So you want to learn more about wine, but don’t want to sit in a stuffy tasting room with  a Mr. Know-it-all sitting next to you who was clearly knows more about wine than you may ever aspire to. You’d like to learn and explore and have a good laugh with a great guide on a well-planned trip and not HAVE to spit it out!! We will show you how to make wine and at the same time how to appreciate wine.

African Story has a trip that’ll make a believer out of you!!

The Route

This full day wine tour departs daily from Cape Town, and stops in South Africa’s most affluent and world- renowned wine regions.

Paarl proudly bears the title of the third oldest town (1657) in South Africa, it was named after a giant granite rock glistening in the sun after some rainfall and it was named “Diamond and Pearl” mountain from which the name Paarl later was derived. The Mediterranean-like climate of this region and fertile soil is perfect for the vine, giving it the opportunity to produce some of the best red wines in the world and is well known for its Shiraz.

Franschoek used be called Oshoek by the Dutch (1687) as herds of elephants used to roam the valley, which sadly is no longer. The Dutch were soon joined by the french Huguenots in 1688 fleeing religious persecution, and that is how the name Franschoek (French corner) was derived. It has a sad and rich history of slavery and apartheid, with many fascinating stories. It is a most fascinating and beautiful towns, which is much envied by other wine routes, ringed by the majestic Groot Drakenstein Mountains. Franschoek has called itself the culinary capital of the cape, with many internationally recognised restaurants. Franschoek has one of oldest Voignier traditions dating back to the 16th century. Some of South Africa’s oldest and most famous wine estates are found here. There are Grand old Cape–Dutch farmhouses and wine stores which have proudly watched over the land for centuries and the vineyards and wine estates still produce some of the country’s top wines today.

Stellenbosch is the  a fascinating second oldest town in South Africa (1679), steeped with history and featured in the “New York times” as one of the must see wine routes in the world. It is the wine region with the most wine farms in South Africa, with more than 200 of the 800 plus wineries. The town was named after the governor Simon van der Stel.  Many of the future wine makers are studying at the “University of Stellenbosch” or “Elsenburg College” in Stellenbosch wine region making it quit a student town. The region has the perfect terroir for grape varieties such as cabernet sauvignon Shiraz and merlot etc. The South African clone of pinot noir and hermitage making Pinotage was also invented here. The region continues to produce world winners in many varietals of wine.

The Wines

• We will try many varietals of wines (white / red/ rose), blends, cape ports (Fortified wine), method cap Classique, desert wines etc.
• We will try new wines as well as older wines, so you can taste the difference
• We will taste heavy wooded as well as light wooded wines
• We will try get to know South African wines
• We will try taste and enjoy it all

The Cellar Tour

• We will explain the history of South African wine
• We will explain the winemaking styles
• We will talk about viticulture and vinification
• We will explain the wine making process (oenology)
• We will explain the making of cape Port, Method Cap Classique / sparkling wine (Champagne), brandy etc.

The tasting room

• We will taste many South African wines, port styles, MCC's (Champagne) etc.
• We will find out more about how to taste and drink wines
• We will talk about Food / sweet pairing
• We will talk about wine and health
• We will talk about whether and how to store wine
• We will taste, test and try many of the wines, cape ports, MCC etc.

The vineyards

We visit farms in the Paarl, Franschoek and Stellenbosch wine region daily including Sundays. We visit Fairview (www.fairview.co.za ), and Villiera (www.villiera.com ) most days.  We will visit four vineyards daily choosing the best for the day and try not spending the whole day in the vehicle, but at the vineyards.

We also enjoy visiting farms that are pesticide free, environment friendly, carbon neutral, animal friendly, have education trusts, have staff programs, social programs, empowerment deals etc.

The Lunch

An lovely a la carte lunch is part of the tour to help you further the day....giving you enough energy to refuel and recharge, ready for the last leg of our wine-inspired wandering. The scrumptious lunch caters for all tastes; we serve meals from the traditional “Grandmas Baboties”, “Cape Malay curry”, variety of salads, delicious burgers etc. We also try look after the vegetarians with food like “Mushroom Risotto” and “Vegetable Lasagne” etc. We can cater for those with special dietary needs. The restaurant is a very popular one in the Franschoek valley with fantastic views of the mountains and has very friendly staff.

(The lunch may change due to availability or reasons)

The Guides

Bruce Storey has been a professional tour guide for many years, and the experience speaks for itself. African Story tours also uses other professional guides that are professional, friendly entertaining and will give you an awesome day. We at African Story Wine Tours will offer you an entertaining, friendly, memorable day out in our beautiful winelands, showing you more about our wines and have some fun.

The tours

The schedule tour runs daily (including Sundays), departing from 8-30 am to 9-00 am and returning at about 5-30 pm. The tour will cost R545-00 pp which will include all wine tastings, cheese tastings a fantastic lunch, cellar tour etc.  We depart and return from Cape Town city or near, but shuttles can be organized for the longer distances.

We can also organize the following tours (Price on request):

• Private tours (Big or Small)
• Corporate tours
• Team building
• Special tours
• ETC.

The Inside Story

The best part of the trip is exploring the road less travelled...which is why we take you to a few spots that we considered to be the best kept secrets in the cape winelands We taste lots of goats and cow cheese, from the creamy, spicy, fruity  to the strong blue cheeses. We also try to get chocolate (Belgian / South African), olives, olive oil etc all subject to availability and time.