We drove into Stellenbosch after checking out of our hostel in Cape Town. After dropping our bags off, we decided to walk around and explore. We hadn't done much research but we knew we needed to get some wine immediately. Read more...
We quickly found some food and drinks.
(I got nachos)
Cheers!
They also had a lot of cute shops and I got to watch this lady using her loom outside of a local yarn shop.
The next day, after returning from the Old Biscuit Mill, we stopped by some wineries. A family friend of mine used to work in Stellenbosch in the wine industry, so he gave me a list of where we should go. It was really nice to have an insider's recommendations! We started at the winery that he used to work at called Spier.
Although I was tempted by the chocolate and wine pairings, I ultimately went with the seven different wines.
After the tasting (I was the driver so I got to experience the spit bucket), we wandered around the gardens for a while.
Spier has a wildlife outreach area where we found some goats (!!!) and owls...
and even pigs!
There was also a small market in the front of the winery. There is a lot of beading in the African art and we got to see a man creating a beaded animal. I went home with quite a few beaded animals after my trip.
After shopping, we went out to a dinner in which, as I was not driving this time, I got to actually drink the wine. So, of course, I got a whole flight.
The next morning was one of my favorites in my whole trip. We went to visit Reyneke wines, which was a very small organic winery that was technically not open during our visit. It's good to know people! Johann, the owner of the winery, was so nice to show us around the vines and into the tasting room.
We got to take a private walk around the grounds and have a tasting. We spent a lot of time talking about his approach to the winery. He is completely organic and specializes in biodynamic farming. He discussed all the various weeds and plants that he lets grow within his vines that he believes creates a better grape. Instead of fertilizers, he has specific plants and cows. His philosophy was really interesting and the views weren't bad, either.
Walking around the winery was amazing, and even more amazing was the company: the dogs! He had two dogs on his property that hung out with us as we walked around.
As they weren't technically open and he was the only person on the property, he let us even take the wine we drank with us because he said he didn't need six bottles of wine to himself.
Before we left, Chase got a new accessory- the dogpod. The instant he laid down the little dog took it as an invitation for a bellyrub.
And he didn't want us to leave! He even jumped in the car after hiding underneath.
This was a really great detour from all the traveling we had been doing, but it was still exciting to head back to Cape Town and see what else South Africa had to offer.
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