Wine aficionados Allan Lambe and Joanne are hosting a fine wine and dining trip to South Africa from the 21st of November – the 30th of November 2023.
With 4 spots left, we thought we’d offer you the opportunity to join in!
Proposed Schedule
Day 1 – 21st November 2023
Arrive at Cape Town International and be driven to the 4-star D’Ouwe Werf Hotel, Stellenbosch in 7-seater luxury transport which you will have for the duration of your time touring the winelands.
Day 2 – 22nd November 2023
3.30 pm depart the hotel for the Swartland for a tasting of select wines from several leading Swartland producers, including Adi Badenhorst, Eben Sadie, Sakkie Mouton, Jasper Wickens, Donovan Rall, Martin Lamprecht, Samantha Suddons, Chris & Andrea Mullineux, and others, followed by an authentic traditional open fire African braai (bbq) with these winemakers.
Day 3 – 23rd November 2023
After a leisurely breakfast in the hotel, we journey mid-morning to Stellenbosch to the cellars of leading SA wine producer Vilafonte, hosted by founder Mike Ratcliffe with his winemakers. Mike will “bring out the Big Guns” – some of his internationally acclaimed Bordeaux blend-style wines of various vintages from his library cellar.
Joining Mike will be Miles Mossop, formerly winemaker at Tokara Estate, now making award-winning wines under his own Miles Mossop label. We will taste his premium wines before lunch or accompanying a light Italian-style lunch at Pane e Vino, a food & wine bar owned by former Meerlust winemaker Giorgio Dalla Cia and his wife Elena, right next door to the Vilafonte cellars.
After lunch guests will return to the hotel to relax & freshen up, followed by a late afternoon tasting of Old Vines maestro Ian Naude’s wines at the Vergenoegd Estate, followed by a wine-paired dinner at celebrated chef Bertus Basson’s Clara’s Barn at the estate, with an eclectic & unusual African theme. Eat Out San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Chef of the Year 2019, Bertus Basson, has a food philosophy rooted in traditional South African food culture with a modern outlook. Bertus is famed for the remarkable success of all his Establishments, of which the first he opened as chef and owner in 2007. His commitment to great food made with fresh, local ingredients, and an acute attention to detail is the key to the culinary success for which he is highly regarded. He sees his work as an important responsibility – to express South African heritage, and creatively tell the stories of our history, our people, and our food.
Day 4 – 24th November 2023
A relaxed breakfast followed by a 9.15am departure from the hotel to the spectacular Anglo-American-owned historic wine estate of Vergelegen, in the neighbouring town of Somerset West. The historic Cape Dutch manor house, library, museum & spectacular gardens (rated among the prettiest in the world) featuring camphor laurel trees planted in 1705 by Cape governor Simon van der Stel, who settled here in 1700, are open to the public and worth wandering around. We will have a professionally guided tour of the historic gardens.
Privately hosted by chief winemaker and cellarmaster Luke O’Cuinneagain we’ll taste through a selection of the estate’s award-winning range, including verticals of some special vintages.
A three-course lunch will be taken in the recently renovated Stables Restaurant at Vergelegen, joined by the winemaker. We will enjoy a post-lunch visit to the special Quagga Project on the farm, where Anglo-American biologists are attempting to recreate this extinct (since 1883) Cape zebra by selective breeding programs.
Departing from Vergelegen we will take a comfortable drive back towards Stellenbosch stopping at the majestic new Taaibosch cellars for a tasting with winemaker Schalk-Willem Joubert, who produces arguably SA’s best Cabernet Franc-based blend, Taaibosch Crescendo, along with South Africa’s Mr Chenin himself, Ken Forrester, and his young winemaker Shawn Matthyse. Ken will lead us through a “Chenin Blanc – From Rags to Riches” tasting of his wines, including the internationally respected FMC and the rare NV Dirty Little Secret.
Day 5 – 25th November 2023
After breakfast we depart at 9.30am for the scenic drive over the mountains to the beautiful Franschhoek Valley, the centre of South Africa’s sparkling wine production area. Hosted by the Chairman of the SA MCC Association Pieter “Bubbles” Ferreira we will tour a classic sparkling wine cellar at L’Ormarins and Colmant, taste a selection of their premium wines then enjoy a demonstration of sabrage followed by lunch at the acclaimed chef Liam Tomlin’s Chef’s Warehouse Maison restaurant, accompanied by some of the celebrated MCC makers and their products! Liam was born in Dublin, Ireland, where his career as a chef began at the age of 14. He went on to gain experience in some of Ireland and Europe’s finest kitchens, eventually moving to Australia in 1991. For the next 6 years Liam worked with Dietmar Sawyer of Restaurant Forty One as Chef de Cuisine, honing his skills and accumulating invaluable knowledge, before opening Blanc Restaurant in Sydney. Since then he has travelled the globe, opening restaurants, doing consultancy work, publishing cookbooks and winning numerous prestigious international awards. In 2004 he opened Chefs Warehouse & Cookery School, which eventually became Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, regularly featured in the top five Cape Town restaurants on TripAdvisor. In 2016 Liam opened Thali, Chefs Warehouse @ Beau Constantia, and in 2017 Chefs Warehouse @ Maison in Franschhoek where we will eat today and enjoy the chefs company.
