For those of you who aren’t familiar with the South African wine scene, I don’t know what to say other than that’s really too bad, haha…South Africa has a very strong wine industry, though it may not seem like it in the U.S. (I think I heard South African wines are generally marketed more in Europe). Having such a strong wine industry also means that your average grocery store bottle of wine is consistently good and extremely cheap – a rare treat if you’re used to living in the U.S. I’ve bought bottles of wine for approximately $3-4 here that I know I’ve paid $12-13 for in the States!
Anyway, the biggest wine region in the country is spread across a few valleys that are located just outside of Cape Town, so on Saturday the four of us ventured out of the city in our trusty car with our trusty driver (thank you again, Byron!), driving for about an hour before we hit Stellenbosch. Not only are the winelands near Stellenbosch charming and quaint as many winelands tend to be, but the dramatic mountains all around Stellenbosch make really enhance the scenery. After driving around the town for a while (signs were not easy to come by) we finally managed to find parking. Though the annual Stellenbosch Wine Festival was a week-long event, I think we were all more than satisfied just to have the opportunity to enjoy Saturday’s events. The festival was set up so that your entrance fee (roughly $16) covered a glass and two ticket booklets, and armed with a sticker you were allowed access into 3 large tent and gymnasium areas which were lined with booths from individual vineyards. Each vineyard offered 4-6 wines for tasting, which you had to pay for with your tickets…although not many people would take tickets, even if you offered, so when I got home I still had 1.5 ticket booklets left, haha. If you liked a wine, then you could ask for a barcode sticker and put in your booklet, and then at the end of the festival you could purchase all of the wines you wanted based on the stickers you collected. There were tons of people there, including a lot of people our age (probably because Stellenbosch has a large university), and also friends of Byron and Wenli (evidence once again that the large city of Cape Town segregates itself into truly small communities based on what activities one can afford). Beyond wine, there were also numerous food booths. I ended up being somewhat adventurous and having a kudu burger for lunch – very good, though I think I still like buffalo burgers better. We relaxed at the festival all day and then had a nice dinner in downtown Stellenbosch before heading home. Needless to say, it was a lovely day.
On Sunday Byron, Wenli, and I explored the nearby suburb of Constantia. Byron and I went running through some amazing neighborhoods (truly, it felt as if we were running through Beverly Hills or the Hamptons) and also found some nice trails to run on in the foothills of the mountains. Both the wealth and the scenery were breathtaking. While we ran, Wenli practiced driving. So now with two down in terms of driving, that leaves, well, me…
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