A Day in the Wine Country

Stellenbosch, is the center of S. African wine production.  It has much of the feel of Napa Valley, but with Dutch architecture.  As we had visited the area before, we elected a gourmet wine tour there, which included 3 wineries and an incredible gourmet lunch.  There were only 9 of us and a terrific guide.  Each stop had something special.

We  tasted at Vergelegen, which is totally unpronouncible unless you speak Dutch, which is a beautiful estate with colonial manor house and gardens.  This vineyard was the beginning of the wine industry in S. A.

The second winery, Morganster, had some good reds, but the owner was Italian and was also producing olive oil.  We did an olive oil tasting which was a highlight.  You can't believe how clean and smooth really good olive oil is.  We bought some lemon olive, but resisted the truffle olive oil.  The third winery included cheese tasting as a food and wine pairing.  The cheese was better than the wine here.  The sad news was that our favorites at the 2nd winery aren't exported to CA  and Canada.