Special experiences that I offer

Discover the wine of the Cape

As a winemaker I try to bring across the spirit of the winelands and the passion of our winemakers by giving you a glimpse into the inner workings of privately owned cellars in my beloved winelands of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and my birth town Paarl. I am indeed very fortunate to have grown up in this beautiful countryside and have many long standing friends who indulge my passion of making wine by allowing me free access to their cellars and farms. It is this privilege that I enjoy sharing with you - my guest. Each of my winelands tours are moulded around my guest’s individual taste and preference resulting in no two winelands tours being the same as not all people have the same preferences. Following is a typical example of a tour that would cover a general interest in wines of all styles and varieties.

Our first farm of the day will be Villiera, an award winning “Méthode Champenoise” or “Cape Sparkling wine” estate. This farm is owned by the Grier family and is also the farm where I make my own range of Viognier. Here we can taste Cape Bubbly as well as a substantial range of Red and White varietals including Port and Noble late harvest wines. If you want, we can also walk through the functional and spacious cellar, barrel maturation vaults and sparkling wine making cellars. This cellar handles 2500 tons of grapes including up to 40% red grapes and 20% sparkling wine grapes. After a walk through the production of wine we will retreat to the leafy terrace for an informative and fun wine tasting during which I will debunk a lot of the snobbery attached to this wine tasting business.

Our next stop will be Beyerskloof which lies in the heart of one of the world's classic red wine areas, Stellenbosch, in the Cape Winelands. Beyers Truter, the owner / winemaker made his reputation as a winemaker at Kanonkop Estate in the 1980s but he always yearned for the opportunity to go it alone and this is what he has done on the farm Beyerskloof, which incidentally belonged to his forefathers when it was still called Nooitgedacht 103 years ago. The farm Beyerskloof has shallow, gravely soil this is very similar to that of Bordeaux. Beyers Truter is the only winemaker ever to twice receive the Pichon Longueville Comtesse de la Lalande Trophy for the "Best Blended Red Wine" and he is also the founder of the Pinotage Association, which aims to improve the growing, making and marketing of Pinotage grapes and wines.

Lunch could be at Bosman's in the Grande Roche hotel which epitomises luxury and quiet elegance reflected in the impressive décor of French drapes, crystal chandeliers, glistening mirrors and black marble columns. Impeccable taste and attention to detail is evident everywhere to achieve a perfect balance of modernity and old-world charm. Set amidst the heady opulence of the hotel, award winning Bosman's Restaurant ranks as one of the country's finest, for it’s superb gourmet cuisine and service. It is Africa's only Relais Gourmands (Relais & Chateaux) establishment and has won several awards both for its Global cuisine and its well-stocked cellar of 300 vintage wines.

After lunch we visit Stellenbosch, South Africa’s second oldest town where we visit the Stellenbosch university campus and explore the Cape Dutch architecture of this historic old town. The white gabled, thatch roofed houses in this village are truly majestic, quite unique and make for some fantastic photographic compositions.

Stellenbosch holds the honour of being the most well-known town in South Africa. History, culture, natural beauty, sport, education and wine has made the name “Stellenbosch” resonate around the globe as one of South Africa’s premier tourist, wine, business and education attractions.

We will visit the oak-lined Dorp Street with its venerable old buildings where modern student life sits comfortably side by side with our history and architectural heritage. The architecture, which Stellenbosch reflects three centuries of occupation, includes Dutch, Georgian and Victorian styles. A myriad of museums and places of interest are found along the oak-lined streets and the crests of the dramatically rising Jonkershoek and Simonsberg mountains that encircle the town are always visible.

Our last stop of the day will be a 250-year-old wine estate, Middelvlei, where they still produce big bold red wines in the old traditional style of wine making. I produce my ca-4121 Merlot on this farm.

This beautiful estate has been the home of the Momberg family since 1919 and while second-generation owner Stiljan Momberg still maintains his inspirational presence, today the commitment of his sons, Tinnie in the cellar and Ben in the vineyards ensures the excellent quality of each vintage.

