How does sipping fine wine paired with Belgian chocolate before noon sound?
Yep, that's what it's like.
At home, Julie and I regularly enjoy a bit of a mid-morning splurge daily: fresh fruit around 10:30 AM. But these indulgences amped that experience up a few notches.
Add the fact that we were at a lovely, upscale wine estate in the Agter-Paarl region of the Western Cape of South Africa, and as you may guess, we were understandably elated.
This is exactly the kind of quantum-jumping life experience that can make travel so transformational for even well-traveled seniors with a lifetime replete with wonders unfolded.
Earlier that morning, we started our day in luxury, with the included high-end breakfast buffet at our Protea Fire + Ice Hotel. The attractive surroundings reinforced the realization that we were indeed on another "trip of a lifetime" immediately upon awakening.
Once again, we walked down Long Street to the City Sightseeing office that was twenty minutes from our hotel. We arrived early enough to order another cappuccino in the adjoining coffee shop.
We rose from our seats a few minutes before the appointed departure time for our Winery Tour, and I noticed a souvenir baseball cap on the shelf. I stopped to check the price, and when I turned, what seemed like throngs of tourists had arrived to board our bus. They snagged the best seats on the top, so we took seats near the exit door on the bottom.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because none of us would stay on what was only a shuttle bus. Being the first ones first off of that double-decker bus landed us seats on the only minivan for the day. Everyone else would board another big bus, while we found ourselves on a small-group tour, which would normally demand a premium price.
Like our Peninsula and Penguins tour guide Brahm the prior day, Charles is a dedicated professional tour guide, knowledgeable about the history and culture of Cape Town.
I'm not sure if Charles had a hand in personally selecting our scheduled stops in three wine regions, but each one proved to be fantastic. Any would have been a highlight winery in terms of wines, service and the estate grounds and structures, but each was also unique.
Rheboksloof in Paarl
The most unique aspect of our Rheboksloof wine tasting was the aforementioned pairing with Belgian chocolate specifically selected to go with each variety of wine.
The Huguenot Fine Chocolates are crafted in South Africa "from the finest Belgian imported cacao." It is another example of how in South Africa, under the direction of historic Dutch and then English stewardship, brought the best concepts and expert practitioners from Europe to the southern tip of Africa. The chocolates and wines were all delicious.
I've sipped Port along with chocolate desserts, but pairing wine with chocolate doesn't seem intuitive to me. This definitely works well.
At Rheboksloof, we were introduced to Pinotage, a South African blend combining Pinot with Meritage grapes.
Meritage is a California term for a superior blend of noble Bordeaux grapes that the Meritage Alliance established to take away an inferior inference toward blended wines by wine sticklers who insist on at least 75% of a varietal like Merlot or Cabernet for that grape to be mentioned.
Pinotage is indeed an excellent blended wine, IMHO. We loved all of the wines and chocolates.
The most memorable feature of the estate itself was its lake, where we were allowed to bring our extra pour of preferred wine to enjoy outdoors on a bright, sunny day.
Upon leaving Rheboksloof, we continued through the panoramic countryside, taking in the views while Charles told us more about Cape Town.
The ghost of Nelson Mandela still looms large in South Africa, where he seems to be universally admired. We stopped at Victor Verster Prison, where the great man walked to freedom 35 years ago, on February 11, 1990. A statue forever captures his iconic pose from the day of his release.
Two-thirds of his wrongful 27-year imprisonment had actually been served at Robben Island, a few miles off the coast of Cape Town, but it was from this prison in Paarl where he regained his freedom.
Charles said that Invictus, Clint Eastwood's movie starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, captured the spirt of the time after Mandella was elected President. He recommended we all watch it upon returning home.
Mandela shared a dream similar to that of Martin Luther King. "My dream would be a multicultural society, one that is diverse and where every man, woman and child are treated equally. I dream of a world where all people of all races work together in harmony."
Another renowned historical figure from that period was Desmond Tutu.
Charles said that on a memorable occasion years earlier that upon stepping off the bus, Desmond Tutu was standing there. Taken aback by the entirely unexpected encounter, Charles introduced himself as the tour guide. The famous Anglican Bishop shook Charles's hand as he introduced himself as Desmond Tutu, which as a prominent national celebrity was quite unnecessary but impressively polite.
Charles said he enjoyed a nice conversation with this vaunted figure, who seemed quite humble and spiritual face-to-face.
Franschhoek Wine Region
With the sighting of the Huguenot Monument, we knew we had arrived in our second wine region, Franschhoek.
The Memorial was to have been completed in 1938 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the arrival of Huguenots in Cape Town, but delays including World War II pushed the opening to 1943.
In addition to perhaps ringing a bell as the name on the chocolatier mentioned above, you may know Huguenots to be French Calvinist Protestants who were persecuted by France's King Louis XIV.
