If you’re a wine lover, you’ll love South Africa! This country is blessed with fertile soil and produces A LOT of wines, so you can get high-quality wine at affordable prices.
With many wineries, let me take you for wine tasting & wine and cheese pairing in South Africa.
I don’t drink much but I’m happy that my tour package includes 2 wine tasting + 1 wine and cheese pairing 😊
But first, let’s have a short walk in Stellenbosch, a beautiful university town!
Stellenbosch, the Beautiful University Town in South Africa
Located in the Western Cape province, this charming, little town is perfect for students, wine lovers, and farmers.
You can see many students and students’ accommodations here because of Stellenbosch University. I could feel an uplifting vibe in this town, perhaps because it’s filled with young people!
On top of that, the city feels very peaceful and has beautiful Cape Dutch architectures (South Africa was colonised by the Dutch). There are many beautiful cafes, shops, and sculptures.
Willem, my tour leader, went to Stellenbosch University to study tourism. He showed us the most popular cafe in the city that offered the best pizza. #nostalgia
Aaah… With such a beautiful and quiet city, I think I could study well if I studied in Stellenbosch.
Even Paul said he fell in love with the city and thought to buy a house to retire here!
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Wine Tasting at Vredenheim, South Africa
We stopped around 1.5 hours in Stellenbosch then off to our first wine tasting at the beautiful Vredenheim. I’m not exaggerating, everything looks beautiful in this area!
Apparently, Vredeneim Wildlife & Winery offered more than just wine tasting but also an animal farm, game drive, a guest house, event venues, spa, and a restaurant.
I was happy but worried at the same time, because my dermatologist and breast cancer doctor told me not to drink too much alcohol.
BUT… how could I go to South Africa and not drink wine? 😂😂😂
I’m healthy, by the way. It’s just, if I drink too much alcohol, my allergies and eczema would flare up. I’m also worried if the tiny lump on my breast would turn dangerous.
Sooo… I asked the waitress to pour just a little bit of all the wine during the wine tasting. But still, I was a bit worried actually 😬
You know there’s a saying, “Sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit” (little by little, eventually it will be a hill)…
Luckily, I love taking photos, so I didn’t feel bored. When the waitress poured the last wine, I stood up, took my glass, and walked outside to the garden.
Oh, it was actually not a back garden. Vredenheim had a massive garden with its own lake! Its garden was very beautiful, like the ones in fairy tales ❤️❤️❤️
Now that I’m writing this blog post, I realised that I should’ve taken more photos of the surrounding. Sorry, guys! 😅
After the wine tasting, we had a nice lunch at Vredenheim. In my previous post, I shared that the bread in South Africa was yummy. It was also the case with Vredenheim’s soft dinner rolls 😋
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Wine Tasting at Blaauwklippen, South Africa
Where to next, after lunch? It’s another wine tasting at Blaauwklippen, South Africa!
Hip, hip, hooraaay! 😂😂😂
I was glad that I drank a little bit of wine during the wine tasting at Vredenheim. Not sure how my new friends handled two wine tasting experiences in one day, hehe!
I wondered if all wineries in South Africa were gorgeous like the ones my tour operator, Expat Explore, took us to.
Blauuwklippen was also charming and HUGE… I liked its interior design!
However, some of my friends said that its wines weren’t to their liking. As I wasn’t a wine person, I couldn’t tell whether the wine was good or not.
I could only distinguish which ones I liked and smelled good. But, one thing I knew during a wine tasting at Blaauwklippen, South Africa — I LOVE the design of this bottle:
The Royal Rhino was a coffee cream liqueur, tasted similar to Baileys but stronger. And, if I wasn’t mistaken, the staff said that one bottle of Royal Rhino was 75 rands.
Do I remember it wrongly? 75 rands is around RM20 or less than $5 (counted with Wise currency converter) 👀👀👀
But as I mentioned above, South Africa produced a lot of wines, hence the price is much lesser when you buy them when travelling here.
Besides its cool bottle design, when you purchase Royal Rhino, you’re helping to conserve the rhinos. Another reason to buy this cream liqueur 👍👍👍
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Wine and Cheese Pairing at Fairview, South Africa
Oh, God. How could I miss it?
Writing this blog post, I just knew that there was a BAKERY at Fairview, South Africa. Aaah… I thought the place was just for wine and cheese pairing 😢😢😢
The wine and cheese pairing at Fairview was wonderful. The lady who lead the tour was also pleasant and knowledgeable.
I had 6 different types of cheeses and wines, from blue cheese, camembert, to cream cheese with black pepper.
I knew that the area was HUGE, but I didn’t know that the huge room I was in was only the tasting room. Again, the place was very beautiful and well-decorated.
I could say that Fairview was very famous for wine and cheese pairing in South Africa, looking at the crowds. Oh yes, it was (and is) a very famous place!
In addition, there were some influencers or vloggers who recorded their experiences there.
I saw a Japanese and some influencers or vloggers recording themselves with their mobile phones during my session.
Such a famous and beautiful place like this, who doesn’t want to make a vlog?
Unfortunately, the rain began pouring softly after we finished. Worried about my Canon, I didn’t explore other areas besides the tasting room…
Overall, I really enjoyed my wine tasting and cheese pairing in South Africa.
Before this trip, I haven’t done it before. But I guess the experience will be different when done in wine yards and at renowned places, compared to the city.
I love South Africa! ❤️❤️❤️
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