Stellenbosch Region

Day 3 is Sunday and we start our wine tour in the true center of the Winelands, and its oldest and largest region, Stellenbosch. Home to the country's premier University and finest oenological program, Stellenbosch also has by far the highest concentration of wine estates. This intensely farmed district is considered by many to be the foremost red wine producing area of South Africa.

We drive across the Cape country through low foothills overlooking the two large bays on either side of a different ocean. We are driving through rich fields with beautiful, quaint farms on mostly two lane-paved roads with people madly careening down the wrong side of the road. Drivers notwithstanding, it reminds me of the hill country in Texas or our Yakima Valley in Washington, with small rolling hills and sharp cliffs jutting up 1,000 feet on either side. Houses are quaint and interspersed with modern abodes, as well. This is a prosperous, modern country with many small and shining new cars.

We will visit the finest South African Wineries the country has to offer on this trip, including Avontuur, Lanzerac, Vergenoegd, Landskroon, Eikendal, Jabu, Cape View, Boland Montestell, Mooiuitsig, and Van Loveren. We will dine in Relais & Chateaux properties such as Haute Cabrière, and Le Quartier Francais, paired with South African wines. We will not rest until we have tasted it all, and we will do our best to remember it completely. This article offers only a tiny glimpse, but more stories will be coming, as we cover the Palace of the Lost City in Sun City, South Africa in the next issue of Food and Beverage International

Lanzerac

We have checked out of the Admiral Nelson and have now checked into the famous Lanzerac Manor and Winery, an elegant five star hotel and restaurant on one of the most famous estates in South Africa. The 155 hectare estate was established in 1692 under the name of Schoongezicht, which is Dutch, for beautiful outlook. It is truly beautiful to look at. It is nestled deep in the cleft of the verdant Jonkershoek Valley, and within view of the majestic Helderberg Mountains.

It's location is situated right in the middle of the famous South African wine producing areas of Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschoek and Somerset West, and within close distance of world renowned golf courses and pristine beaches of the Strand, Gordon's Bay and Cape Town. Close to town, yet nestled into the craggy mountains and rolling valleys of seclusion, the backdrop for the next South African hospitality experience awaits us.

Once again, the service was impeccable. The rooms are the size of a New York apartment and sitting in the lobby, in an old stuffed leather chair, you can imagine Sir Winston Churchill sitting down next to you. This wonderfully restored and impeccably kept up property is a throw back to another century. The very act of being offered a fine glass of wine as you are checking in settles you into another place and puts you completely at ease.

Today, the winery is cultivated by owner Christo Wiese, along with winemaker Wynand Hamman.

Wynand conducts our tasting and steers us into a direction which helps us to appreciate that great winemaking does not begin in the cellar, it begins in the vineyard. As Wynand weaves us through the story of ancient vines in the vineyard and advanced science and technology in the cellar, we begin to understand the complexity of the Lanzerac wine.