Africa Adventure 2022 – Day Three – South Africa Wine Tour

On day three, we woke up in our beautiful hotel and had the most amazing buffet breakfast – the breakfast alone is reason to book a stay at Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront – Cape Town, but also it is wonderfully central to everything we wanted to do. After a hearty breakfast we were picked up by a fantastic guide from Wine Flies- Wine Tour and whisked away on an all-day wine adventure! Wine Flies focuses on authentic wine farms in the Stellenbosch region with a guided drive through the town itself, one of the oldest towns in South Africa. You learn so much about the people, local delicacies and the culture behind the wine industry in South Africa – it was amazing.

Our first wine tour stop was at the iconic Mitre’s Edge Estate which is famous for its award-winning wines. We were led into a beautiful historic home and down into the wine cellar where we paired each wine with a specifically selected local cheese. I love cheese, so this was perfect! And they had dogs! Win Win Win! We bought several bottles here to bring home and they offered bubble wrap wine bags to bring them home.

Our second stop on our wine tour was at Villiera Wines. The Villiera wine tasting room is called The Wine Sanctuary – that felt like home! They had a beautiful space and a warm fire and so much knowledge about Bruts, or here in the states Champagne! They paired their wines with local meats like Biltong and Kudu, which everyone had varying opinions on so we mostly drank the bubbly! This led to hugging some amazing trees, photobombing each other, and taking lots of lovely group photos in the vineyards. We brought home two bottles of Brut for special occasions!

Our third stop on our wine tour was at Middelvlei Estate. A beautiful family run farm surrounded by vineyards and mountains. We had the most incredible South African braai (barbeque) lunch and a taste of their unique wines. Best grilled cheese and potato salad I have ever had!! After lunch we got a chance to explore the farm and sample “wine in the making” straight from the barrels. I would eat and drink here every day – maybe the family will adopt me. The biggest bonus was the beautiful flowers, fields and animals.

Our final stop was at Lovane Boutique Wine Estate. This was a beautiful event and guest space that I would love to go back and visit again. They paired all of their wines with chocolates and it was the sweetest way to end our wine tour day. The extra bonus here was beautiful mountain views, vineyard views with the possibility of seeing chameleons, and baby farm animals!!! More hugging and more photobombs – I am sure our guide/driver got a kick out of us!

Four winery visits in a day led us from hugging trees to hugging each other. It was an amazing experience and we still couldn’t believe that we were in South Africa and it was only the beginning! We headed back to the hotel (after passing the set of Outlander) and visited the on-site restaurant Tobago’s for more wine and a nice dinner before heading to bed…. Because day four was going to be epic! Penguins and Whales!!