Welcome to the Western Cape Wineries - a kiwi's opinion blog

I originally set up this blog to help foreigners have an enjoyable experience when visiting the western cape wineries in South Africa.

I realised that it is very difficult for a tourist to choose where to go and which wineries to visit, when you have 600+ wine producers to choose from.

When I first moved to SA December 2010, my palate struggled to adjust to SA wine, b
ut after living here for a while and after visiting over 100+ wine estates, I have found many wines which I really like and can highly recommend.

Admittingly, when you come from another country it is hard not to compare the wine in SA to what you are used to back home. However, once you realise they are not the same (they have their own characteristics due to the different soil, climate etc) and appreciate their wines for being SA wines, it will improve your opinion and experience of the wines immediately.

If you are staying in SA for a while, don't dispair, your palate will change, and you will soon find yourself liking SA wine over your home countries wine!!

I hope my blog will help wine lovers have an enjoyable wine experience while in SA.

Please note: I am not a wine connoisseur. The comments I write about the wine is mostly for my own benefit of having them on record.



Thursday 31 March 2011

Rickety Bridge - Franschhoek

This is a nice winery, it has a beautiful set up for the wine tasting, a restaurant and a nice view of the vineyards and surrounding mountains.


When you come in to the tasting room, there are oils and preserves served with crackers in the middle of the room, the wine tasting to the right and seating to the left of the room. I liked the fact that there were plenty of places to sit to enjoy the wines whether it was at a table or on a sofa, you could help yourself to the crackers and preserves, and the person serving the wines brought each one over at a relaxed pace and was very informative and friendly.


I really enjoyed the wines at Rickety Bridge, but at that stage of my Western Cape wine experience, I thought the price of the wines were expensive. Since having visited many more wineries around the western cape, I now realise the prices were very reasonable. Despite the cost, we did buy three bottles of wine from this winery. We bought the Paulina's Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009, the Shiraz 2004, and the Paulina's Reserve Chenin Blanc 2009.

Be sure to come check out this winery in the Franschhoek wine region as the experience is very nice :-)

1 comment:

  1. We opened the Sauvignon Blanc the other day, and I have to say I am a little disappointed with this wine. It is nice, but its not a 'wow' Sauvignon Blanc. It doesn't have the crisp, light, asparagus, grassy taste to it. It is a more rounded, soft, non-descript Sauvignon Blanc. I shall write again after trying the other two wines we bought.

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