At Middelvlei we will be able to taste the unique South African cultivars, Pinotage, as well as an award wining brace of other wines consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage, a Pinotage Merlot blend, as well as a lightly wooded Chardonnay. Recently a blend of Merlot /Shiraz was added to the portfolio. This wine is called Middelvlei Red Falcon, referring to the falcon on the Momberg family crest. The two export ranges are called Hagelsberg and Brick Road which are sold in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. On Middelvlei we will be surrounded by sloping vineyards on four sides, making it possible to produce a wide selection of wine styles and all this is in the grand architectural style setting of a Victorian era wine estate. It is on this farm that I make my own range of ca-4121 Merlot.

From Middelvlei we head back to your residence returning at approximately 17:30 after a relaxing wine, cuisine, culture and history touring day.

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Eat and drink our food and wine

The Cape wine region is a fabulous region to discover our regional cuisine, our regional wines and also the blend of these two life indulgences. The idea of this tour is to introduce guests who are passionate about food, wine and cooking to some of the people and their produce of this incredibly beautiful and interesting area. Throughout the day you will be meeting a varied group of people producing a broad base of foods and wines. You will obviously also get the opportunity of matching various foods and various wines as this is the primary focus of the day.

Our first stop of the day is a tiny family-owned wine estate, Hoopenburg which is set on the slopes of the Simonsberg mountain range in one of the most beautiful locations in the Stellenbosch district. Here the moderate climate combined with regular winds from False Bay in the southeast with its cooling effects and the estates deep red soils create ideal conditions for cultivating grapes of the highest quality Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. All the grapes are from the bush vines with underground springs and are hand picked with whole bunch pressing and hand plunging to achieve the best juice extraction.

While on this estate we will do an extensive tasting of locally produced cheeses matched with the wines of the estate. The winelands region is very well known for the vast array of cheese that is produced here and it is indeed a fabulous experience to discover some of these flavours for yourself.

Winemaker Neil Hawkins has had considerable experience in South Africa, Alsace and Cloudy Bay in New Zealand has a simple philosophy to produce new age wines in an old world style. The moderate climate combined with the deep red soils creates ideal conditions for cultivating grapes of the highest quality which I have little doubt you will discover for yourself matches with the cheese.

From Hoopenburg we drive up into the Simonsberg Mountains above Stellenbosch to visit with the chef at a berry orchard called Hillcrest Berries.

Maynard is a highly talented chef with many years of experience in the hotel industry. He is currently concentrating his efforts in combining traditional South African cuisine with the rich bounty of the berry orchards of Hillcrest berries. Maynard’s ‘ingredient palate’ comes from 15 hectares of orchards on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain where you will find raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cape gooseberries and even some redcurrants. I have no doubt that you will be astounded with the range of mouth-watering ways in which Maynard combines the basic tenets of wholesome cooking to bring out the distinctive flavours of the region’s beautiful, nutritional berries.

At Hillcrest you will have the opportunity of tasting dishes like smoked chicken, cranberry and avocado stack, smoked salmon trout and gooseberry terrine and roasted fig and blue cheese quiche all matched with wines of the region.

Today lunch could be enjoyed at a restaurant called Tokara, which is located on the Thelema wine estate, ideally situated high in the mountains above Stellenbosch. Tokara belongs to the award winning chef, Ettienne Bonthuis, who is very famous in fine cuisine circles in South Africa and I assure you the meal will be a gastronomic experience. Etienne, the master saucier who creates highly innovative dishes in the open kitchen of a tres chic restaurant has a menu that highlights sublime combos like mussels with banana and apple, calamari with oxtail in red wine, pig's trotters stuffed with As we are on the Thelema estate, we will also be able to enjoy the desirable Thelema wines with our meal. As a side note, the views from Tokara and Thelema are simply without compare and on a clear day it is possible to see Table Mountain, 50 kilometers in the distance. The restaurant also doubles as an art gallery, showcasing up-and-coming South African artists. There is always something interesting for the art lover to see here.

