Christmas in Cape Town

Very civilised Christmas on Minnie B with a yachtie lunchtime braai which included impala + other meats ended at 1700hours.
Immediately after Christmas three couples - Phil and Norma (Minnie B), Mike and Nicki (Zen Again) and ourselves headed up to the wine country around Stellenbosch to sample and/or purchase the local products.
On an organised tour (no driving) we took in four vineyards, sampling up to 6 wines in each. Glasses did not have to be emptied!

First was Simonsig - the vineyard that pioneered MCC (méthode cap classique - as used for champagne) production of wines in South Africa. We hadn't realised how much higher the bottle pressure in in an MCC wine - 8.5 bar was quoted but this obviously depends on the temperature. Removal of the cork with a sword was demonstrated (an upward stroke with the edge of the blade). This is only to be tried with MCC type wines; with ordinary "fizzy" you will apparently get shards of glass in your wine!

Next up was Fairview, where the wines were matched with locally produced cheeses. Here we were shown into one of the cellars

After lunch in the scenic town of Franschoek it was on to Dieu Donné. This vineyard is set in an impressive location, surrounded by mountains.

Finally Zorgvliet - possibly the most low key of the visits but some excellent wines and another scenic location.

As we were to fly back to Durban we will have to return to purchase our selected wines.

Happy tasters!

An evening walk in Stellenbosch to a restaurant saw Susan try out the Segway used by the University security unit.