Skilpadvlei winery
This immaculately manicured estate was a wonderful surprise for our winetasting group today – lush gardens with clipped lawns, a row of the tallest palm trees I have ever seen, leading up to a group of buildings comprising the accommodation offered, the restaurant/winetasting area and a shady parking area conveniently located at the foot of a wide stairway leading up to the fountain and verandah where amazing views of the surrounding vineyards and distant Paarl ‘Sleeping Beauty’ captured our gaze for the pleasant hours spent there. That surely qualifies as the longest sentence I’ve ever written, but somehow it captured the moment from when we turned in at the impressive gates until we were parked.
The wine tasting was conducted by a friendly and extremely pleasant young lady, but was a little different in that all four varietals were placed in front of us at once, brought on a tray and passed around the long table. The whites were not chilled. However, this is the first estate to present a pairing with the wine in the last two years and interestingly enough it was little bites of cheesecake with toppings to complement each wine. A nice touch and lucky I hadn’t ordered dessert! The merlot and the sauvignon blanc were pleasant on the palate and I am sure a few bottles went home in the -boots. It was a pity that there was no information given on the history and background, but I suspect that this might have been due to it being one of the younger estates and it didn’t detract from our enjoyment of a very pleasant time in yet another of the beautiful valleys that typify our country.
With middle-of-the-road pricing and a good selection of dishes from the restaurant, this has become a family destination on weekends, with easy access from town but a true country feel.