After a regional styled lunch we visit Topsi Venter, one of the doyennes of the South African cuisine scene, who will introduce you to some of the most authentic re-invented South African foods you will ever eat in Cape Town. Topsi has written numerous South African recipe books and she is constantly striving to modernise and keep our traditional recipes alive. Lovers of good, real food find satiety with epicure Topsi Venter’s flavourful dishes that give a contemporary twist to traditional Cape and South African cuisine. Topsi will present a number of tastings that will be dictated by season or whatever fresh produce she’s chanced upon. These dishes can be anything from ripe persimmons or perhaps pomegranates plucked from her tree to the delightful taste surprise of fragrant mussel bobotie with zesty sambals or octopus braised in red wine and star anise with fennel risotto. To say that Topsi is eccentric and adventurous with true South African cuisine would be an understatement, but a visit with her is certainly a never-to-be-forgotten experience for anyone with the vaguest interest in food. Topsi and co. is a charming, artistic homely space stacked with preserves and resident parrot assuring you of a memorable experience.

From Topsi's we return to the city where we should get to your residence at approximately 17:00 after an entertaining and informative cuisine, local character and wine touring day.

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"Freedom walk tour"

This tour covers the history of our country from the very early Settlers right through to our present day democracy. What makes the tour very interesting is that the historic content is coupled with a geographic route corresponding to the time-line of the history of our country. This tour pulls no punches and shows the "very good" as well as the "very bad" and is intended to portray a balanced view of the history, and the current situation in the country.
During this tour we will visit places like the city center, buildings relating to our Dutch heritage, the slave quarters, Districts 6, Coloured townships, shacks lands, gang lands (optional), and very up markets Coloured suburbs.
During the tour there is a possibility of meeting local people a long way. Why I say possibility is because I definitely do not believe in setting up prior arranged meetings with locals as this, I feel is to commercial, to "set up" and most definitely demeaning and disrespectful of the local people as it turns people into tourist attractions.

This concept of transforming people into tribal dancers so that tourists can snap photographs of them out of large coaches just to be returned to their everyday lives once the coach has disappeared over horizon is something that I feel incredibly strongly about.
What I do on my tours is, drive through various areas and if anything catches our attention we will stop and visit. If we are walking down the street and we happen to meet somebody of interest, we will stop and talk to those people. Nothing "set up", no "pre arranging" and learning the reality from real people on the street. The "Freedom walk tour" is a long and intense tour as it can be quite emotional and at times quite draining. Having said this I do however believe that it should be an essential part of any guest's itinerary. Sadly, the only exposure that many of our guests to Cape Town get of this way of life is the proverbial "set up" photograph from a tourist bus.
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The Cape Peninsula tour

We leave your residence at approximately 9:00am and drive in a southerly direction onto the Cape Peninsula. On passing the face of Table Mountain we pass places District Six, Rhodes Estate, Groote Schuur Hospital, Rhodes Memorial and The University of Cape Town. All of these places are deeply entrenched in the history and culture of my city and invariably leads to interesting discussions regarding the past and future of my country.
Our first stop is the seaside village of Muizenberg where you will be able to take in the breathtaking views of False Bay. From here we follow the incredibly scenic route along the False Bay coast through the fishing villages like Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek on the way to Simon's town. Simon's town having been a British naval town until as recent as 1957, normally comes as a pleasant surprise to everyone visiting the Cape Peninsula as encountering such a 'British Town' in Cape Town is unexpected.

At Simon's town we drive through the navy village and then to Boulders beach to visit the penguin colony and the two thousand Jackass Penguins dressed in their 'tuxedos' and doing the cute things that penguins do. After the penguin colony we drive along the wonderfully scenic mountain drive along False Bay to visit The Cape of Good Hope reserve which is a magnificent floral wilderness at the foot of Africa. For the nature loving person it is a truly fantastic experience traversing such a unique floral kingdom. Who knows, if we are lucky enough we might even see some antelope, ostrich or baboon. If we are really fortunate we might even see the elusive Burchell Zebra that makes an appearance on the reserve infrequently.

