The Royal Hotel turns 150 this year, making it the oldest hotel in the Western Cape (it has more than three decades on the Mount Nelson) in one of the oldest towns in South Africa. To celebrate, owners Robert and Carminda are hosting a Gourmet Food & Wine Evening on 25 May, with a special package that includes the dinner, accommodation and breakfast for visitors who would like to stay over.
Regular visitors to Hermanus may already be familiar to the calm oasis that is Just Pure. Unique, stylish home furnishings and house wares and a bistro serving divine organic coffees and teas share space with Just Pure’s 100% natural skin and body care range in a charming, old world emporium. Luckily, for those of us who don’t often get to Hermanus, their products are available locally and online.
Sixteen wine estates over five different routes and a day of entertainment, fine wine and food on 12 May. The Elgin Wine Weekend allows you to choose the route you’d prefer and R50 gets you access to wineries such as Paul Cluver, Spionkop, South Hill, Lothian Vineyards, Elgin Ridge, Hannay Wines and Catherine Marshall Wines. Included in the ticket price is an Elegantly Elgin Tasting Glass and free pour voucher.
Savour the true spirit of the Botriver Wine Route on Saturday 21st April 2012. Harvest is over and local winemakers celebrate by showing off the latest gems from their cellars and their post-harvest looks. This fun-filled event attests that ‘beauty comes from within the bottle’ as friends, family and wine lovers gather to enjoy delectable new wines and the raging beards, moustaches and facial fluff grown during the harvest.
The annual Medfest, hosted by the Riebeek Valley, a mere one hours drive from Cape Town, is a sensorial destination where lovers of all things Mediterranean converge to treat their palates to a mouthwatering journey across its famous culinary landscape. From 31 March to 1 April, the MedFest again promises both serious gourmands as well as casual foodies the opportunity to entertain their culinary senses.
Young and old can delight in a fun-filled family day blended with the finest wines from the Simonsberg area, country food, craft stalls with proudly local produce, harvest activities and horse rides when more than twenty top Stellenbosch wine cellars descend on Delvera agri-village to share their finest gems on Market Day on Sunday, 11 March, 2012. Entry is free and a shuttle service is available to and from Stellenbosch.
Don a festive attitude and head out to the Stellenbosch Winelands on Sunday, 4 March when Eikendal Estate pays homage to 31 years of quality winemaking with its popular Weintaufe Harvest Celebration. Delicious food and wine will be on sale so swap the Sunday roast for a sublime afternoon on the lawns and loads of entertainment including live music, stalls, tractor rides, fly fishing, barrel stomping and pony rides.
Hermanuspietersfontein Wines and Celllar is so named to pay homage to and re-live the origin of Hermanus. They’ve also revived the traditional Saturday morning community market. The Food & Wine Market is a great way to escape the city. Sample and stock up on a bread, cheese, wines, olive oils, traditional & international foods, home bakes, organic coffee, and many other delicious hand crafted products.
The Swartland comes to Kirstenbosch this Saturday, 8 October. Don’t miss the Swartland Country Market where you can meet and greet winemakers, taste the region’s wine and olives, and mouthwatering cuisine, and enjoy great entertainment for adults and children.
After a few years spent assessing trends in the UK and US, Capetonian Kelly May launched Table Magic, South Africa’s first restaurant search, review and instant booking site. Confirm your booking with a tap of the mouse button. No calls, no waiting; just the ease and efficiency of booking online. Not only is it free, earn rewards for booking and reviewing.
Beaumont Wines invites you to join them on 8 & 9 October for the Blossom Festival in the Green Mountain Eco Route. Enjoy a bread making day or just pop in to experience a working water mill; both experiences include wine tasting and lunch. The more energetic can discover floral treasures amidst the fynbos on a guided walk.
Part wholesome caravan park, part designer farm lodge, Old Mac Daddy Trailer Hotel, a collection of vintage Airstream Trailer Suites on the pine-whispering slopes of the Elgin Valley, has added another accolade to their cabinet of treasures by winning a by winning a Gold Loerie at the 2011 Loerie Awards hosted on 18 September.
Tucked away on a farm on the Van der Stel Pass near Botrivier, surrounded by magnificent fynbos, with sweeping views of the Babylonstoren Mountains, lies KolKol Mountain Lodge - a haven that invites you to rest, relax and rejuvenate - and explore the extraordinary.
Get ready for a magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan, bedazzling, sensual spectacular at the BotRiviera Spring Weekend that includes, inter alia, horse riding, fly fishing, wine and olive oil tastings and blending, sumptuous meals, live music, pottery and art exhibitions, games, face painting, bike courses and much more besides