchased. We, of course, found the cheapest Pinotage we could find and bought two bottles, using our collective R40 off!

The music was great! There was a band, Zamar, that had a violinist dressed in a ball gown (reminded me of Celtic Woman). They performed great covers of songs and some nice original ones as well. I hope to listen to them again. When the band was taking a break, they were playing a CD of

Tracy Chapman, one of my all-time favorite musicians. I’d go to her concert any day.

Huge centerpieces. We got to take some of the Proteas home.

The foods stands were tremendous and varied, almost 30 vendors! I made one Latin Food caterer upset because I had offhandedly stated that the food couldn’t be as good as the “real thing” that I am accustomed to. Oops! But she lost my business for raising her voice at me. Her oops!

The crowd was a perfect size- and well behaved.  

Me and my Gelato.

We sat in the sun eating cheese platters, cured meats, oranges, trail mix, and sipping red wine. It was heavenly. 

The cappuccino gelato ice cream cones we had were supreme.

 I will definitely go back next year!

P.S.- I'm linking up to this site where you can check out other U.S. expats's lives in exotic countries.

Song of the Post: Red, Red, Wine by UB40. Takes you back, doesn’t it?