From the Cape Point reserve we head back up the Western side of the peninsula along the treacherous Atlantic coast through the amazingly beautiful seaside hamlet of Misty Cliffs and then over the Peninsula Mountains. Lunch today will be a rather casual and informal as we will stop in at a small fresh fish and pasta restaurant on our way to the Constantia Winelands. At this eatery we will be able to eat the freshest fish available on the peninsula as well as an extensive menu of pastas and pizzas.
After lunch we view the spectacular vistas of the Atlantic seaboard from the world famous Chapman's peak drive. This incredibly scenic route has just undergone an engineering and geological renovation and is better than ever. The breathtaking views from this mountainside drive are totally unrivalled.
On returning to the city via the beach resorts on the "Platinum Mile" we ascend Table Mountain in the world famous cable car. On top of the mountain we will be able to see the route covered during the day, as it is possible to see all the way down to the Cape Point reserve. The views from the top of this mountain are of the best in the world and certainly the best in the Cape.
We should return to your hotel at about 17:30pm.

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Whale watching

We leave your residence at approximately 9:00am heading east for the Hottentots Holland Mountains that surround the North Eastern perimeter of the greater Cape Town. Ascending up these mountains will afford you some of the most spectacular views of Cape Town that you will ever see from a terrestrial point of view.

On crossing over the top of the mountains it will feel like we are stepping into a completely different world as we enter into the deciduous fruit plantations that are synonymous with this region of the Cape. The area know as Elgin is extremely well know for the production of apples, pears and peaches and it is from here that these fruits get exported all over the world. To sample some of these delights and other unique breads and foods from the region we will briefly stop at the Peregrine farm stall which is an ideal halfway stop between the city and the whale watching area.

From this mountainous region we head towards the east coast and the whale watching village of Hermanus.

Hermanus has always been a whale-watching Mecca for guests and locals alike, to see the great Southern right and Humpback whales that come down to Walker bay to mate and calf. It is a spectacular sight to watch these behemoths breaching and lobtailing. It is equally relaxing to watch a cow and her calf serenely floating along in an incredible display if motherhood in nature. The greater part of the late morning will be spent in and around the village, exploring the village itself and also trying to find the best vantage point for whale spotting. We should also meet up with the local whale crier who, with the aid of a dried piece of seaweed, bellows the position of the whales.

Lunch today will be at La Vierge, located deep in the Hemel and aarde valley. This restaurant with its double volume glass windows, large wooden deck and breathtaking views of the vast green valley is a place where satisfied people linger with a flute of champagne whilst nibbling on fine French food. The French country menu includes delectable plates of innovative cooking made from fresh ingredients including prawn salad with granadilla coulis, chicken and foie gras parfait, and beef fillet with pomme purée and red-wine jus. Added to that is a small selection of decadent desserts, including a fantastic take on a French-style apple tart. Without a doubt, this is one of the most unique lunch locations in the world and definitely not to be missed.

After lunch we start heading for the south-eastern coast to villages like Betty’s bay and Rooi els. It is along this route that we should still be able to see whales, but simply from the vantage point of a moving vehicle. The villages that we will be passing through are mostly seaside holiday villages and will afford you a totally different aspect of South African life that you might as yet not be familiar with.

After driving through these villages we head for Clarence drive, a steep coastal road carved from rocky sea cliffs on the eastern side of False Bay. From this drive you will be able to take in the magnificent views across False Bay to Table Mountain and the rest of the Cape Peninsula. Clarence Drive also provides pleasant whale watching spots and all along the route you can stop and watch the Southern Right whales visiting the sheltered shallow bays of the South African coastline. Clarence Drive leads through the Kogelberg Biosphere, the first and only Biosphere in South Africa to be proclaimed by United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It also leads to Kogel Bay, where long lines of surf break on the shining white sand, famous among surfers and topless sunbathers for its pleasant atmosphere and sheltered cove against the occasional howling southeaster.

This drive will take us to the affluent suburbs of Gordon’s Bay and Somerset West. After visiting the beachfront and beaches of the Strand, we will link up with the main highway heading back into the city and return to your hotel at approximately 17:00

An all encompassing nature, culture and scenic day out.

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Please bare in mind that whatever I am suggesting on this page is ONLY an example and can be altered in whatever manner you wish. Having said this, the tour can be changed even while we are on the road - Nothing about my tours are cast in stone and the whole intention is to tailor make the tour, on the fly, to suite your every need. Another aim is to take my guests to places that are NOT necessarily the tourist type highlights but more like the little gems that are mostly known only to locals.

So do not be surprised if I suggest something outrageous. :)

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