30 years ago I was born in Focsani, a Romanian town located in a famous vineyard area. My grandparents still have some acres of wine… But for some reason I drink more beer compared to wine. And I never had a wine tour before and the Cape Town Wine Tours was the first to be!
But all was about to change after South Africa and Cape Town. After the not so amazing shark diving experience, the wine tasting in Cape Town was the right thing to end the Cape Town visit.
I already had a contact for a guide from an Afrikaans lady I met while I had lunch in Pretoria, while waiting for Marcel. But in the end, I decided not to call him and to choose a tour of the hostel. Being a low-season the prices were competitive. For a full day the prices for a wine tour with 4 vineyards to visits can cost up to 350-400 rands. Transportation and food included.
Our shark diving guide proved to be a wine guide too; and a good one with a special passion for the one. So, with the Romanian friends I met my chance, we talked to him to arrange for 3 of us a half day wine tour. The cost was 250 rands per person, a decent price for a private tour.
Our first stop of the Cape Town Wine Tours was at the Durban Hill Oil Vineyard. I did not know what to expect from the tour. First impression was better than expected. The complex was brand new, huge, and very nice decorated. And the drinking began. We were given 8 assortment to choose from. The glasses had been filled half only, but that’s enough. Trust me.
I had no idea about wine so I decided to take one by one from the list. Just to say that I like sweet, white wines. It took me 4 glasses to discover my favorite one. Of course I did not have time to have breakfast so after 3-4 glasses I started to feel a bit, let’s say, drunk. But then it came. Not sure, but it was a Sauvignon Blanc 2012.
Sweet and white. I decided not to try any other kind. Glass no 4 to 7 was only this wine. Damn, it was so good. Glass no 8 was not taken cause I started to feel dizzy and need a break before the second vineyard. The cost of this wine tasting was 40 rands. If you have a car I highly recommend you to do it without a guide. Can be much cheaper.
But the guide has its role; he can explain in details about the wines if you are so interested.
For the second one we decided to have less wine and more food; cheese and biscuits were on the menu. Again, we had 10 glasses this time. Not sure, cause I don’t remember well, but I think I had only 4. Never had been so drunk, so early in the morning in my entire life. The cost of this second place was 10r Andes.
And seems it’s a very popular way to spend time in Cape Town; a group of your people was having the same cheap package. Don’t think you can find in Europe, such a good price for a wine tour. There are over 300 wineries around CT and the competition is very high and they have to keep the prices low in order to attract as many tours they can and then to buy the wines.
There are lots of vineyards and wineries to be visited. I think 3 months won’t be enough to visit it all! If you have time you can visit the famous one from Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Paarl Franschhoek or the famous Constantine wineries for the perfect Cape Town Wine Tours.
The best moment to visit from my point of view is during the harvest time or autumn. Autumn in South Africa is when it’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
If you can rent a car a suggest to do it. Of course the driver won’t be able to drink and enjoy the day.
Half-day tour can be enough. Not sure if I could have handled a full day drinking. But it’s more about the views, the walks and the food. The good thing about the full-day wine tour in Cape Town is the lunch. I have heard many people saying how amazing the food can be. And I can confirm that the South African cuisine is absolutely fantastic!
Try to hire a guide for your wine tour to Cape Town. The experience can be better. He knows better the wineries and can explain in details the wines. I had lucky in having a guide who was a wine fan!
