Five Reasons to Do A Wine Tour in South Africa (Even if You Don’t Love Wine)
And here’s the kicker: I don’t even like wine that much! I’m not a big drinker to begin with, and if I’m going to order something in a bar it’s generally of the cocktail variety. I’ll drink wine when it’s what’s available, or to be polite if someone offers it to me, but I’ve never really been a huge lover of the grape.
That said, in the past few years I’ve done wine tastings in California, Seattle, and of course, South Africa. I’ve enjoyed them all, and now, wine tasting tours are often on my to-do list anytime I visit someplace that’s known for its vino.
So what’s to love about a day-long wine tour if wine isn’t really your thing? Read on:
Five Reasons to Do A Wine Tour in South Africa Even if You Don’t Love Wine:
- The views. Wine country tends to be pretty in most parts of the world, but South Africa’s wine country blew the rest of the competition out of the water. Some of the most stunning vistas I’d ever seen–green rolling hills, rows of trees, mountains, azure blue skies—made for such a visual feast that the wine and food I consumed were almost secondary. (At one point, while the rest of my tour group stayed inside trying another bottle, I snuck outside to stare at the glorious panorama around me, dotted with more shades of green than I had imagined possible). The views alone were honestly worth the trip.
- The food. The wine tour I booked took us to four different towns and vineyards, including the legendary Stellenbosch. At one location we hit up mid-day, lunch was included with our wine at a charming restaurant with another to-die-for view outside. We had our choice from the restaurant’s menu, and I opted for bobotie, a South African meat pie-type dish with a topping made from custard. Sounds a bit odd, but it was really quite delicious, and a great opportunity to try some local food as I sampled the local drinks.
- The people. I traveled solo to South Africa, and most of the time that was fine—but by mid-week, I was ready to re-connect with fellow travelers and meet some new people. Our tour group was really fun; it included some visitors from around Europe but also, a big group of college students from Australia who were spending their winter break road-tripping around Africa (seriously, why wasn’t I savvy enough to know this could be done back during my college days? I never even backpacked through Europe!) The geographic diversity of our tour made for a lot of fun conversations about life in our respective countries, and what else people had seen and done in Africa (I have to get to Victoria Falls someday). Plus our guide, a native South African, was very friendly, as were all the vineyard owners and staff we met. It was a perfect crowd to share such a special experience.
- They sell other things besides wine! Yep, although many in our tour took home bottles of wine as souvenirs, the vineyards we visited sold other things as well. The first place we hit had a lovely bread and cheese collection, all available for purchase. And to my delight, I was able to find some high-class chocolate bars for sale too!
- The whole experience is really something special. Again, I don’t love wine, but I really have grown to enjoy wine tastings. The ceremony of pouring, swirling, learning where the grapes originate from and why the glass before me tastes as it does, and hearing from experts about the passion they’ve dedicated their life’s work to is really interesting, and something I think everyone should get to enjoy at least once.
So next time you find yourself in wine country, be sure to get out and spend a day seeing and tasting it…especially if you’re lucky enough to be in the Cape Winelands!
Do you love wine tastings? Have you been to Cape Town and its wine country? Any other great wine tasting regions you recommend?
