Farmstead Cheeses and Wines: Jeff’s Blog

Today was a “non-wine” day, with the exception of a dinner with the folks for MAN Vintners, we were done with our wine duties. for the trip.

We left at 9:00 a.m. for our two hour trip to the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point on the African continent, and the supposed meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

On the way to the cape, we stopped several times for photo breaks. I know I am sounding monotonous, but this country is beautiful beyond words.

The Cape of Good Hope is located in a large national park - Table Mountain National Park, and the fynbos (or native vegetation) in this part of the park reminded me very much of Point Reyes National Seashore - low lying sage colored plants, swept by winds - only here there were baboons!

Yep, real live baboons, close enough to touch (thank god for bus windows, as these fellas can get really testy and they’re extremely strong!!).

The Cape is a rocky promontory that ends at the sea, marked by a sign. The beach was strewn with kelp, and the breakers were capped with windswept foam.

We stopped for a photo op, and piled back in the bus for lunch at Simonstown and the penguin preserve at Boulders Beach.

Simonstown is a lovely resort town and home to the South African navy.

We ate at Bertha’s, a pleasant fish eatery right on the harbor and were entertained by a stream of quite talented street musicians.

The penguin preserve is just outside of town, and is home to 3000 pairs of African “Jackass” Penguins (so nicknamed because of their distinctive braying. These little fellas are completely oblivious of the hordes of humans snapping photos - one-two feet away, and go about their daily duties without a care in the world.

Then it was back in the bus back to the Oude Paarl to get cleaned up for our farewell dinner with José and Marie Condé.

This has been an invaluable trip, and I have learned so much about South African wines, vinification technique, vineyard management and wine styles, as well as caught a glimpse of the lovely people behind the wine industry, and got to experience some of the fascinating mix of culture, heritage and language that is South Africa.

Thanks to Emmanuel at Vineyard Brands for allowing me to go, and gros bises to Robin Back for being an unflappable gentleman at all times while presenting his country to us bunch of yokels….