#wine #winetasting #winemakers #wosa #winegeek #wineenthuisasm #ashtonwinery #winesofsouthafrica #tulbagh #oliveterrace
1 Winery
Ashton’s logo - Life is Short. Drink the good wine first!.
Well, I can’t argue with that!
A couple of weeks before our trip we received an email from Ashton Winery introducing themselves and asking us to sample some of their wines.
Timing to perfection - we arranged a meeting with Helen the winery's marketing manager at 10:30.
It is raining for the first time on our trip - so to be fair we were not as enthusiastic as we could have been.!. However, we had a great meeting. Helen was so welcoming and the Ashton Cooperative with 55 or so ''members'' clearly has wines of very good quality.
Ashton Kelder was established in 1962 by a few eager producers. By the time the cellar was built the following year, there were 46 members who delivered a total of 2,130 tonnes of grapes.
Today, more than fifty years later, they have a total of sixty shareholders who produce up to 24 000 tonnes of grapes annually. The cellar lies in the heart of the Robertson Wine Valley between the Breede River and the foothills of the Langeberg mountains. The unique climate, the variety of soils and scientific viticultural practices give the cellar the natural advantage to produce the best quality grapes and outstanding wines from this Valley of ''Wine and Roses''.
This is the local co-operative and so they make bulk as well as quality wines, We are here to sample the single block range made by one of the members and he is regarded very highly for his Pinotage range year on year!
1 Restaurant and 1 Place to stay
Olive Terrace Bistro at Tulbagh HeritageHotel
We leave Ashton and travel towards our next stop which is Tulbagh - the rains stop and the sun pops in and out. We arrive at lunchtime - so we take the opportunity to grab a snack from the Tapas Bar at Tulbagh Hotel where we are staying for 2 nights.
The main restaurant here is called the Olive Terrace Bistro and we book a table for our evening meal.
We are British and love the opportunity to eat al fresco - we are the only ones eating on the terrace but there is still a great atmosphere. The restaurant overlooks the main road and so there is always the buzz of the town in the background. The staff here are very friendly and give excellent service.
Be warned the meals here are not small - but they are of good quality with fresh seasonal ingredients.
In fact, we eat here both nights - the second evening we are indoors as it has become very windy but the restaurant is buzzing with locals and families enjoying the Easter Weekend.
We both choose the venison steak and agreed this is the best meat we have tasted so far on our trip!