The rewarding wine road in Stellenbosch

Travelling through Stellenbosch

There's a stretch of road no more than a few kilometres long that is possibly one of the most rewarding in Stellenbosch - especially for red wine lovers. Start off at Simonsig on the Kromme Rhee road. This historic property was one of the three founder members of the Stellenbosch wine route (with Delheim and Spier) and it's still a popular destination. Simonsig has a jaw-dropping range - from great value wines such as their Chenin Blanc, to classy Chardonnay, Shiraz, Pinotage, their award-winning sparkling wines and even dessert wine.

The welcome at Simonsig is professional but warm and personal too. The tasting room receives thousands of visitors each year, with the majority being South Africans. Check out the show vineyard in front of the cellar if you want to see how Merlot and Cabernet differ from Chardonnay and Viognier. It's also worthwhile confirming what time the cellar tours are and planning around that. It really brings the whole experience alive by explaining the various steps of the winemaking process. The additional bonus of Simonsig is that they make sparkling wine too - and visiting the bubbly cellar is a real treat. My first ever cellar tour was at Simonsig more years ago than I care to remember and I recall posing for photos in the bubbly cellar.

Next stop is Slaley at the junction of the Kromme Rhee road and the R44. Although established in the late '50s, the first bottling was in 1997. Their reds are good - particularly Shiraz and Pinotage. The tasting room is festooned with paintings of sailing vessels and naval warfare - a tribute to the Hunting family's maritime history. The Broken Stone range (named for some of the original boundary stones found on the farm) offers good value and there's always the unserious but very drinkable Lindsay's Whimsy or the Shatot Plinque, Planque and Blanque for everyday consumption. Olive trees are planted around the cellar - and you can buy Slaley olive oil too.

On the R44, Kanonkop is hard to miss with its old signal cannon perched atop the gatepost. That's the historic origin of the estate's name - the cannon was fired to alert local farmers to the arrival of ships in Table Bay. Farmers would then load their ox-wagons with fresh produce and trundle off to the docks to meet the ships.

The tasting room underwent a revamp a few years ago so is very contemporary and modern in its look and feel but in terms of winemaking it's a very traditional operation. At Kanonkop everything revolves around their benchmark Pinotage and world-class Paul Sauer red blend that you're free to taste, along with the Cabernet Sauvignon. Visitors come from all over the world to experience these wines and on the day I stopped in, other than the tasting room staffers I was the only South African!
If you can get a group of at least 15 people together you can partake in the traditional Kanonkop snoek barbeque - which is a fantastic experience. But if you do decide to go this route, book first because it entails baking fresh bread and ensuring that there's enough apricot jam to go around!

Just behind Kanonkop is Uitkyk Estate with its wonderful flat-roofed Georgian manor house, one of only three in the Cape. Do yourself a favour and either before or after tasting the estate's wines, visit the manor house. Some amazing frescoes depicting the seasons were discovered about a decade ago. I once watched part of the restoration process, with an artist painstakingly flaking off miniscule flecks of plaster and paint with a razor-sharp scalpel. Seeing the full work is testament to the effort. It's haunted too… ask the staff to tell you the story about the ghost which has been seen and heard by too many people to discount!

For R15 you can taste five wines. There was a bit of a hiccup in recent years with the Carlonet being renamed Cabernet and subsequently reverting to its original name. The Cab Shiraz blend is very good too - but try the Flat Roof Manor wines. I'm a fan of the Cabernet/Sangiovese blend with its spicy fruit.

Weekends can be busy as the tasting room is open until 4pm, Sundays included. Highly commendable seeing as most wineries don't make the effort. Picnics are also available - R200 for a basket, which happily feeds two people, but book them in advance. These are very popular and the lawns in front of the manor house are ideal to sprawl out on with your nibbly bits.

Back on the R44 heading towards Klapmuts you'll find Laibach on the left-hand side of the road. WINE featured them two months ago and it's very much a "hot and happening" cellar - as evidenced by their Ladybird 2005 coming third out of 81 wines at this year's Calyon Bordeaux-blend competition.

As with the neighbouring farms, red wine is the focus although winemaker Francois van Zyl makes Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc from some of the farm's own fruit as well as grapes purchased from other suppliers. Laibach's policy of farming their vineyards organically means you will find fennel rather than roses planted at the end of each row of vines. "That's for the ladybirds," Van Zyl will tell you. And the ladybirds in turn prey on the pests that spread disease in the vineyard. Expect well-rounded flavourful reds from this producer - and the prices are reasonable too.

 

Next door is Marklew Family Wines which is open by appointment, so take the trouble to phone first. Either Haidee Marklew or her brother Billy will be on hand to give you a tasting of their range. The tasting room is tucked away beneath some venerable old oak trees, overlooking a dam. Try the Capensis reserve, a Pinotage-driven blend, or the Merlot.

Last stop on the abbreviated Simonsberg saunter is Warwick which, like Uitkyk, is open on Sundays too - until 4pm - so it's no surprise that that's when they're busiest.

They also offer membership of their "wine family" - which allows discounts on wine shipping, quarterly wine packs and even the option of hosting functions in their tasting venue on the estate. Warwick's oak-shaded patio is very restful and is a lovely place to chill out with a glass of their Merlot Rosé, which is only available off the farm.

"must try" wines

- Simonsig - Brut Rosé sparkling wine is the newest addition to their range. With its beautiful copper pink hues and wonderful Pinotage fruitiness, it goes well with smoked Salmon. On the red side, try the Frans Malan, a blend of Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - ages incredibly well and is wonderful with meaty stews since it has delicious spicy fruit flavours. Then there's the Kaapse Vonkel… and the Merindol Syrah…
- Slaley - made a name for itself with Shiraz initially and it's still good, but try the Pinotage. It's from ancient vines and is full of juicy berry fruit.
- Laibach - try the Ladybird red, the organic wine, but taste the Friedrich Laibach Bordeaux-style blend too. It's gentle, warm and full of black berry fruits. Delicious, as is the Merlot.
- Kanonkop - without doubt the Pinotage and Paul Sauer are musts.
- Uitkyk - Carlonet and the Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz blend.
- Marklew - the Merlot was one of WINE magazine's top rated wines in the recent category tasting - and with good reason.
- Warwick - don't leave without trying the Chardonnay and the Trilogy, while the Cabernet Franc is a goody too.