Take a look in Good Taste Magazine for my spread on the Stellenbosch Wine Route in the Cape Winelands about 1 hour drive outside Cape Town.  The brief was to find an entertaining way of showcasing this wine route that has over 200 wine estates. Impossible of course in an article just 1400 words!

The Stellenbosch Wine Route is broken down into 5 sub-routes so I delved into each sub-route to unearth the lesser known or downright quirky things to be found in each area. Sometimes I just had to pay homage to the better known, such as South Africa’s restaurants in the Eat Out Top 10, like Terrior, Rust-en-Vrede and Jordan. They are simply the very best in the region and the country. I’m still dreaming about the prawn risotto at Terrior – their signature starter that really is the most exquisite and unforgettable blend of flavours.

Surprises along Stellenbosch Wine Route

Some surprising things I came across along the wine routes of Stellenbosch include a game drive at Villiera (whose bubbly I particularly like). I thought perhaps I had drunk too much of it because I thought I saw zebra and giraffe in front of me. Whaddayaknow, they were real!

More peculiar was the trebuchet (a medieval catapult) at Journey’s End Vineyards. It’s a case of big boys playing with big toys and the fellas have a lot of fun launching random objects from it which have outlived their usefulness; think cars and pianos. Don’t ask!

I  rather enjoyed my Segway Tour at Spier, taking us to the far reaches of this large farm and seeing their grass fed cattle and properly free-range hens. I took to this strange mode of transport and found myself whizzing between lines of vines.

Do you have a favourite Stellenbosch wine estate to share with me? Add a comment below.