Breakfast at Mont Rochelle was sublime and we certainly indulged since we were facing a grueling day of wine tasting. In addition to the cold buffet, Devon enjoyed a cheese soufflé and Rob had a breakfast burrito. We were then on our way to Stellenbosch with Roger, our driver and soon-to-be friend. Roger described how Stellenbosch was named by the town's founder, Simon Van Der Stel, after himself. The humble guy named the nearby Simon's Town and mountain of Simon's Peak after himself as well.
Our first stop would be the De Toren Private Cellar. Recommended by some dear friends who happen to be friends of the owners, they don't have an open tasting room and require a tour arranged in advance. We weren't above name-dropping and were able to squeeze into a private tour. We met Emil, the owner, outside of his facility and learned about the attention to detail and precision with which he cares for his grapes.
He referenced his Extreme Wines several times. The Black Lion and Book XVII are small productions wine made with no expense spared. Amongst the more expensive wines produced in South Africa, they retail in country for about $2,500 Rand ($175).
When we finally made it to the tasting room, Emil opened the three (non-extreme) wines that De Toren produces. La Jeunesse Delicate was their entry-level red wine and it was very pleasant. But the real magic happened when he poured the two red Bourdeaux-style blends, "Z" and Fusion V. The wines were ethereal and the best we had tasted to that point. We savored every sip and were very sad to finish the glass. In talking with Emil after the tasting, we were thankful to learn that De Toren is available for sale in the US.
After such a challenging morning it was time for lunch. Thankfully, the spectacular Delaire Graffe Wine Estate was just down the road. We had an excellent Thai lunch at their Indochine Restaurant (we both ordered the prawn curry) and then headed down the path to their wine tasting facility.
Just outside of the Delaire Graff Tasting Facility
While the wines were good, they were not on the same level as the De Toren.
Our next stop was Roger's choice, the Warwick Wine Estate. While the wines were nice (some were fine and some were very good) and the tasting area was very pleasant overlooking a lake, the reason why Roger brought us there was the story of the wedding cup on the Warwick logo. It can be read here.
On the drive back to Franschoek, we had the opportunity to have a great chat with Roger. He was a Xhosa and grew up in the East Cape state of South Africa. Like many others, he was very open about his life adventures and the differences between apartheid and post-apartheid life. He was just as curious about our life in Hawaii as we were about his and we really enjoyed the time with him.
We said goodbye to Roger back at Mont Rochelle. We changed for dinner and headed off to the Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate, Our last dinner in South Africa was nothing if not an adventure. The seven-course meal was sometimes challenging and sometimes sublime but, all in all, a great experience when paired with the exceptional blends from the winery.
After our short drive back to the hotel, it was hard to come to terms with the fact that our trip had come to an end. We'd set out to have the trip of a lifetime and Southern Africa delivered much more than just the memories of a great vacation. We started our married lives in a special way that we'll treasure forever. Along with that we met true friends, had incredible experiences, ate and drank like royalty and learned a lot about a fascinating part of the world. We feel fortunate that we had the opportunity to travel to such a remarkable place and when it's all said and done, we wouldn't change a thing.
When the time finally came to board the plane and leave Africa, we knew that we'd be back someday.
I am the new guy
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