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South Africa
Friday 15 - Sunday 24 February 2008
The New World
This tour offers some of the most stunning vineyard scenery world-wide, great wines, good food and glorious weather. This is the most colourful and exciting time to visit as it will quite possibly be during harvest. What better excuse to escape the depths of winter back home? It is also the easiest of the New World wine regions to reach as it is a simple direct ten-hour ¾ight with just a two-hour time difference on arrival, so jet-leg is minimal. Our tour starts in Cape Town where we stay in a 4* hotel on the waterfront. From here we explore the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Boulders beach to see its colony of penguins. On our ½rst evening we have a gourmet dinner at the Buitenverwachting estate, elsewhere in the world this venue would deserve a Michelin star. We also visit the great estate of Klein Constantia and taste the fabled Vin de Constance. Our next base is the attractive University city of Stellenbosch. Our wine visits will include personal welcomes by the owners or wine-makers at Thelema, Tokara, Hamilton Russell (where the proceeds from our private lunch with Anthony
Hamilton Russell goes to help the local school), Rustenberg, Fairview and Meerlust. You simply cannot arrange these kind of events as an independent traveller. Sure, you can drop in on the cellar door or walk round the wineries with the rest of the general public - but this is absolutely not the same as meeting the men who created the brand in the company of a knowledgeable wine guide and having an instructive tasting. The itinerary also covers the famous botanical gardens of Kirstenbosch, the Huguenot town of Franschhoek and its museum, the University town of Stellenbosch and the sea-side town of Hermanus. It is easy to forget that the Cape has a long tradition of wine production dating back to the original Dutch settlers. When the British took over in 1806 a new wealth was brought to the country and many of the gracious Cape-Dutch homesteads were built. It was hoped initially that the Cape would become the vineyard of the Empire but quality production didnt really catch on, though Constantia Muscat, Port and Sherry became fairly popular. Since the end of apartheid, there has
Klein Constantia
been much investment and an outward looking attitude. As a result the wines have made a quantum leap in quality and are getting the acclaim they deserve. This will be a small party tour and this trip will not feature again until 2010. The Wine Guide is Andrew Williams.
Little Karoo Cape Town George
Includes
Direct scheduled ¾ights Heathrow / Cape Town (BA), all taxes, coach, 7 nights 4* hotels, breakfasts, 8 meals with wines, visits & tastings, entrance to Cape Peninsula National Park and The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Wine Guide. The maximum party size is 24. (Dates shown are departure and return dates to the UK).
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