Last year I was invited to an Allee Bleue wine tasting at Nobu at the One and Only at the Waterfront. It was a balmy South African day with baby blue skies, heat shining pavements and the sea sparkling in the bay. I made my way inside the hotel and was greeted with the beautiful Allee Bleue sparkling wine, delicious! The rest of the was spent tasting gorgeous wines, enjoying the Nobu canapes and learning more about the farm. Allee Bleue produces herbs as well which intrigued me and lead me to organise a visit to the actual farm.
This Saturday, my two girlfriends and I jumped into my new car for our first little wineland’s mission to Allee Bleue! We were kindle escorted on a herb tour on the farm – WOW! Allee Bleue supply herbs to Pick n Pay, the Shoprite group and various restaurants. It was wonderful to learn and see how the herbs are grown on the farm from the actual planting, growing methods, shelters to the packing, labelling and transporting of the herbs. Such fresh, beautiful produce that I’m so proud grows in the Western Cape!
After the herb garden tour we took a seat in the Allee Bleue tasting hall. It was a 30 degree day so we were happy girls in the air-conditioned lounge. Our wine tasting hostess was Janine who could not have been lovelier. She had the perfect mix of professionalism and warmth. Enjoying conversations with us but stepping away and not over staying her welcome when conversations were extended. The information she gave us was informative, fun and helped us enjoy the wines to their full capacity.
Our wine tasting included the Allee Bleue Brut Rose 2012, a soft sparkling wine (method cap classique) that was the perfect start the course. We went on the try the Starlette Blanc (chenin blanc), sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, which lead us to buy half-dozen , Shiraz rose, starlette rouge, starlette pinotage, Isabeau and Cape Ruby. I hope I’ve remembered them all! Even though I have my preferences, the Allee Bleue is smooth, soft drinking. I anticipated sour kicks at the end of every sip but they never happened. Even though I still have styles of wine that I prefer, every Alle Bleue bottle is gorgeous.
We were also served Allee Bleue olive oil, ciabatta and olives. I asked about the olive trees I’d seen growing on the farm and was informed that they do seasonally provide olives which are used to make the oil and snacks. I actually don’t like olives as I feel they are over powered by the brine flavour, however, the Allee Bleue olives were DIVINE! They were rather meaty in flavour. They were delicious and I probably ate a pot of them alone! The olive oil is also available at R55 per litre, magic!
The round thing in the top left picture (left) is called a ZORK! It’s a way to keep your cap classique sparkly by sealing the bottle as it clips on. I’ve tried the spoon in the neck trick – it doesn’t work! I’d love a zork myself!
If you’d like to visit the farm and enjoy their smooooth, gorgeous wines (both the red and white are equally as delicious) then visit the Allee Bleue website to make a reservation. Alternatively e-mail wine.tastying@alleebleue.com or ring 021 8740 1021. If you find yourself cruising along the R45 on the way to Franschoek, pop in 🙂
Opening times:
- Monday – Friday: 09h00 – 17h00
- Saturday: 10h00 -17h00
- Sunday & Public Holidays: 10h00 – 17h00
P.S Make sure you make a silly playlist for your car that will be sure to have your friends laughing. Mine include:
- Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
- The Cat Empire – The Wine Song
- Brenda Fasie – Weekend Special
- Roxette – Sleeping in my Car
- RHCP – Road Trippin’
- Foo Fighters – Long Road to Ruin
- Michael Buble – Beautiful Day
- Audioslave – I am a Highway
- Pharrell Williams – Happy
- Kongos – Come With Me Now
