Stellenbosch Winelands Sept 17 Wednesday

On Wednesday we had a full day tour of the Cape Winelands, just outside Cape Town. South Africa is famous for their wines as they have the prefect climate to grow several varieties of grapes. The town of Stellenbosch is the epicenter of the wine making industry. We visited the town and two wineries on a lovely warm day. The town of Stellenbosch is known not only for wine, but also for Stellenbosch University, tourism, and a lovely downtown area with boutiques, galleries, and restaurants. There is a mix of architectural styles, but Cape Dutch is the most widely recognized. The town has preserved the original Dutch water canals all over the city and they can be seen in many areas.

While Stellenbosch is a lively town today, it is unfortunately also known as the Cradle of Apartheid, where Colored (a widely used and accepted term in South Africa) and Black families were forcibly removed and segregated, and their homes bulldozed, similar to what happened in District 6. While Apartheid and its zoning laws were abolished in 1991, the residential patterns and the wealth inequality are still widely visible and longstanding. South Africa as a whole is trying to make amends and overcome their embarrassing past, and while they are making progress, it’s only been a little over 30 years, they admittedly have a very long way to go.

As tourists, we found the town a lovely place to stroll and shop. I’m not a big shopper on vacation, but I could not resist purchasing a lovely hand made leather bag from a local woman owned and operated shop. We also found a delicious coffee during our stroll (did I mention we never pass up a good coffee shop?), visited one of the museums, and accessed an ATM for our tip money for our TEL.

Moederkerk Church in Stellenbosch

From there, we headed to the L’Avenir Winery in Stellenbosch, which was first established in the 1600’s. We had a very informative guided tour with their Hospitality Manager Ryan, and a beautiful lunch and wine pairing on the patio. They do a lot of weddings and corporate events at this beautiful winery estate. They are known for their Pinotage, which is made from a grape variety created in South Africa in 1924 by crossing Pinot Noir and Hermitage (now known as Cinsaut) grapes. It started becoming wildly popular around 2010, and today is South Africa’s signature variety. It is a required component of wines known as Cape Blends, and it was delicious.

Lunch with Hospitality Manager Ryan at L’Avenir

We then headed to the Muratie Winery in Stellenbosch, also established in the 1600’s. A Polish-German soldier was granted the land to cultivate. He and his formerly enslaved wife’s homestead is still standing on the property today, and the whole estate was old and beautiful. They are dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of the estate, and it shows in everything they do. The tasting room is a beautiful old building covered in cobwebs in all the corners and you feel like you’ve gone back in time when you step in. We sampled several wines, brought home a port and a dessert wine, and I purchased a hand made skirt from a local lady who had a small shop set up outside the tasting room.

Tasting room at Muratie

Later that evening we had our farewell dinner with our group and our fabulous Trip Experience Leader Juan. We ate at Bouchon Bistro and Wine Bar, and got to say all our thank you’s and farewells to our new friends. This marks the last day of the trip and most people are leaving in the morning. We are staying one more night as we have a couple more things to see before flying home on Friday.