Western Cape, Jan/Feb 2016 - Western Cape Winelands

We visited the Stellenbosch, Worcester and Tulbagh areas of the Winelands. we sampled wines at several vineyards and bought several boxes which we brought back to Richmond. We also visited the small but beautiful Botanic Gardens in Stellenbosch.

Tulbagh

We've stayed here before but decided we wanted to see if the Drostdy Hof wine tasting was as good as the last time! We took Colin and Elsa with us and stayed overnight in self catering accommodation only a few kilometres from the wine estate.

The main street in Tulbagh.

We had a look around the Drostdy-Hof museum and then did the wine tasting in the cellar - excellent!! Once again only R20 and we were left alone with 6 or 7 bottles of wine!

One of the museum rooms.

Wine tasting.

The next day we had a wander around the town before heading back to Cape Town. Tulbagh Tourism has more information about the town.

We drove along Bain's Kloof Pass and stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking the Wellington valley.

Stellenbosch

The highlight of our time in Stellenbosch wasn't the wine tasting (though that was good!) but, for me, our visit to the University Botanic Gardens which are in the centre of the town. They only cover about 4 hectares but are packed with differently themed areas and plenty of information boards - and it's free to go in.

Water lilies.

Shady walkways.

The arid garden.

There were hundreds of beautiful bonsai trees.

On Sunday mornings the Blaauwklippen WIne Estate has a Family Market. We spent a couple of hours there and then did a wine tasting.

There were lots of craft / market stalls.

Food tastings.

There was plenty going on and there was a good range of food to buy which could be consumed sitting on the grass or at tables set out under huge shady trees.

Live music .

R40 to try 5 wines but as we bought a dozen bottles we weren't charged for the wine tasting.

Franschhoek and Worcester.

On our way to Worcester we stopped for lunch in Franschhoek.

Looking west over the Franschhoek valley

We only spent one night in Worcester here as we wanted to visit Sutherland the following evening but we did visit 3 wine estates - at all three the wine tasting was free. The wines here were quite a bit cheaper than around Stellenbosch.

Vineyards near Worcester.

1. Richmond to Cape Peninsula via Golden Gate National Park, Karoo National Park, and the Sutherland Observatory.

2. Cape Peninsula. Kommetjie, Cape Point Nature Reserve, Table Mountain and Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens.

3. Cape Winelands. Tulbagh, Stellenbosch and Worcester.

4. Cape Peninsula to Richmond via Matjiesfontein, Sutherland, the Karoo, Melton Wold and Gariep Dam.

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We noticed that quite a lot of the vineyards around Worcester were using mechanical pickers.