1-Vineyard Muratie
Today we get the opportunity to meet the owner Rijk Melck and Desmond, the marketing manager.
We hear about plans for the next few years with areas being replanted. This area is renowned for its Cabernet Sauvignon. A new block has been planted with subtly different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon - the growth is being monitored by the Stellenbosch Cabernet Society https://stellenboschcabernet.co.za/ and the Old Vine Project https://oldvineproject.co.za/. This is an exciting project and Muratie is pleased to be helping in the further understanding of this grape’s suitability in this particular region
They, like other estates we have visited over the past weeks, are relieved to have finished this year’s harvest and all ferments bubbling away safely in the cellars!
This estate makes great wines and indeed the history here goes back to the 1600s.
We are reminded that the original owner used to walk every few months to see his girlfriend in Cape Town. This may not sound that unusual - but it was a three-day walk which, when we were sitting last night looking at the stunning view of Table Mountain, it must have been love!!
1 Guest House - Summerwood Guest House
We leave Muratie and travel the short distance to Stellenbosch centre where we are to stay for 2 nights in Summerwood Guest House.
We are met by Fiona and shown our room - again we seem to have found a very comfortable place to stay.
Our room has everything we need and lovely views over the garden and tree lined streets.
A quick unpack and we make our way along the quiet residential road and make our way into the centre of Stellenbosch.
This is a great town - really vibrant with many small boutique shops and definitely many cafes and bars to choose from.
We have a mosey around the shops and back to the Guest House to relax by the pool before returning to the town for a meal in the evening.
South Africa at the moment has problems with their electricity supply - every now and then it is switched off for a couple of hours. This isn’t done randomly and there are always warnings as to when this will happen. Summerwood is the most organised of any of the places we have stayed as there are battery lights in each room and the stairs and residents’ areas have motion lights which come on as we walk past them – no tripping over here!
Breakfast here is great fresh fruit and then many choices of cooked breakfast.
1 Restaurant - Man’oushe – Lebanese Restaurant
Do we need to eat? Most probably not but we get a taxi to the centre of Stellenbosch?
Today we are taking up a recommendation from friends of ours in the UK who used to live here. So rather than a traditional South African meal we are looking for a Lebanese themed restaurant.
Stellenbosch town centre in the evening is a lively place as there is a University here which specialises in Oenology and Sports Sciences and is home to many hundreds of students, so bars are full of youngsters enjoying themselves.
We find Man’oushe and get a seat for 2 outside - immediately we are looked after and wine is on its way with the menu. There is a great choice and we both decided on skewers - the waitress advised us that the kitchen was very busy and there would be a wait.
Did that matter?
No of course not - we were sitting with a lovely glass of wine in a buzzing restaurant watching the world go by. The food arrived freshly cooked and delicious we ordered a bottle of Clos Malverne which we knew would pair well with the meat. Absolutely delicious!
The food was great but our lasting memory of this evening is our lovely waitress who was a student at the University -she was charming, ready for a chat and couldn’t do enough for everyone she met.
Thank you, Lione.