The famous French King's Edict of Fontainebleau had revoked all Huguenot rights in 1685, resulting in many fleeing to the rival Dutch Republic of Orange. Subsequently, some immigrated to South Africa, just as Puritans, Quakers and other Protestants fled to America.
As an aside, it was in 1688, the same year Huguenots immigrated to Cape Town, that a Catholic son was born to Mary of Modena, Catholic wife of King James II of England, Scotland and Ireland.
This led to a coup that killed the king and put King James II's Anglican (Protestant) sister Mary and her husband, William of Orange, onto the thrones of England and Scotland. Obviously, which specific branch of Christianity would rule was a life-or-death matter in that era.
When you consider that in 1652, thirty-six years before this Huguenot migration, a "refreshment station" had been established for the Dutch East India Trading Company in Cape Town, it is not hard to understand why Afrikaners of today feel very much ancestrally anchored in South Africa.
Vrede en Lust (Peace and Delight/Eagerness)
The wine tasting and subsequent lunch were served at the rustic Lust Bistro & Bakery.
We were brought freshly baked loaves of bread along with vinegar and oil to accompany our wine, which again proved to be excellent.
The sommelier revealed that the wines served were named after the owner's daughters.
She said they shared similar traits, like "playfully pink" Jess Rosé named for Jessica-Lee on her 16th birthday.
Their newest wine, Rhône-style red blend --- since 2020 called Ella in honor of his youngest daughter --- was formerly named after that Flemish merchant founder, Jacques de Savoye.
Our tour did not include lunch, but we had time set aside for a midday meal.
On the ride, Charles had explained that the extensive menu at Vrede en Lust had resulted in too much confusion about what to order, so his excursion company had pared it down to the most popular choices.
While there were several savory options, Julie and I had eaten full breakfasts followed by mid-morning chocolates that your mom would have said will "spoil-your-appetite" and dense bread and oil, so we weren't exactly starving. We split a hamburger with fries for about $8.25--- a cheeseburger in paradise, you might say. Very good.
Vrede en Lust has a modern side beyond that quaint bakery cafe.
There's a beautiful chic restaurant and lounge area a short walk away, plus several outdoor areas to savor the great weather.
Another modern feature of this wine estate is over a thousand solar panels, sufficient to provide all of its energy needs as long as the sun is shining. "Vinified by the Sun" is their apt moniker.
As you may have noticed, the wineries we visited were not exactly swamped with wine tasters. That enhanced the leisurely feel of our experience. It seemed we always had not only plenty of space but plenty of time to savor each stop.
I'm not sure if we were ahead of schedule for arrival at our next winery or Charles was stalling so that we would not be joining a throng already there, but he said he wanted to try something different.
We stopped at the attractive town center in Stellenbosch to do whatever we may choose to do. Perhaps some shopping or perhaps grab a cup of coffee and treat? Charles said he had gone to the university here, and there would be no problem finding a nice cafe.
Just as we usually have fruit mid-morning, Julie and I always savor a cup of coffee as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. At about the same time, we have popcorn, so we were ready for this break.
Upon exiting the van, we saw a coffee house right across the street, Bootlegger Coffee.
It's a modern take on a Jersey City place our youngest daughter Amy frequently goes to work remotely back home, so I'm sure she would approve.
I splurged for a bran muffin, a treat I enjoy regularly with my morning cappuccino on a Princess Cruise. I have to say that while Bootlegger's muffin was bigger, Princess muffins are always tastier.
In any case, it was a nice treat.
And as is often the case at a coffee house, there was strong Wi-fi freely available with a provided password, allowing us to catch up on what had been happening at home.
We were in no rush, but with coffee emptied, we left to walk around the town a bit.
There were several art stores and souvenir shops with beautiful merchandise. We didn't reach a university, but did walk to a church at the end of the street.
Despite everyone knowing the designated departure time, one lady had not finished buying whatever it was she found at the end of our designated time, so the rest of us waited about five minutes extra for her return.
At Blaauwklippen Wine Estate, we were greeted with a dramatic Sabrage opening of South Africa's version of Champagne with a saber and toasts with this tasty sparkling wine.
Our grand finale for the day was off to a good start.
Without a great deal of fanfare, we were led to the grape processing area, where modern machinery strips the fruit from the vines in an efficient operation.
It's always interesting to catch a glimpse of how wine is made.
These new techniques that could have never been imagined when estate founder Gerrit Jansz Visscher arrived from the Netherlands or the first vineyards at Blaauwklippen were planted in 1688.
We walked through their own rustic cafe to a covered patio, where we were served beautiful platters along with delicious wines.
Among their selection of wines is a nice Zinfandel, a wine I normally associate only with California.
They offered tastings of their brandies for an additional fee, which we passed on.
We hit rush hour traffic on the drive back to our drop-off point, Cape Town's V & A Waterfront.
Charles apologized for returning too late for us to take the Hop-On Bus back to our starting point.
He said he would drop anyone who had boarded on Long Street near our respective hotels, which he did. This reinforced our very positive view of Cape Town's City Sightseeing.
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