Go wild in the Winelands

I went on safari in the Winelands recently and had some memorable experiences with the Big Five: Cap classique, sauvignon blanc, pinotage, rosè and cabernet sauvignon.

Who’d have thought life behind the Western Cape’s “Boerewors Curtain” could get so wild? It was more about hilarity than adrenaline rushes and, while there were thrills and spills aplenty on the hop-on hop-off Durbanville Wine Safari (DWS), they were of purely liquid nature.

The DWS (www.durbanvillewinesafari.com) is a genteel equivalent of a party bus – though there is no pub on board – and guests are ferried in an open-topped game-viewing vehicle from a central meeting point (the local Protea Hotel) to some of Durbanville’s exceptional wine estates for tastings.

It’s all very carefully managed, the organisers don’t cram in too many destinations and guests are given sufficient time at each farm to sample its wares but not get entirely legless in the process.

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The route, venues, and tastings

I happened to share a vehicle with a group of 13 people who were all close friends from Cape Town’s southern suburbs and they were smart enough to have ordered a fleet of Übers to drop them off at the hotel and fetch them at the final stop.

No drinking and driving for this savvy lot! That’s the point of the safari: lots of fun but no drunken silly-buggers.

In this respect it is very different from the Franschhoek Wine Tram, where a vehicle stops at each destination with astonishing promptness every 30 minutes and guests are subtly pressured to drink up and board the tram for the next in a fairly long line of destinations.

Instead, the DWS gives guests the choice of three out of four estates on both its so-called northern line and three out of six on the southern.

I’ve found from personal experience that this is the ideal number of venues to visit in a day, especially if you’re having a meal at the last, unless you want the afternoon to disappear in a boozy haze.

The routes are serviced by two 22-seater vehicles that have been designed for comfort and safety. Southern line choices comprise Bloemendal, D’Aria, Durbanville Hills, Klein Roosboom, Maastricht and Nitida.

Venues along the northern route are Canto, Diemersdal, Groot Phesantekraal (absolutely my favourite sauvignon blanc) and Meerendal, which has one of the oldest productive pinotage blocks in the country. It was planted in 1955.

Guests generally get to spend between 90 minutes and two hours at each destination. The price is R330.00 per person and includes the service of a charming and knowledgeable guide. It excludes tastings, which range from R60 to R260 per person, and meals.

The higher tasting prices depend on the number of wines selected as well as premium offerings and vintages. The service operates Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30am to 5.30pm. There are various departure times from the Protea Hotel.

Dining in Durbanville

I was under pressure of time, so could only cover the southern line in its entirety but I have been visiting the Durbanville Wine Valley (the name of its wine route) for a couple of years, so know it very well.

My choice would be to make a weekend of it with my partner and start off along the northern line and end the day’s festivities at Meerendal which has an elegant boutique hotel, the only one in Durbanville.

We did this a couple of weeks ago and took the short trip – literally across the road from Meerendal – in the early evening to Signal Gun Wines where the Wilde Vy Bistro opened its doors in February.

Durbanville has a cooler climate than the other wine routes and it is lovely sitting on the deck under the giant wild fig tree that gives the bistro its name. It’s a very romantic setting for a candlelit dinner.

As far as I know, every winery in the valley has some form of culinary offering, some fancier than others. I’ve eaten at almost all of them and have never been disappointed.

By and large, kitchens tailor their menus to complement the wines emanating from the cellars and they get it spot on just about every time. My Sunday lunch was a spicy North African shakshuka relished at Klein Roosboomt.

The dish paired perfectly with a couple of glasses of the estate’s Marianna Roos Rosè (63% merlot, 27% sauvignon blanc).

One of the most endearing aspects of Klein Roosboom is how the owners have converted old concrete fermentation tanks into private tasting chambers. Just a word on Durbanville: few people know it but it is

South Africa’s oldest wine-producing region after Constantia. “Almost all farms are owned and managed by local families,” says Durbanville Wine Valley manager Natasha de Villiers.

This puts Durbanville on a different footing to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, where estates continue to be acquired by foreign investors. The farms are pretty close to each other and the safari “station” is central.

Despite a relatively early start, my party of friends were in a jovial mood and it wasn’t too long before we started the day’s festivities with bubbly at Maastricht.

Incidentally, it was here that DWS co-founder Josh Terry got his inspiration for the business a year ago, having imbibed too liberally and realising he was in no state to drive.

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