In my haste to help plan my honeymoon together with my now husband, yes! it’s been just over a month since we said ‘I do’! My head had been full of all of the outlandish ideas of travelling South Africa, maybe even abroad but weddings do cost quite a bit of money. This is when the thought occurred to me whilst sipping on a glass of Saboteur – Luddite “Aha! we’ll go wine tripping!” lucky for me my enthusiastic other half was happily on board with my plans and even planning a secret stay at the end of our blissfull week away.
Where did we go? We started our wine region road trip in Bot River with a stay at the breathtakingly beautiful and secluded Copia Eco Cabins some 7-8 km’s from the sleepy town, and toured some of the wineries in this spectacular region. We moved on to two other wine regions, Hemel-en-Aarde/Walker Bay and the exciting Swartland.
Because we saw and tasted quite a bit in those respective wine regions, I will be breaking it up into three parts per wine region. The name Bot River derives from the meaning ‘Butter River’, where the local Khoi tribe used to sell butter. With just an hours drive from Cape Town you get to feel like you’re in a different country, with small town charm and picture-perfect views. Perfect for a family getaway or a romantic honeymoon.
Copia Eco Cabins
Affordable, high in demand, incredibly beautiful and so serene, our stay at Copia certainly was the ideal breakaway that this city slicker needed. If you love looking after your car as much as we do, then beware of the gravel road with many bumps along the way to the cabin, either take the chance (like we did) or hire an off-roader if you can. I highly recommend booking a stay here but do it at least a good couple of months in advance it tends to fill up very quickly.
Copia provides you with firewood, firelighters, tasty rusks, sugar, coffee, and a few farm fresh eggs. With only one little mini market in the town selling only the basics, so do take a few goodies with you that you could cook on the braai (barbecue) or on the two plate gas stove in the fully equipped modern kitchen. There’s no TV and there’s absolutely no signal out there, perfect for a digital detox! I’d recommend bringing a few good books accompanied with your favourite wines to enjoy on the wood-clad balcony or in the luxurious hot tub overlooking the valley. Top tip: The hot tub is powered by a wood-fired stove, although there are instructions on how to fire it up, it does take a while to master the art of keeping the fire alive, so start a few hours in advance before you plan on soaking it up like a boss.
Try the Tapas for two that comes with a tasting of their Estate range of about 6 wines. The Tapas and the Rosebud Rosé was by far the highlight of our visit. The tapas board consisted of freshly baked flatbreads, the most fragrant dukkah ever, two types of hummus, the butternut one though! You’ll need a moment of silence for it, pulled pork tacos, and crispy salt and pepper squid, with every morsel and sip of wine, it’s clear that care and thought went into the making of not only the delicious bites of food but their wines too. Did you know? Gabriëlskloof produces their very own olive oil from groves on their farm, they are also renowned for their award-winning old-vine Chenin blanc, Elodie.
Just a short drive away from Gabriëlskloof we reach Wildekrans Wine Estate. The first thing I notice is the informative board about mountain leopards that roam freely in the nearby woods, just then I had heard a crunch of leaves, my heart starts pounding at the thought that it could be a leopard lurking close by but to my relief it was only a cyclist zooming past. Okay, enough excitement for one day! Here’s why you should visit: the tasting room is situated in the original Cellar building built in 1936, which has been restored to its former glory, the Barrel Select Pinotage which a cool climate Pinotage show elegant complexity with delicious juicy red fruits and dark plum with hints of leather and tobacco on the palate. All this wine tasting can work up a decent appetite, next to the tasting room is their popular restaurant Forage. Sadly the kitchen was closed when we arrived.
Hosted by none other than Winemaker Sebastian Beaumont himself. He had sent his staff off to Cape Town for a post-harvest celebration, which meant he was manning the tasting room. We started off with the white wines and worked our way to the reds, my favourite from the first flight is the 2018 Hope Marguerite Chardonnay. My hubby’s fave is the Beaumont Vitruvian red blend. Why the peculiar name? The key component of their 200 yr old water mill is known as a Vitruvian Mill. This is where the inspiration for the name came from. We were lucky enough that it was a quiet time of day in the little town of Bot River that I got to pick Sebastian’s brain about wine, South Africa Wine on the international stage and how we are actually in a league of our own in terms of what we have to offer as a new world wine region. He surprised us with a little memorabilia for our honeymoon, a 2000 vintage bottle of Beaumont Mourvedré! Certainly one of those keepsakes you get to look at but don’t open, given its age. Thank you Sebastian for the hospitality and great memory we will always have!
