Have you visited Lourensford Wine Estate before? It’s a beautiful polo field and wine cellar tucked in the Somerset West mountains and is actually one of the oldest in the Cape having being established in 1700! I’ve been to 4 weddings there and the Chocolate Festival, but had never visited the wine tasting area. I didn’t even know they had a deli and a wine tasting space! Yeah, I dunno. Sometimes I just do things all the wrong way around. But I’m happy to say that I have now visited both!
Read on or watch the day here:
Last month Mr John and I were invited to visit their beautiful farm for their #SeasonsofLourensford Instameet and wine tasting. If you don’t know what an InstaMeet is – it’s where Instagrammers (you know the app on your iPhone?) meet to shoot new images. It’s an occasion to meetup and enjoy a common interest while generating publicity for the venue/topic/feature. We arrived early in the morning – before sunrise nogal! You know I don’t do early mornings. But it was awesome arriving in the cool, last of summer morning air as the sun started to creep over the hills.
After having a cup of tea and chocolate croissant from the deli, we explored the nearby gardens before setting off for the vineyards. Making our way through their oak lined roads into the hills, we arrived at a meadow where horses and oak trees neighbour lush green vineyards leading up to the mountains. We were kindly taught about the wine and enjoyed a tasting with bobotie samosas – some of the best samosas I’ve ever had by the way. They were genuinely awesome!
From here we were able to stomp around the farm and explore one of the 13 dams on the farm. Crisp, cool mountain water trickles into the dam providing the farm with fresh, clean water. I was SO tempted to drink some especially because it was already warming up; it was a 30 degree day! The dam was so still it was surreal. We hopped back into the bakkie and were taken high, high, HIGH up on the hills of Lourensford.
Right at the top of the hill is a freestanding open cabin, built and used by those who work on the farm only. This is not open to the public, which made it SO special for us to visit! But, also a bit sad as it is SUPER DUPER amazing up there! The 360 views from mountain top across Gordon’s Bay are incredible and it was the perfect setting for a champagne brunch.
While we enjoyed the Lourensford Voignier at the first stop, the second stop was all about the Lourensford MCC Brut Rose 2013. This is a very dry bubbly so if you have a sophisticated palate you will love it. (Find it on their site for R250 per bottle.)
After brunch we snuck into the cellar for a brisk, off the cuff tour. It was awesome to see the inner-workings of the farm; with huge vats milling away. They use gravity to mix the wine from vats higher to vats lower in the shed, it was super interesting and cool to see. (Watch the Snapvideo for more.)
It was such a privilege to be apart of this Instameet. Heartfelt thanks to Lourensford for having us on this wonderful morning expedition. Pop onto Instagram and search for #SeasonsofLourensford to see the awesome Instagram pictures taken by others on the day too.
