Not wanting to waste any time in Cape Town (we only have a few days before our big overland trip), we went right into a Wine Tasting tour (that was very cheap!).
We went to two places. The first place we visited was Zevenwacht.
According to our guides and the hosts at the winery, the wine business in South Africa is booming, and exports are at an all time high. I'm no wine expert, and for me to pretend to know pretty much anything about wine would be ridiculously pretentious of me, so everything I'm telling you all is just how I experienced it and what I was told about the wine itself.
At Zevenwacht I tried 5 wines, 2 whites, and 3 reds. The first I tried was a 360 Degree Sauvignon Blanc. It is called a "360" because all of that grape are picked from a single patch. It was a pretty basic tasting white, but not bad at all.
The second was a Chenin Blanc, a barrel fermented wine with rich pineapple and yellow fruit flavors. It wasn't too bad. I'm not a fan of whites, but if wine is presented to me, I must drink!
The third was a Pinotage. This one was very tasty, it had aromas of chocolate and coffee with sweet red cherry flavours. It was very, very, very slightly smokey. Kaitlin said it tasted like bacon. I didnt taste that, but since bacon is the most amazing thing on earth, I wish I had.
The fourth was a Syrah, a vibrant wine with white pepper and sweet spicy floral tones of jasmine and violets. This one was so-so in my opinion. Others who were tasting it really enjoyed it, but it just wasn't for me.
The fifth was a Cabernet Sauvignon, a concentrated and full bodied wine with red cherry, blackcurrant, herbs and roasted coffee bean flavours. This was my favorite of the batch, it was very tasty, and I really enjoyed it.
The second place we ventured to was Saxenburg, a winery started in 1693, back during the time of the Dutch East India company. We tried 5 wines here too.
The first was a Savignon Blanc, a fruity wine which was enriched by gooseberry and fig flavours. It was pretty good. As was the second white wine, a Chardonnay, a full bodied wine with a lemon and hazelnut character. This was also exceptionally tasty.
The three reds we tried started with the Merlot. This wine was structured with layers of berry fruit flavors and hints of mocha chocolate. I usually like merlot, but for whatever reason this wine wasn't doing it for me.
The 4th was another Pinotage. This was my 2nd favorite wine of the day. Unlike the first wine, I actually tasted the hint of Bacon Kaitlin claimed to have tasted. WIN! It was very tasty.
My favorite wine of the whole day was our final wine, a wine which had apparently won Saxenburg a huge trophy. A 2005 Shiraz. This was incredibly, incredibly tasty and enjoyable, and if anyone could grab a bottle, I would suggest it!
Anyway, enough of me sounding pretentious and annoying, I'll probably be sticking to beer for the rest of the trip...
Party time!
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