PRIVATE TOUR ONLY
Duration: 8 hours
Starting from USD 250 pp / ZAR 3791 pp
Book via info@coffeebeansroutes.com
Highlights
- Learn about biodynamic farming and wine-making techniques
- Taste excellent biodynamically produced wines
- Farm to Plate organic lunch
Inclusions
- Three wine tastings
- Private guide and vehicle
- Mineral water
- Hotel collection and drop-off
Exclusions
- Discretionary tips
- Lunch
Best suited for guests that
- Seek a deeper exploration of wine
- Prefer their food and drinks produced without pesticides
- Are interested to learn more about wine-making process
If you prefer to eat organically or biodynamically produced food as far as possible, then why drink wine that is produced with pesticides? The Cape’s wine regions are famed around the world, and yet less than 1% of them are producing wine using organic farming techniques. Which is quite incredible when you consider how many wine drinkers prefer to buy organic produce at the supermarket or grocery store.
We have spent a long time assembling a tour that explores biodynamic, organic and natural wine-making in the Cape winelands, and have come up with a programme that achieves the same level of intimate narrative that our specialist tours are well known for.
We like to start with Avondale Wine Estate in Paarl. Their two hour Eco Tour of the estate is the best way to get deeply into biodynamic farming techniques in a short way. The Eco Tour is a curated wine tasting that takes place at locations around the estate, together with a cellar tour. The experience starts with their sparkling wine, which we think is one of the best in the region.
By the time we have finished at Avondale, it’s about lunch time. We love Longridge’s restaurant, also Babel at Babylonstoren, both farm-to-fork eateries.
After lunch, sometimes we will visit Reyneke Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. Wine-maker Johan Reyneke runs a low-key, super-focused estate, making wines that seek new forms and flavours, using concrete and clay amphora, as well as oak to mature wines.
And we love to finish, where possible, with a tasting of natural, garagiste wines. Sometimes it is Bertus van Niekerk, who produces small batches under his Osbloed label, with tastings on the patio of his Cape Cod style home in Somerset West. Sometimes we will include another MyWyn in Franschoek, run by Jacoline Haasbroek.
And sometimes we include another small biodynamic estate, Haut Espoir, also in Franschoek.
In short, if you seek an in-depth, alternative experience of the Cape Winelands, one full of story as well as wine, then this could be what you are looking for.