Cape Town

I had a major work congress in Cape Town, and was looking forward to visiting the region again. For the most part, the week I spent there was grey, rainy and not so appealing. However, on Thursday, the day dawned clear and blue and I received an invitation from Peter, a friend of mine from Johannesburg, to join him for the evening. This was a no-brainer, as Peter and his wife Mary are lovely, and I had nothing scheduled that night in my program.

Peter picked me up from the hotel in a mini-bus, and I met a group of Peter's friends as we headed off to the winelands. We started by hitting Ernie Els' winery, and having a tasting there.

Peter's daughter and her boyfriend work there, so we had a special tasting and tour before getting on the minibus (with a few of the Flagship Red bottles as travellers) and set off for Franschhoek, another wine region to the north.



We arrived at Nick and Gai's (who are friends of Graeme, one of Peters mates in the group. Nick has his own Champagne winery, Frahschhoek Pass Winery, which has a stunning view over the valley. We had a tour of the Champagne making operations, then tasted several different wines, in different stages of production, and learned a lot about champagne and the process. Afterwards, we drank a few glasses of delicious bubbly and watched the sun set over the valley.

Later, we all collected at Reuben's, and enjoyed a fantastic meal, with lots of interesting company and good cheer. We eventually boarded the mini-bus back to Capetown, and with most of the occupants sleeping and snoring!), Peter and I had a good chat until I was eventually dropped back at the hotel. I feel very fortunate to have been invited, and to have enjoyed such a fabulous evening.