Started the day on the rooftop terrace, nice sunny day. Took pictures of: Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, Signal Hill.

Here is a map, giving you an idea of where Stellenbosch (and Franschhoek) is in relation to Cape Town and the Peninsula.

The scenery on the way to Stellenbosch was beautiful, rolling hills and large mountains, vineyards, strawberry fields. Our first stop was Waterford Estate. The estate was founded in 1998, re-furbishing the property and existing vineyards – an impressive building with a wonderful courtyard.

They do a special chocolate and wine pairing tasting – a shiraz/mouvedre blend with a spicy chocolate, a cabernet/cabernet franc blend with a savory chocolate, and a dessert wine with a rosewater chocolate. Before we got to the dessert wine, they brought out a fourth wine to taste – a 2009 special blend of a number of grapes, starting with cabernet, highly rated, and a little pricey. In the end, we bought the cab and the blend (Jem, named after the owner).

Then we drove to Franschhoek, populated by the Huguenots in the 17th century, and stopped at Muratie Winery, one of the oldest, founded in 1699, passing through a number of owners, and now owned by one of the very early families to have owned it. We had 5 wines each to taste, fortunately a smaller amount per glass than the previous visit. Eileen had a Chardonnay, a Merlot, a Cab blend, among others. Larry had a Shiraz, and a port, among others. We ended up buying a Chardonnay.

Then we were off to a lunch at a wonderful spot with a great view – La Petite Ferme. Both of us had a red bean soup. Larry had a pear/gorgonzola salad. Eileen had curried fish cake. Here’s a view from the back lawn, followed by a view looking out. Note the tall mountain in the background.

Naseem, knowing we liked a little activity, suggested that we walk around Franschhoek, a nice little town, rather than do another wine tasting. We took his suggestion, and spent a delightful 45 minutes walking around the town.

We drove back to Cape Town, seeing Table Mountain far in the distance and watched it come closer as we got to our hotel. It was a beautiful sunny late afternoon. We went to the roof deck and took some nice pictures of Table Mountain. Here’s one with the cable car in view near the top. The base station is down on the right, the upper one on the edge of the flat top. You can just make out the cable and car.

Nighttime shot of the exterior of the Three Boutique Hotel

Other posts that refer to this post:

     14-Aug-2014    SouthAfrica – Day 1 – Cape Point

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