Although our Shark Cage Diving experience was exciting, it was not exactly a romantic start to our South African vacation.  Luckily, my sweet hubby had planned a picture perfect part two: several days in the Franschhoek wine region, a foodie haven with spectacular scenery and world-class wines.  The drive from Cape Town was only a little over an hour, but it was filled with lovely views of vineyards and beautiful mountains.

We arrived at our hotel, Mont Rochelle, which Sir Richard Branson had recently acquired and completely refurbished.  Cool grays, bright pops of color, and modern lines dominate the decor. Everything seems very well thought out, as many of the newer “design hotels” are, but Sir Richard also threw in some whimsical pieces: chairs covered in artificial grass and strange yellow bowls that resembled large empty tennis balls.  The two resident cats also lend a homey touch.

Here are a few shots of the hotel and grounds:

Our first night, we enjoyed the restaurant at the hotel and settled into the relaxing atmosphere.  The next morning, we had a full day wine tour planned of the Franschhoek/Stellenbosh Wine Regions, or at least a very small portion of it.  This wine area is enormous, with close to 300 wineries.  There was no way we could see them all and live to tell about it!

We learned the hard way on previous trips to Napa that trying to tackle more than three or four wineries in a day just makes you silly drunk and unable to taste much of anything.  Not starting out with a long list of must-see wineries made it much easier, as the pressure was off to rush about from place to place.  We left the choices up to our driver, and he picked three very nice spots based on our favorite types of wine.

Our first stop was Ernie Els winery, a gorgeous spot high on the side of a hill, with an amazing view and excellent red wines.  It also has the bonus of a trophy room featuring great photos of Ernie throughout his illustrious golfing career. We could have sat there all day, taking in the view, but we had given our driver permission to push us along when needed.  Here are a few photos of Ernie’s place:

Next, we visited Neethlingshof, to sample their excellent pinotage, a uniquely South African blend of hermitage and pinot noir grapes. We stopped for lunch at the lovely Bread & Wine restaurant at Moreson Winery, and nibbled on their recommended charcuterie platter.

Our last stop for the day was at La Motte, and then we were done.  Even with pouring out much of what we were served, we had had enough wine for the day.  Slow and steady wins the race, and we had several more days of this ahead of us.

The next day we began with a lovely drive just outside of Franschhoek, where we discovered near wilderness.  This seems to be the main difference between this wine region and others we have visited.  Its vastness and relative sparse crowds give the impression that you have the place to yourself.  So relaxing.

After our short drive, we headed towards Stellenbosch to see a couple of places we had missed.

Dinner that night was a Le Bon Vivant, a small french restaurant in town. Franschhoek (which is dutch for “French corner”) was settled by French huguenots in the 1600’s.  Their influence is still strongly felt in many ways, not least of which is the predominance of excellent French restaurants in the area.

The next day we hopped aboard the “Wine Tram”, a slightly hokey, but fun way to see more great wineries without having to drive under the influence.  We enjoyed the experience and were able to try even more wine, even though we were both reaching our limits.

Since this was our final night, we had saved the best restaurant for last.  La Petite Ferme is a very popular spot, but usually only open for lunch.  But on Friday nights it is open for dinner and live music is played on the lawn overlooking the vineyard.  We had called several weeks before the trip and made a reservation for 7:00 pm.  We arrive on time only to have a very surly hostess inform us that we did not have a reservation, but she did find our name on a waiting list. The place was completely booked, especially the outside tables overlooking the jazz band.  What to do? I’ve found the best tactic is to smile sweetly and stand your ground until someone finds a solution.  We were not leaving, so they needed to figure out where to put us.

The surly hostess placed us at a table in the back near the kitchen.  It was’t exactly what we had in mind, but at least we would be able to have a nice meal.  Then, our darling waitress saved the day.  She sat up a table outside in what is normally the bar area.  It had a perfect view of the band and vineyards and we felt very special.  See, there are angels among us.

It was a wonderful week in South Africa and we cannot wait to return.  Having only scratched the surface of what this beautiful country has to offer, we look forward to finding new treasures on our next trip.  As long as my husband doesn’t announce a lifelong desire to go bungee jumping or hang-gliding, our future trips are sure to be romantic from start to finish!

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