Wine harvest season is upon us. At last. The Cape Winelands have abundant harvest festivals for you to partake in and enjoy. So take your pick and get stomping, so we can all enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Delheim Start of Harvest Festival
Date: 28 January
Tickets: R50 per person. Children under 18 free of charge. Only 130 tickets available.
Get knee-deep in grape juice to the tunes of a live jazz band. Gather from 12 noon on the shaded riverside lawns behind the cellar. Picnics featuring gourmet cuisine can be pre-booked. Food available on the day will include beef fillet ciabattas, bratwurst hot dogs and chicken salad. A competitive grape stomp relay event to be held at 3pm with prizes up for grabs to winners and grinners.
Your ticket includes entry to the festival area, live jazz, a glass of partially-fermented grape must, a traditional sweet mosbolletjie, a cellar tour at 12h30 and participation in the grape stomping competition. Picnic hampers can be pre-booked at R130 per adult and R65 per child. Delheim wines, soft drinks and coffee will be on offer throughout the day.
Visit www.delheim.com for more info.
Hanepoot Grape Picking at De Krans
Date: 8 February to 3 March
De Krans Wine Cellar will once again offer visitors the opportunity to pick deliciously sweet Hanepoot grapes. This experience can be enjoyed every day (except Sundays) from 08h00 until 16h00 during the above mentioned dates. Grapes cost R4.90/kg and visitors are welcome to bring their own containers. Containers can also be purchased at De Krans. The Vygieshof Home for the Aged will be offering delicious braaivleis meals on Wednesdays and Saturdays, between 11h00 and 14h00 (booking is essential). You will also have the opportunity to sample, at no extra cost, De Krans’ range of 2011 award-winning wines (such as their Cape Tawny Port).
For more info: Phone 044 213 3314 or email [email protected].
Robertson Wine Valley’s ‘Hands-on Harvest’ festival
Date: 24 to 26 February
The fourth Hands-On Harvest Festival offers visitors a chance to partake in: grape picking, bunch sorting, stomping your own grapes, grape vs. wine tasting, a harvest market, vineyard tractor trips, a wine blending experience, wine tasting by horse cart…. and much more. The group sizes for activities are kept small to ensure that you have the very best hands-on experience. There are a number of well known wine estates and bisto’s taking part, for a full list take a look at their website. All activities need to be pre-booked by 22 February.
For more info visit www.handsonharvest.com.
The Spier Harvest Festival
Date: 25 February, 10h00 – 16h00
Cost: R70 per person (includes a wine glass as well as 5 tickets that can be used for either wine tasting or games. Tickets can only be purchased at Spier on the day.
Spier celebrates its annual harvest on the banks of the Eerste River. Cellar Master, Frans Smit, will bless the harvest and his winemaking team will lead the annual grape stomping challenge! Bands will be playing throughout the day, there will be a market offering delectable treats, and while you are there you can taste Spier’s award-winning 21 Gables and Creative Block wines as well as their Method Cap Classique.
For more info go to www.spier.co.za.
Grande Provence Harvest Festival
Date: 25 February
Tickets: R290 per adult & R130 for children under 12. Adult tickets include a bottle of Angel Tears wine on your departure. Special rates for groups of 10 or more.
Start coffee and muffins on arrival. With a satisfied belly take a tractor ride down to the vineyards for grape picking. Make your way back to the cellar for a tour, wine tasting and talk by Jaco Marais award-winning wine maker. Now the fun part! Stomp the grapes in barrels! Reward your hard work with a braai accompanied by live music in the garden under the old oak tree.
To join the Grande Provence Harvest Festival contact Nicole on 021 876 8600 or email [email protected].
Darling Cellars Crush Day
Date: 25 February, 07h00 for 07h30
Tickets: Adults R220 pp , Teenagers (13 -17) R150 pp, Children (12 & under) R80 pp. Includes a whole bunch of goodies. Bookings are essential.
Picking, Crushing, Eating & Drinking in the Sun! The day includes breakfast, picking and crushing your own grapes (plus your very own wine and lable to come 8-10 months later!), label design competition. A traditional West Coast lunch & Wine tasting is available.
For more information and bookings contact Johan on 022 492 2276 or email [email protected].
Dusk Harvesting, Music and Picnic Dinner at Nederburg
Date: 25 February
Tickets: R200 per person (includes the picnic-dinner and a bottle of Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve wine per couple), R65 per child under 12.
Nederburg has won extensive awards for their wines. You could be a part of their next big wine by joining the winery’s twilight harvest. On arrival enjoy a sparkling wine cocktail and a special Nederburg gift. Freshly-baked mosbolletjies, bread rolls and korrelkonfyt made from Pinotage grapes will be available to snack on.