It was at The Shortmarket club that the sommelier had recommended a glass of Luddite Saboteur red blend to accompany the chargrilled lamb rack, and what a match made in heaven! Ever since I’ve been a Luddite fanatic. A year ago, we drove from Cape Town to Bot River just to have a tasting at Luddite and to my surprise the winemaker, Niels Verburg had hosted it himself around the long table with other wine enthusiasts alike. That day we went back home with boxes of our favourite varietals and vintages and a jar of apricot jam that Niels had suggested we absolutely must take home.
This time, having our Luddite wine stash back at home, we knew to make a stop as we headed out of the town to stock up on that delicious jam. Yes, it is just that good! The jam is made from apricots grown on the farm, and made on site too. I highly recommend you take a drive soon to see what i’m talking about.
Eat Out in Bot River
Manny’s Kitchen serves the best damn chicken prego roll and chips I have ever devoured in my 31 years of life! Over the train tracks and what looks like an old train station is The Shuntin’ Shed. The theme is American dinner meets South African bistro. They serve up a mean gourmet burger and their pizzas are pretty good too. Although we never made it out to this vibey spot, The Bot River Hotel has a lovely restaurant which proves to be quiet busy every day.
*These are my own views based on my experience thus this post is not sponsored. All accommodation, tastings etc was at our own expense. *
Cheers!
Dominique x
Imagine my elation when getting asked to do my very first restaurant review. Bonus? It’s for none other than CHEFS! I’ve been meaning to go since they opened doors in 2016. For most of us living in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town means you don’t really get out that much to Cape Town, yes, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. However I am so glad that I did eventually get to dine at this modern gem of a restaurant.
I love the fact that things are laid back and simple, almost as if you are at home or somewhere with a familiar warmth. The come-as-you-are feel that CHEFS embodies is certainly a winner for this jeans and tee kind of girl. As a food nerd I was particularly enticed by their glass cabinets full of labeled pickled vegetables and spices, and the frequent collective boisterous response “Yes Chef!” as shouted out by the kitchen staff.
Well obviously! Many of us take for granted that we are just a few minutes away from the one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Table Mountain! And who wouldn’t miss our beautiful sparkling blue beaches. One of my absolute favourite things to do on a day off or simply for work, is to go wine tasting in the picturesque Winelands or Constantia Valley. South Africa has so many world class wines to offer and what I love most is we’re just a few minutes away from all of this!
It is said that South Africa’s Chenin Blanc is known to be up there with the world’s finest! Chenin Blanc has a long history. It’s thought to have been established in the Anjou region of France as long ago as the ninth century and was probably known then as Chenere. The variety was renamed Chenin Blanc, after Mont Chenin, in the 15th century soon after being exported to the Touraine region in the Loire Valley. The unique white wine also has a long and interesting history in South Africa and is believed to be amongst the first vine cuttings that arrived here in 1655.
In Celebration of Groot Constantia’s 333 years as South Africa’s oldest existing wine estate, I was gifted a bottle of their award winning Grand Constance Muscat wine to do a series of blog posts where I let my imagine run wild in the kitchen with the fruity wine. Most recipes I kept it as simple as I could, not altering the taste of the wine, but in each dish, making it shine and making it the centre of the dish as it was intended when made at Groot Constantia.
Grand Constance, the French translation for Groot Constantia, was an established brand revered in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis Phillipe of France and Frederick the Great of Prussia, when they were clients of Groot Constantia. Modelled on remnants found in the USA, Scandinavia, Europe and the U.K dating back to the late 1700’s. The Wine has an intense liquid amber colour and is produced from Muscat grapes sun ripened on the vines, pressed, fermented and aged in oak barrels. It has notes and nuances of pears, apricots, peaches, rose petals, and nutty flavours.
I will be sharing all three posts one per week, to commemorate the 333 years. This is a project I am super excited to share with you all, and best of all I had loads of fun experimenting in the kitchen. I don’t get to do much of baking these days being stuck behind a desk (even in the comfort of my own home). 
This Cheesecake recipe is an adaptation of Helen Goh and Yotam Ottolenghi’s Apricot and Amaretto cheesecake. I replaced the apricots with seasonal sweet and crunchy pears and of course substituted the Amaretto with the Grand Constance. The cheescake, I found was not overly sweet or too rich (I could be biased, I do love a good cheesecake!) I loved how the delicate flavours of the Grand Constance shone through in the filling and roasted pears that I topped the cheesecake with. 
The Corkless Mind 