Cape weekend : Franschhoek

Stunning morning .. a promise of a good day !!  How lovely to wake up with a view like this …. at The Vineyard in Newlands …

The plan :  Franschhoek  … plan was to go to Boekenhoutskloof but only discovered when we got there that they were closed on Sundays.   I usually go to the Cape prepared with my latest wine book which not only gives wine details, also gives hours of wine tastings and restaurants,  and my wineries maps (although the latter, I don’t need anymore 😉    Because of everything that went before we got there, it was all forgotten at home.   So, after our initial plan backfired, plan B was set into action .. which in fact didn’t exist so we kind-of followed our noses.  But we had fun and still showed Paola as much as we could

Franschhoek Valley ..

Franschhoek Pass ..

We may have had good weather, but we didn’t have much luck with wineries.  We decided to take Terry and Paola to L’Ormarins Winery but were turned away at the gate and told to back-track to the Terra del Capo Wines entrance.  This vast estate is the (Antonij) Ruperts Estate.  By-passing Terra del Capo winery on the estate,  we made our way to Antonij Rupert Wines for tastings.  Driving up the long tree-lined driveway we came to the magnificent old Homestead dating back to 1694….

Our sommelier ..

We did just that …

My brother, Ian, and Kathy joined us for the tastings, and were also given the run around at the main gate, but eventually found us 🙂

Lunch at the Dutch East in Franschhoek ..

 

We decided to visit two more wineries in the afternoon making our way back to Stellenbosch.  When there are only two days in a weekend, one has to be selective !!!    Rustenberg Wines next stop ..

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