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.



Saturday 5 May 2012

Riebeek Kasteel Olive Festival


This was a very nice wine festival which I plan on going to again next year!!

We started at the main tent, where there were plenty of olives to try and several wineries had their wine there also.

This tent was quite busy and for some reason there was one line going round all the stalls, which was annoying if you didn’t want to try the olives and wanted to go straight to the wine tasting. Unlike at the wacky wine festival where people get some wine and move to the back of the line, everyone stayed at the table until they had tried all the wine. This meant that 4-5 people at a time could taste wine at a time.
We then left the marquee and walked along the street towards some of the wineries nearby. We stopped at a barn which had several stalls selling olives, wine, salami, spreads etc. I really liked the vibe at this place.

Next we went to the castle winery. This is an impressive building, with lovely views. There was a room to try the olives, but this was so busy. They really need a bigger room for this next time as it was very popular. The wine tasting room wasn’t as busy. I enjoyed doing a tasting here. They had only one white and the rest were red. The guy serving was very friendly and very informative.

Around the corner we went to Kloovenburg. This place had very nice wine, lots of food stalls, and a lovely area to enjoy a picnic. We bought some cheese at one of the stands for R60 and then enjoyed the spreads and other meat which we had bought at other stalls. This was a very popular winery to spend time at.

The last stop was Riebeek Cellars. They had live music, good wine and a really good vibe. I will be sure to come here earlier next time!!
We did a wine tasting here and I was impressed with the price of the wine. The wine ranges in price from R22 to R110 a bottle. Most are around R30 a bottle. I remember that I enjoyed the Montino Petillant Light.


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