Vineyards in South Africa
Penguins at Boulders Peguin Reserve, South Africa
Tasting at Hamilton Russell with Anthony Hamilton Russell
Landscape of L'Ormarins, Franschhoek, South Africa
Klein Constantia
South Africa Wine Tour
11 - 18 February 2012
The Cape is one of the most spectacular vineyard regions in the world. Our tour covers the best of the wine and some of the most beautiful sites. On this tour, unlike casual tourists in the wine lands, you receive personal welcomes from the wine-makers, great tastings and invitations to lunch or dinner.
The Cape has a long tradition of wine production dating back to the Dutch settlers of 1652. When the British took over a new wealth was brought to the country and many of the gracious Cape-Dutch homesteads were built. It was hoped initially that the Cape would become “the vineyard of the Empire”. This happened to some extent, although quality table wine production didn’t catch on, Cape ‘Port’ and ‘Sherry’ became popular and ‘Constantia’ Muscat established a superb reputation.
Then came a downward spiral caused by the political situation, a partial boycott and bad publicity. At the same time European laws to protect names such as ‘Sherry’ came in and there was a surge in quality elsewhere in the New World.
This led to a near total disappearance from international markets. Following the country’s ‘opening up’, exports and quality increased, recently soaring to very high levels and receiving international acclaim. We’ll discover the latest developments in the wine scene.
We start in Cape Town where we stay on the lively waterfront. On our first evening we have a comprehensive tasting at an estate in Constantia and an included dinner, where you will meet the rest of the party and enjoy wines selected by our Wine Guide. From Cape Town we explore the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Boulders Park to see the colony of African penguins.
We head inland next, first to Stellenbosch, where we taste remarkably good sparkling wines with Villiera. We visit Warwick and enjoy a picnic by the shores of their lake.
We cross the Du Toitskloof Pass to visit the Worcester and Robertson regions. These were traditional ‘fortified’ regions but here we taste interesting exciting modern wines with De Wetshof and Springfield. We stay in the lovely small town of Montagu. Down on the coast at Hermanus on Walker Bay we have a keynote visit and lunch with Hamilton Russell, pioneers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in South Africa and always one of the most enlightened of the Cape estates. Nearby the former orchards of Elgin are the latest cool climate quality hot spot. Here we visit one of the new star estates, Paul Cluver.
The Huguenot town of Franschhoek (literally ‘French Place’) is our next base. In Franschhoek we visit L’Ormarins winery. The wines perform extremely well, in particular in the premium range.
From Franschhoek we visit the Stellenbosch wine region and Thelema Mountain for a private tasting of Gyles Webb’s sensational wines and Rudi the winemaker will join us, dependent on what’s happening with the harvest! We also enjoy an evening Snoek Braii (fish BBQ) with the masters of pinotage, Kanonkop. We have a wonderful lunch with superb wines at Tokara. Before departing we have some time in the University town of Stellenbosch nearby.
This tour offers some fantastic scenery, fine food and glorious weather. As well as being an up to the minute wine tour, it covers most of the Cape’s beautiful sites, a tour not to be missed!
11 - 18 February 2012
£2,399.00 
per person
Places available.Price Includes:
- Air conditioned coach for the itinerary
- Seven nights in Four Star hotels and guesthouses all with breakfasts
- Eight meals with wines which range from simple picnics to gourmet meals at some of the Cape’s top restaurants. Where possible coffee or tea is included after meals, but some picnic places do not have facilities to make coffee.
- All wine visits and tastings
- Entrance to the Cape Peninsula National Park and Boulders Penguin Reserve.
The tour will be escorted A&C Chairman, Tim Clarke for a party up to 17, and for 18 and over he will be accompanied by a second team member as Tour Manager.
Travel: Meet at Cape TownSole Occupancy: £450.00
Deposit: £600.00
Room Upgrade: 110
South Africa Wine Tour
Outline Itinerary
Saturday 11 February – Day 1: Meet in Cape Town. Comprehensive tasting at Constantia. Included dinner with wines selected by Wine Guide. Overnight in 4* Victoria & Alfred hotel.
Sunday 12 February – Day 2: Visit Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Lunch included. Visit Boulders Penguin Park. Free time for dinner in Cape Town. Overnight in 4* Victoria & Alfred hotel.
