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This year, I spent the New Year and much of January in South Africa. I could definitely get used to beating away the January blues with 40 degree heat and daily sunshine!
For anyone who has visited South Africa you will know just how beautiful the country is. Dramatic mountains dominate the Western Cape and coastlines are picture perfect. Needless to say we spent a good few days of our holiday exploring the many wine regions.
For the first few days we stayed in the Hout Bay area in a fabulous guest house with a breathtaking view of the surrounding hills. For much of the New Year we didn’t do much except eat, drink and relax. We returned to one of our favourite restaurants called Balthazar’s in the Cape Waterfront – they do the best steaks in the Cape with an excellent wine list to match. I’d highly recommend it!
Our first winery visit was not until day 5 or 6. We drove along the Constantia Wine route and visited the oldest winery of the region called Groot Constantia. There is a fabulous Dutch manor house to visit and wonderful restaurant to enjoy the view from. Their wines showed good varietal character and freshness. The range includes, among others, a Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinotage and Shiraz.
