LOCATION: Situated in Stellenbosch about a 40 minute drive from Cape Town. Google Map

Click HERE to view the ranking of this farm against others I have already reviewed.

Here is my experience:

It was an absolutely BLISTERING HOT day when I visited. 42 degrees! So I was glad to get under the shade and enjoy some wine on ice.

The entrance is quite grand and you will drive a bit until you get to the actual wine tasting area.

The wine tasting area has a lovely outside seating area which either overlooks a pond or the mountains and vineyards.

The inside area was dark yet cool and welcoming. There was a deli too which sold some preserves.

The wine and cheese tasting is R45 each which is quite cheap to taste 6 wines and taste cheese. I was so excited!

Then I realized why it was so cheap when I saw how little cheese was given. I would rather pay double or triple and get some freshly baked beer batter bread and larger chunks of cheese. It was however tasty – just a little sad looking in portion size when it was so extensively advertised.

This cracker bread was yummy but the jams would not spread onto the crackers. There wasn’t a knife either so it was very hard to eat.

The wine list is incredibly extensive. An A4 page printed back to back. There is service so you can sit back and ask for the waiter to recommend some wines.

The service was so friendly and the waiters knew their wines and all about the farm. I visited on a Saturday – it wasn’t too busy but the waiters were run off their feet trying to serve everyone. I think we waited about 15 minutes between servings but he did apologize. I guess there just wasn’t enough staff. I didn’t mind too much because I just loved these views.

First up was the Anura Brut MCC for R195 a bottle. It is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and we could smell the apple aromas. We were served the last bit of the bottle so it was warm and it had lost it’s fizz unfortunately.

100% Pinot Noir, this Rosé is dry, yet full bodied and has a subtle sweetness of cherries and strawberries. So refreshing when it is chilled 🙂 Only R65 a bottle.

Next up was the Pinotage reserve 2014! I love Pinotage! This wine was aged in new oak barrels for 16 months. 40% American and 60% French oak first fills. This wine went really well with the mature cheeses. A good deep colour, black berry and cinnamon aromas and a rich and full bodied, fruity taste. R160 a bottle.

I am a big Malbec fan so you can imagine my delight when I came across this limited release 2015. Only 2g/l residual sugar and full bodied with 14.88% alcohol. Only the best berries of the pick were used in the wine, manual punch downs were regularly done during fermentation to maximise extraction from these small berries and the wine was left on the skin for 30 days. I must say that this is one of the lighter Malbecs I have tasted (when comparing to Bloemendal Waterlilly which is one of my favourite due to its almost black colour). This is R160 a bottle.

We trotted around the vineyards for a bit which wasn’t far from the tasting room. It made for some cool photos.

Moving onto the signature series is the Anura LB Shiraz for R180 a bottle. It was matured in French oak for 24 months which resulted in a rich, ripe plum wine which exuded spicy black pepper notes on the nose.

Some more serious wines is the Sangiovese (R180) and the Pinot Gris (R85). I could literally taste the honey in the Pinot Gris though it also had good acidity and it was somewhat spicy. Quite a heavy white wine but not woody. The Sangiovese 2014 only had 1200 bottles produced. All the grapes were hand picked  and it was matured in french oak for 20 months. It was similar to a Shiraz for me though it had notes of toffee and herbs too. These would make excellent wines to enjoy with food.

The waiter felt so bad about the service that he surprised us with some more tastings. We ended up purchasing these two bottles for our Christmas meal 🙂  The Cape Cuvée was exceptional – a blend of Pinotage, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz which was aged in French oak for 24 months. A perfectly smooth and spicy blend for R240 a bottle.  The Frog Hill Sparkling Brut was a fun, easy drinking sparkling wine for R75.