Villiera

A colleague and I visited Villiera Friday after work.

There were quite a lot of people in the tasting room when we got there, with only one staff member. Surprisingly he did amazingly well to handle so many people all by himself.

Villiera is a nice winery. The tasting room is modern and welcoming, the staff are friendly and informative and there is a variety of wine to try, including French wine.

We started off with the Cap Classique tastings and unfortunately one hour did not allow us to try much else as we ran out of time. Of the Cap Classiques we tried, I really liked the Tradition Brut Rose at R68 a bottle. It had a really nice fruity flavour, was crisp and refreshing. The Munro Brut 2006 was more aged, more rounded and smooth, it was very nice. This sells for R120 a bottle.

Of the white wines we tried, I liked the Sauvignon Blanc 2011 at R45 a bottle. It had tropical fruity flavour, was rounded, and easy drinking.

This winery offers Game Reserve wine tastings also. They hold them monthly, and include a wine tasting, light meal and a game drive. They usually advertise this on http://www.wine.co.za/. If you are interested in attending be sure to look out for it on that website.

I would recommend visiting this winery, as the wine tasting experience was very good.

Stellenbosch Hills

After visiting Vredenheim, we quickly went down the road to Stellenbosch Hills to buy some wine. I had tried their wine at the Good Food and Wine Show last year. I loved their wine and especially loved their prices!!!

We decided to do a tasting while at this winery, as we hadn't been here before.

The building is nice on the inside, there is a big tasting room for big groups and there is a smaller tasting room for smaller groups. The place is clean, modern and nicely designed. The service was very good here, we were well looked after.

Stellenbosch Hills Winery has three labels. They have the Polkadraai Range, the Stellenbosch Hills Cultivar Collection and the 1707 Reserve Range.

What I love about the wine at Stellenbosch Hills is that the wine tastes good and they are very reasonably priced!! For example their Polkadraai Chenin Blanc/Sauvignon blanc 2011 is only R26 a bottle. Their Stellenbosch Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2011 is only R36 a bottle. Even their reserve range is reasonably priced at R82 for a 1707 Red Reserve 2007 which they have limited stock of.

I recommend coming here and I recommend stocking up on their wine!!

Cellar Door Hours (tasting & wine sales)

Monday – Friday 8am – 5pm;
Saturday 10am – 3pm;
Sunday Closed

I see online that they do a biltong and wine pairing: Taste six of the Stellenbosch Hills wines, perfectly paired with a biltong and droëwors selection. The tasting takes between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on the participation level, and size of the group. Bookings can be made by e-mailing or phone
+27 (0)21 881 3828.
The cost is R40.00 per person. Booking is essential.

Almenkerk

The lady at Highlands Road told us that this winery would also be open today, so we went and checked it out. I am so glad she suggested this place as we both just loved it!! The previous two wineries were also nice, but this was on another level of its own.

The building is impresssive, the view is impressive, and then the service is impressive!! We drove through very high walls in to the courtyard area where the parking is. As soon as we got out of the car we saw the awesome view, and the stunning building. We were greeted by the winemaker, he introduced us to friends he had over for some wine. We sat outside to enjoy our tasting. The winemaker was so pleasant, he spent time going through each wine with us and made us feel so welcome.

The wine was really nice!!! We had a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc 2010 to start with. This sells for R90 a bottle. It had beautiful grassy flavours and was very nicely balanced. I really liked this wine. Then we had the Chardonnay 2010 (R120) which we just loved!!! We had to buy some bottles of this. If we had the money we would have bought a case. This Chardonnay took us by surprise!! It had great flavour, was zesty, balanced, just awesome!!! To finish, we tried the red blend: 1/3 Shiraz, 1/3 Merlot, 1/6 Cabernet Franc, 1/6 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% viognier. This was light, balanced and also very nice!!

He took several of us through his cellar also. It is quite a small cellar, but he explained that he likes the volume he makes. As he said, if he expands, he will then have to expand on everything. As far as I was concerned, his wine was so great, I am happy he has kept his volume of wine low compared to other wineries, because he has great quality and great tasting wine!! So long as there is enough wine for us to stock up on also, we will be happy.

This winery is a must visit!! I can't wait to take some of my friends here. In fact, after we went to Highlands Rd, South Hill and this winery, we were hooked on the wine region and agreed to come back for a weekend to try visit more. Such a great wine region, fantastic wines, lovely scenery and really friendly people!!

I think this has become my new favourite wine region!!