The reputation of South Africa’s wineries is widely known. I’m mostly aware of its pinots and chardonnays from the shelves of Trader Joe’s, but those with more elegant tastes might recognize grape varieties specific to South African vineyards (pinotage, anyone?). Visiting wineries in the area is high on my list of things to do in Cape Town and after digging around on-line I go with the highly-reviewed Luhambo Tours (seriously, check out these Trip Advisor reviews).

There’s a full-day tour ahead of us — our guide and driver, Marlene, picks everyone up from their accommodation in Cape Town (there are only four of us today, a nice size group). We set off for nearby Stellenbosch to visit our first two wineries, and then after lunch we’ll head to another two in Franschhoek.

It takes maybe 45 minutes to drive to Stellenbosch and the views don’t disappoint. We’re headed towards the mountains!

Here is a glimpse of charming Stellenbosch:

If I have any gripe with this tour (and it’s a minor one), it’s that we don’t have time to wander around Stellenbosch. Marlene drives us up and down the main streets, going slowly so we can take photos out the window. We get out of the car briefly by the main church but there isn’t more time to walk around or peruse shops or get coffee. Which, actually, is a blessing in disguise — I’m so charmed by the area during our precious minutes on the main streets of Stellenbosch that I decide to return on my own a few days later so I can explore the town in earnest.

Our first winery of the morning is Simonsig.

Earlier I mentioned the pinotage variety — this is a hybrid grape exclusive to South African wineries, which probably explains why I hadn’t heard of it prior to my trip. While my wine pallet isn’t refined enough to fully appreciate the nuances of this flavor, I can report it’s quite tasty.

Onto winery numero dos…

This is Kanonkop wine estate.

We sample about five varieties at each vineyard, so now it’s around 11:30am and I’ve downed ten generously poured samples of wine… *hiccup*.

Here’s my three fellow guests on this tour — a woman from Germany and two siblings from Australia. They’re all great.

A flowery description of pinotage:

Our group wanders past barrels of wine towards an art gallery behind the tasting room.

It’s a little hard to read the signage below so I’ll spell it out: “Men to the left because women are always right.”

Next up… time for lunch!

Roca is a fantastic spot in Franschhoek — it’s a vineyard with its own wine tasting menu, though we are here only for lunch. FYI – this meal is not included in the cost of the tour but prices are reasonable.

Views out back are lovely, overlooking the nearby mountains.

The food is sumptuous. Decadent. Immensely flavorful. What a treat to eat here — it feels like a splurge.

Here are some of my fellow tour guests’ meals — I have food envy with every dish that arrives at our table:

And here is what I order — a lamb burger topped with bacon and onion rings. It’s as outstanding as it looks.

Now we have about 20 minutes to explore Franschhoek — if possible, it’s even more adorable than Stellenbosch.

Our guide Marlene suggests we pop into a chocolate shop her guests usually rave about. No one needs encouragement — we are all on board.

A few images from wandering around Franschhoek:

Heading to our third wine tasting of the day… it’s got a tongue-twister of a name: Boekenhoutskloof.

Boekenhoutskloof is best known for its wine Chocolate Block.

The sun comes out in full force as we sit on this patio — it’s my favorite spot of the day.

Here’s the fabulous Marlene, our wine guide extraordinaire:

One final stop for the day — Marianna Wines.

This winery is also a hotel — I’d stay here in a heartbeat if I were in the region for longer. It’s so posh and cozy.

The most notable part of this wine tasting is that they serve us biltong pairings with the wine. Biltong is like an Africa version of beef jerky, made with all sorts of meat like ostrich, springbok, or kudu — each one has its own unique flavor.

I think all of us (except Marlene) are a little buzzed on the drive back to Cape Town.

The Australian siblings are staying in an area of town called Camps Bay, right on the beach — just driving along the main drag to drop them off at their hotel convinces me to return on a future day. More on Camps Bay in a post next week.

This day was perfect. Luhambo Tours has picked fantastic wineries in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek — it’s a well-balanced itinerary with two wine tastings in the morning, two in the afternoon, and a decadent lunch in between. If you go, they mix up their wineries so you might try different ones. We weren’t rushed but we saw so much. What a treat this was.

Many thanks to Luhambo Tours for hosting my wine tour — opinions are my own. In addition to the Stellenbosch / Franschhoek tour that I describe above, they have another tour that runs down to Cape of Good Hope and Constantia Winery, a great way to see that area while enjoying South African wines.