Franschhoek is a beautiful town with great history, and a stroll down Main Street after lunch will be a great way to walk off the excesses of the morning and lunch…with countless great shopping options for the ladies of the party too!
Free DayDay 7 – 27th November 2023
Today we will taste the wonderful range of wines by Duncan Savage, Tim Atkins’s South African Winemaker of the Year 2022, followed by a food & wine pairing where we will eat at the newly created private function room at his cellars, specially catered for by us by Duncan’s lovely, qualified caterer wife, Zani. This is a private and privileged event, generally only available to Duncan’s close friends in the wine making industry. The Savage range of wines is extensive, and they are all 4½ or 5-star wines, reds and whites. His winery is unique in that it is in the Cape Town inner city, in the industrial area, now being gentrified with the likes of The Old Biscuit Mill shops and restaurants such as The Test Kitchen & Potluck Club.
Day 8 – 28th November 2023
An early (8am) departure from the hotel will take us on a scenic 1 ½ hour drive over the Helderberg Mountains to the scenic whale-watching capital of Hermanus, and core of South Africa’s Pinot Noir & Chardonnay producing region. We plan to be in Hermanus by 9.30am to give guests an hour to enjoy a coffee & stroll around the picturesque village, before joining Anthony and Olive Hamilton-Russell and their winemaker Emul Ross at their pioneering winery, Hamilton Russell Vineyards, in the Hemel en Aarde (Heaven & Earth) Valley at 11am. We will enjoy a private tasting of a selection of their newer and vintage wines in their barrel cellar, followed by a lunch with them in their beautiful home. We will be joined for this tasting and lunch by Berene Sauls, who started her career as a cleaner at HRV and worked her way up to become a respected winemaker in her own right, today producing both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay under her Tesselaarsdal label.
Leaving HRV after lunch we will wind our way up the valley to the stunning home & vineyards of one of the sensations of South African wines in recent years – Craig & Anne Wessels’s Restless River winery for a late afternoon & sunset tasting on the veranda of the beautiful home the couple built with their own hands. Anne, a former Johannesburg model, and Craig, a successful TV commercial producer, gave up the rat-race to “make wine” – very successfully – despite Craig’s assurances that he taught himself how to make wine “by watching YouTube videos”! The Restless River Ava Marie Chardonnay, their Main Road & Dignity Cabernet Sauvignon, Le Luc Pinot Noir, and the eclectic field blend The Wanderlust all make waves in the South African and international markets every vintage. Joining us for this tasting will be another winemaking luminary and surfing buddy of Craig’s, Peter-Allan Finlayson of Crystallum and Gabrielskloof wines. Peter-Allan was Tim Atkins’s SA Winemaker of the Year in 2021, is the son of pioneering SA pinot winemaker Peter Finlayson (who might just pop in for a surprise tasting of his own eponymous new pinot noir!), and one of the brightest stars of the local wine scene!
A selection of light canapes from the award-winning Farro Restaurant at Gabrielskloof will be served with the wines during our tasting.
(Personal observation: between Anne & Craig Wessels, Peter-Allan, and perhaps his father Peter, we will have eye-candy to add to the magnificent wines and splendour of the sun setting down the Hemel en Aarde Valley!).
Day 9 – 29th November 2023
This morning we take a drive up into the Elgin region, South Africa’s coolest wine producing area & home to many of the country’s most respected chardonnay producers and their wines. We will taste an extensive selection of these wines from different producers in the area at the country home of noted viticulturalist & winemakers Paul & Nicky Wallace, followed by lunch at the beautiful old Wallace home, featuring local produce from the area. Winemakers & producers who will share their wines include Richard Kershaw MW, Paul Cluver of Paul Cluver Wines, Joris van Almenkerk of Almenkerk Wines, Werner Muller of Iona Wines (the highest & coolest vineyard in the region) and our host, Paul Wallace of Paul Wallace Wines.
Evening – in the evening we have our Farewell Dinner!
What’s included in the excursion:
Full luxury transport for the duration of your time in Stellenbosch, return travel for all trips.
4 Star luxury accommodation in our hand-picked hotel with breakfast.
All wine tastings and accompanying meals.
What’s not included in the excursion:
International flights. Evening meals not listed. Travel Insurance. Hotel extras.
Total Price Per Person Sharing a room: £3,950
Single Room: £3,830.00
Please contact joanne@lambassociates.co.uk or allan@lambassociates.co.uk for more information.
