"I don’t think I’ve ever drunk Champagne before breakfast before. With breakfast on several occasions, but never before, before."

-Paul Varjak (George Peppard), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

          After experiencing the first set back in the trip with some turbulent weather the previous afternoon, we were eager to get back into the sun. We had a leisurely morning and headed out to the wine country, Stellenbosch specifically, to spend the better part of the day touring different vineyards. We headed out from Camp's Bay mid-morning and arrived at our first vineyard at about 11:30. "If we'd arrived any earlier how would they expect us to be in the mood to drink wine?" My grandmother added, as we pulled in close to lunch time. The first vineyard we visited was Meerlust. We decided to visit this vineyard after having had 2 bottles of Meerlust before. We had a bottle of the 2008 Pinot Noir recommended to us at the Mt. Nelson, which was one of the most enjoyable wines I've ever had, and we have a bottle of their trademarked Rubicon at the Bungalow on Monday night. Both bottles came via recommendation by the staff on hand and both were incredible. So, we decided that we must check out this vineyard. We were greeted at Meerlust by a long avenue of palm trees that lead up to the main farmhouse. Beautiful grape vines surrounding us on either side and mountains all around off in the distance. It was such a picturesque scene, it appeared that this is what every vineyard should look like.

Meerlust Vineyard

              The farmhouse was very understated but very nicely done. We headed in for a tasting of wines that we had previously enjoyed and also to try other varieties they offered. The Rubicon that we enjoyed at the Bungalow was their signature wine and was exclusive to Meerlust. The 2001 Rubicon won the award for "Best Blended Red Wine" from the International Wine & Spirit Competition and was awarded the beautiful chalice pictured below to commemorate the recognition. We enjoyed the wines we had previously had and the Cabernet Sauvignon especially. We only tried reds as Sally and the three of us are partial to reds. The Merlot was not as good, but the Pinot Noir, Rubicon and Cab were all delicious. We decided to get a bottle of the Pinot Noir and the Cabernet Sauvignon to bring back to the villa and have with cheese and crackers at our leisure. We thanked everyone and headed off, ready to get some lunch at the next vineyard before we had anymore wine.

            The next Vineyard we visited was Spier. The wine at Spier is not supposed to be considered as good as the wine at Meerlust, but the Spier vineyard is much more of a consumer experience with the restaurants and attractions it holds. So, we figure it would be a fitting place to have some lunch and try a few different wines with Lunch. We found a lovely little cafe where we all had a lite salad with chicken, to tide us over for the afternoon while we were drinking the day away. We did a short tasting at Spier, but were not as impressed with the wines at Spier as we were with Meerlust's wine. We did pickup one bottle of Pinotage, which is a blend exclusive to South Africa, which was very good. 

Tasting at Spier

           Sally had essentially been responsible for all of the education I had on wine. In the summer of 2010 I went with her and some aunts, uncles and cousins to Italy. We stayed for a week in Tuscany, went to fabulous vineyards, incredible restaurants and it was there that I first acquired a taste for wine. Now, here I am at another international wine destination enjoying wine with my grandmother, and learning more and more about wine and which wines suit my taste. 

            Before leaving Spier, there was one more attraction we decided we must check out, a Cheetah Rehabilitation Center. My grandmother loves animal print and often times wears blouses that feature zebra or cat prints, so we knew that she must confront on of the animals responsible for some of her fashion in this situation. So she entered the Cheetah preserve and had the opportunity to pet a Cheetah and spend time up close with the remarkable cat.  By the time the visit had ended she was among the most knowledgeable on Cheetahs, explaining that they have 2000 spots, only 7,500 exist in the world today that they are the fastest land animal in the world and various other tidbits of knowledge.

Sally and Sarah with a Pedro the Cheetah

            We had one more vineyard that we planned to stop by before heading back to the villa for our daily sun and pool time. Our final stop was Simonsig Vineyard just outside of Stellenbosch, known for their sparkling wine (they do not use the term Champagne as freely as some of us do in America, and instead stick to the proper term "sparkling wine" for sparkling wine made outside of the Champagne region of France). We decided that since we had already had several glasses of red wine, it would be best if we switched to something cold and refreshing like Sparkling Wine. It was the perfect tasting to compliment the day and keep us interested in what we were tasting and learning about. Peter enjoyed the Simonsig Cuvee Royale so much that he decided to bring three bottles home to keep for a special occasion when celebration was necessary. At my uncle Henry's house in Bay Head, New Jersey, there are several lamps made out of magnum Dom Perignon bottles, because as Sally always tells us, her mother who we referred to as Mimar, used to only drink Dom and would get them in the biggest bottles she could get them in. I've always thought those lamps were so cool and hope one day to have an occasion special enough to warrant the purchase of some magnum Dom Perignon bottles. The Simonsig sparkling wine was delicious and smooth, but not quite Dom, however we enjoyed it greatly and were satisfied that we had such an amazing day touring very different vineyards. We decided it was time that we scurry back to the pool and relax for a bit before we headed back to the Mt. Nelson for a very special dinner we had planned.

Simonsig Sparkling Wine Tasting

The wine country was full of more beautiful views, surrounded by mountains and vineyards that seemed to go on forever. While Peter and I are not the biggest wine drinkers, experiences like this make us much more knowledgeable and interested in wine. It was the perfect way to spend the day and we all loved it. We headed back through the city to the villa, because the day was far from over. We were hungry, but knew it would be best to hold off on a snack in anticipation of the feast we had planned for the night. We enjoyed about an hour by the pool, before it was time to shower and get prepared for dinner.

"I Don't Think I've Ever Drunk Champagne Before Breakfast Before.  With Breakfast on Several Occasions, but Never Before, Before."