Cellar door review: Cape Point Vineyards
Apart from Table Mountain, there can be few places more sexily evocative of Cape Town than Cape Point and Chapman’s Peak. And Cape Point Vineyards has both the name and the prime physical address: No 1 Chapman’s Peak Drive.
Cape Point Vineyards also has an awesome reputation for its wines, grown and made by winemaker/viticulturist Duncan Savage. But today is less about what’s inside the bottle than our unannounced and anonymous experience at the tasting room, which opened in 2009 – a showplace when compared to the fairly industrial site on the opposite side of the valley where owner Sybrand van der Spuy’s winemaking venture had previously shared space with his kaolin-mining activities.
It seems quiet as we crunch through gravel from the parking at the back of the buildings, which are fittingly sun-baked clay in colour rather than Cape Dutch white. There are several unoccupied tables outside, no doubt perfect for the overspill of tourists during peak season; equally perfect for parents to keep an eye on offspring hanging upside-down on the wooden climbing frame at the far end. Child-free this Friday lunchtime, we head for the wind-protected stoep, which is reached via the chandelier-lit tasting room – a cool space (in terms of temperature rather than teen-speak) dominated by a 300-year-old tapestry depicting Bacchus and an enormous antique teak cabinet, both part of Van der Spuy’s private art collection.
The tasting-room attendant comes forward to welcome us, seamlessly running through the three tasting packages – R10 to sample the two second-label Splattered Toad wines (of which R1 from each bottle sold goes towards saving the Western Leopard Toad from extinction), R30 for a ‘premium’ tasting including the Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and R50 for the ‘elite’ option which includes the Woolworths Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc and the flagship Isliedh Sauvignon-Semillon blend (made in such small quantities that purchases are limited to three bottles per customer).
We opt for the latter, not only because we want to taste everything but also because it will accompany our lunch – a platter of six hand-crafted cheeses served with bread, crackers, olives, pears, dried apricots, honeyed nuts and a sweet-chilli jam (R135 for two). Perhaps pricey at first glance, it makes for a very satisfying lunch, with the generous tasting samples rendering it unnecessary for us to consider ordering a bottle of wine.
The attendant pours our first flight, briefly explaining how the Splattered Toad Sauvignon Blanc (R38 ex-cellar), Woolies label (not available for purchase) and CPV Sauvignon Blanc 2010 (R90) were made. “I’ll come back with the second flight when I see your glasses are empty,” she smiles – and remarkably she does, despite the fact that she’s single-handedly juggling wine sales and phone calls while conducting tastings and waiting on seven tables. We’re impressed – but something’s gotta give, and sure enough I notice a table of Germans going thirsty while they wait for a specially requested taste of Isliedh.
As we sip our way through the Isliedh 2009 (R235), Chardonnay 2009 (R135) and Splattered Toad Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon (R48), we note the arrival of another person to help – and that’s our cue to settle in for a long, lazy afternoon.
VERDICT
LIKES
Pleasant, polite and ultra-professional staff, delicious cheeses, stunning wines.
DISLIKES
Spittoon had to be requested. Lunchtime too busy for one person to handle without cracking.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
Just a short drive from the entrance to Cape Point Vineyards is the Noordhoek Farm Village, boasting must-visit restaurants such as Food Barn and Café Roux.
www.noordhoekvillage.co.za
CAPE POINT VINEYARDS is located at the Noordhoek end of Chapman’s Peak Drive.
Open Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 17:00, Sundays from 10:00 to 16:00.
Tel 021 789 0900
www.capepointvineyards.co.za