Monday 13 February – Day 3: Visit Wine Estate Villiera. Picnic Lunch at Warwick. Included dinner in Montagu. Overnight in 4* hotel, Montagu.
Tuesday 14 February – Day 4: Visit Wine Estate in Robertson. Wine Estate lunch. Optional Boat Ride. Free time for dinner in Montagu. Overnight in 4* hotel, Montagu.
Wednesday 15 February – Day 5: Visit Hamilton Russell & lunch. Afternoon wine visit at Paul Cluver. Travel to Franschhoek. Free time in Franschhoek for dinner. Overnight in 4* Guest House, Franschhoek.
Thursday 16 February – Day 6: Wine visit at L’Ormarins winery. Free time in Franschhoek. Dinner at Kanonkop Wine Estate. Overnight in 4* Guest House, Franschhoek.
Friday 17 February – Day 7: Visit Thelema Mountain wine estate. Lunch at Tokara (winery restaurant). Free time in Franschhoek. Overnight in 4* Guest House, Franschhoek.
Saturday 18 February – Day 8: Visit in Stellenbosch. Free time in Stellenbosch for lunch. Tour Ends, transfer to airport (one complimentary transfer from Stellenbosch to Cape Town Airport to coincide with BA flight to London). Opportunity to extend in Cape Town, go on Safari or explore the Garden Route (please call for details of our recommended travel partner).
This tour is sold without flights, which enables you to have maximum flexibility pre and post tour. We have found in the past many of our clients have enjoyed staying on after the tour, and having a flight included restricted this option.
Hotel Details & Upgrade:
Waterfront 4* hotel, Cape Town: This is an ideally located 4* hotel right on the Waterfront with spacious rooms and views over the harbour from the public rooms.
Montagu 4* hotel: This hotel is nestled on the foothills of the majestic Langeberg Mountain range in the heart of Montagu. It is renowned for its excellent cuisine served in its elegant restaurant. There is a lovely garden with croquet lawn and boules. The upgrade is to a Garden Suite.
4* Guest House, Franshhoek: This Guest House is a lovingly restored 1904 Victorian homestead in the heart of Franschhoek. This boutique guest house offers just 10 rooms all well appointed with tea & coffee making facilities. Whilst there is no bar there is a relaxing lounge and drinks can be ordered from the reception.
Upgrade:
To upgrade to a Table Mountain view rooms at the V&A and superior rooms or suites depending on availability at the next two hotels is £200 per person. For bookings confirmed after 30 June this will go up to £250 per person.
The upgrade price for Table Mountain view rooms at the V&A for the first two nights only is £110 per person in twin/double. The Ballon Rouge only has 10 rooms, once we have used all these for our party, a different 4* B&B will be made available at a similar price.
As availability of all rooms types at all hotels is very limited, your first choice of room type may not be available at time of booking and we will need to confirm price according to current availability.
Travel Details
Flights are not included with this tour. There are a number of different operators who fly direct to Cape Town. At the time of writing (October 2011) the following airlines have daily direct flights from London Heathrow – British Airways (www.ba.com) ,Virgin (www.virgin-atlantic.com) and South African Airlines (www.flysaa.com), current price is approximately £900pp return (as of October 2011). British Airways and Virgin also have the option of upgrading to World Traveller Plus on BA or Premium Economy on Virgin as well as the usual Business Class options. There are also indirect flights available with KLM (www.klm.com) and Emirates (www.emirates.com).
If you would prefer us to book your flight for you, we will be happy to do so. We will do this via the airline’s website so the cost will be that which is showing available on the web at time of booking plus a £30 per booking booking fee. Once booked the ticket is non-changeable and non-refundable. The earlier you book the less expensive these flights are likely to be as prices on flights on popular dates tend to increase nearer the date of departure.
Meeting:
We will meet you in Cape Town at 16.30 on Day One of the tour ready to depart for our evening tasting and dinner. On 11th February you will not be able to check into the hotel until 14:00, but you can leave your bags with the concierge and enjoy lunch at one of the many restaurants on the waterfront.
Early Booking:
The first three couples to confirm (with payment) will be in Superior rooms at the second and third hotels, but in standard Piazza view at the Victoria & Alfred.
Wine Notes...
Click here to read wine notes by Tim Clarke and Andrew Williams on wine regions visited.
