Edgar needed the Xerox car back this week, meaning we needed to get a bit creative with our recreation this weekend. Being carless meant that we couldn't do our favorite ever,
ever activity, climbing, but it gave us the opportunity to mix two other favorites: biking and wine-tasting!
We keep talking about how we desperately need to go wine-tasting as we haven't gone since winter and our wine stash is down to two bottles, so today made for the perfect chance. We consulted the "2013 Stellenbosch and its Wine Routes" guide, picked a road with plenty of vineyards--not hard to do here, had great fun in the process, and discovered something that we officially plan on spending more time doing this summer.
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| Dan and the boys as we headed up Blaauwklippen Road, with Stellenbosch Mountain in the background |
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| We packed plenty of toys and snacks for these two monkeys |
Our first stop was going to be Vriesenhof Vineyards, but we failed to notice that they're not open to the public on Saturdays. On to the next: Stellenzicht!
Stellenzicht was great. Besides those beautiful gates, the cellar wasn't much to look at, but the wine was delicious and the tasting itself was perfectly intimate. It is a smaller farm and thus has a tasting room with four chairs. We chatted with the lady behind the counter the whole time, who gave the kids special cookies she had gotten that morning. The small vineyard feel was great. Another small (town) feel? The other three folks who walked in halfway through our tasting included one of Dan's students from last semester. It took them a little while to recognize each other out of context. Hehe.. Anyway, we walked away with two bottles of Pinotage and two bottles of a quirky red blend called Red ESCape. (I may or may not admit to buying that one just for the awesome label on the bottle. Regardless, the wine was still delish.)
Next up was Dornier. It is just around the corner from Stellenzicht and was a much bigger operation. The cellar was super sleek which contrasted the traditional Dutch tasting building. The farm was well manicured, and best of all there was a pirate ship junglegym that the kids adored! Our booty from Dornier? Two bottles each of two types of Chenin Blanc.
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| The grounds were beautiful with all the blooming foliage |
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| Checking out the water by the cellar (no swimming!) |
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| Off to inquire about tastings! |
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| I'm going to blame my finger over the lens as this being our second tasting of the morning. Same excuse for the look on Dan's face. ;) |
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| Satisfied. |
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| Auggie at the helm |
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| Time to go home (which was a bit interesting with 8 bottles of wine in the kid trailer!) |
1 comment:
We had so much fun wine tasting with Dan when we were out there, but riding bikes between wineries looks even better! Glad the kids enjoyed it too ;).
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