The expert harvesting team who will teach you how to hand-pick perfectly ripened grapes. After harvesting, you’ll get to taste freshly-pressed grape must (slightly fermented grape juice). You will experience the journey of harvest from vineyard to the bottle. A harvest picnic dinner and some fine Nederburg wines will next be served on the sprawling lawns to the performance of Sterling EQ.
Booking is essential. Contact Sunette Rust on 021 862 3104 or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Avontuur Harvest Festival
Date: February to March
Tickets: R200 per person including Avontuur breakfast, bubbly & coffee. (Booking is essential).
Avontuur’s harvest runs during February and March on week days.
For more info visit www.avontuurestate.co.za.
Vrede en Lust’s De Savoye Harvest Festival
Date: 3 March
Tickets: approximately R295 per person (children under 12 are free). Only 150 tickets available.
Details for this event have not yet been updated on the website but expect similar running’s to previous years. Tickets include the Harvest Lunch, lots of wine on tap and all activities on offer. There will be a secure play area with nannies where food and cold drinks will be provided.
Visit www.vnl.co.za
Harvest of Joy
Date: 3 March
Harvest of Joy is held on the banks of the Breede River between Worcester and Villiersdorp. It offers activities such as river boating, canoeing, mountain bike competition, as well as wine and olive tasting of all the cellars and estates in the Kwaggaskloof area. Participating cellars include Alvi’s Drift, Stettyn Cellar, BC Wines, Aan de Doorns, Eagles Cliff, and Overhex Wines.
For more info visit www.worcesterwineroute.co.za
Eikendal Weintaufe
Date: 4 March
Tickets: R60 per person (includes glass and barrel tasting). Kid’s under 12 free.
Eikendal is known for its acclaimed Chardonnay and superb flagship reds. Visitors will get to taste the cellar’s first wine of the 2012 harvest – the flagship Chardonnay– straight from the barrel, after it has been baptized.
Bring your picnic blanket and laze at the water’s edge with live music, craft stalls, lucky draws, vineyard tractor rides, fly fishing, barrel stomping, pony rides and loads of kiddies entertainment. Food and wine will be on sale.
For more information on the festival or to book your tickets prior to the event contact the cellar on Tel: 021 855 1422 or send an email to [email protected].
Paarl Omniberg ‘Round the Rock’ Festival
Date: 10 March
Tickets: R60 for over 18s (includes wine tasting of young wines and a commemorative glass)
A harvest festival perfect for the family. For the adults: preview young unfiltered wines, pick your own grapes, stomp grapes and learn how a grape press works. On top of this you can also test your winemaking skills by creating your own blend! Kids can take tractor rides, enjoy jumping castles, slippery slides, pony rides and a ride on the famous goat’s wagon. With 12 participating farms it is good to know that a shuttle service will run between farms.
The participating farms are Druk My Niet Wines Boland Kelder, Fairview, KWV Wine, Laborie, Mellasat, Nederburg, Rhebokskloof, Ridgeback Wines, Spice Route, Under Oaks and Windmeul Kelder.
Go to www.ommiberg.co.za for more information.
Wellington Wine Harvest Festival
Date: 17 to 18 March
Wellington celebrates the bounty of their harvest with the 6th Wine Harvest Festival. Spend the day or better yet make a wine-filled weekend of it with family and friends. You can book your accommodation here. The full programme and list of participating farms has not yet been confirmed but keep a close eye on the festival’s website for the latest developments.
Visit www.harvestfestival.co.za for the latest on the festival.
Durbanville Wine Valley’s The Feast of the Grape
Date: 21 March
The Durbanville valley celebrates the fruits of their labour with the annual Feast of the Grape. Hosted on twelve wine farms and falling on Human Rights Day, the event marks the end of the grape harvest and the arrival of autumn with a one-day feast filled with grape gastronomy, country fare, live music, squishy grape-stomping, hay rides in the vineyards and, yes, plenty of seasonal wines to sip.
Participating wine farms include: Altydgedacht, Bloemendal, D’Aria, De Grendel, De Vallei, Diemersdal, Durbanville Hills, Hillcrest Estate, Klein Roosboom, Meerendal, Nitida and Phizante Kraal.
For more info visit www.durbanvillewine.co.za.
Franschhoek Oesfees
Date: 24 March, 10h00 – 21h00
Tickets: Early bird R95. Pre-book online R110. At the gate R130. Kids under 12 free entrance.
The Franschhoek Oesfees is held at Solms-Delta Wine Estate. It is a heartfelt ‘thank-you’ to the valley’s farm-workers, to celebrate their hard work and bless the year’s harvest. Expect artists from all over SA entertaining thousands with the sounds of Cape rural vernacular music such as Ghoema, Cape Jazz, Langarm, Vastrap and Boeremusiek. Headline acts include David Kramer, Theuns Jordaan, Chris Chameleon, Emo Adams, Hot Water, Tribal Echo and Hannes Coetzee, and many more. Local ‘Kaapsekos’cuisine will be served.
Visit www.solms-delta.co.za for more info.
