At 8:50 AM we were ready for our driver to take us to the town of Franschhoek to board the Wine Train. We drove 10 km below the speed limit on the highway and in the distance we could see some mountains. The clouds were pouring over the mountains like the fog from dry ice. I thought that it would be cool if this area was close to our destination. Sure enough it was our destination, the town of Franschhoek. We loaded onto a tram which took os to the station. There we got on another tram and started our wine tour. There were three wineries to choose from using this tram. We stopped at all three. The cool thing about these wineries is that I was not forced into a single format of tasting. I could order just a single glass of wine for 40 Rand (about $2.50), or I could just get a tasting of the red wines. We made it to six wineries all together. We gabbed for a while with a pair of women from Durbin, a couple from Germany and a bachelorette party with folks from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Jupiter Florida. The rain started as a few drops, turned into a drizzle and by the last winery we were waiting for the bus to arrive before dashing out to avoid getting drenched. When we started we wondered how we were going to be able to occupy ourselves for seven hours. Seven hours later we wondered how the day had flown by.
The mountains in the distance
The clouds rolling
We are getting closer
The first tram
Off to the first winery. They drop you off at a winery and you can stay as long as you like in increments of 40 minutes
Palm trees love it here too
The Allee Bleue Winery
It was wine:30 so when in Allee Bleue it is time to have a glass of wine
Tiny proto grapes growing on the vines
A great logo
The estate is sprawling and it could easily accommodate 100's of revelers. This place must be hopping in the summertime
A fine backdrop to the winery
Here comes the tram to take us to the next winery
Solmes Delta was not high on our list but the brochure said we could take a cellar tour without it being pre-arranged. Not so, the brochure was printed in error.
However it turned out that we had a delightful 40 minutes. We even got to see an African Hoopoe. This one had a grub in his mouth like a cigar
The Hoopoe jumped down into this root and we could hear the sounds of chicks inside
Solms Delta had a great backdrop to their vineyards as well
The mountains must provide lots of minerals to enrich the soil
A great set up at Solms
Boschendal Winery is next up
We opted not to sit in the outside tasting area as it was starting to rain a bit
A tree of glasses in the tree
Broken pot art
Fancy display
This guy was stoking the fire the traditional way
But to get it blazing he squirted hand sanitizer into the flames and up it went
This is the indoor tasting area
Very old windows in a very thick wall
Lots of work setting up for tastings
A huge oak tree that is used for their tasting area
Our window was blocked by a gigantic wine bottle
Another glass of red for me
A dessert wine paired with a chocolate treat for Leslie
Heading out to the next winery. This selfie was an opportunity for some folks to volunteer to take the picture for us. That opened the door for further conversations with them through out the day.
Now we shift to the Wine Train, it is a double decker.
We rode on the bottom on our way out and on the top on the way back
Groot Hoot Hoot!
Watch your step, the alcohol may impair your ability to board the train
We get wine glasses to drink on the train!
Off we go!
Our fellow passengers
A bachelorette party. We got to know them later at the last winery
Verde en Lust is the name of the winery, but the restaurant is Lust.
This sign was just screaming for a photoshop modification
Very comfortable surroundings
We sat on these couches. We spent two of our 40 minutes sections here. Mostly because we were talking to two different couples while we here having our picnic lunch
The owner named all of his wines after his daughters, but it was not clear which one was the mischief maker
There were pictures of them on the wall
Daughter or possible Wife. Maybe Miss Mischief did not get a picture on the wall
Lovely thatched roof and extensive grounds
A multicolored bougainvillea, wow!
The structures seemed to harken back to the style of the early settlers
We are back on the train and at each road crossing one of the guys would jump out and wave the flag to stop cars. It is funny because the train went at walking speed, so he could just walk back to get back on the train
Our last stop is the most popular. It has a farmers market and a museum at Babylonstoren
The decorations were very cool and all of the items related to the making of wine
The tasting are was quite modern. We had to wait for a seat for a few minutes but that gave us time to go into the museum. These vineyards were traditionally just grape producers. But in 2011 they started making their own wines
Tall ceilings and room enough for all the awards
Chug chug chug
Cool little dioramas
Monty Python like
Very Elaborate
So much going on
A tunnel to the museum
Woven out of grape vines
The types of bottles used for wine
Other containers used for wine
More openers
27 liters is over 6 gallons of wine!
This is much more reasonable
The local topography
Grape crushing machines
Giant corks
A squeeze and sniff station
Mule! These are the way they would off load horses from the ships
These are the actual harnesses
Loving my flight of three red wines and the bird on pipe ligo
Funky curly decanters
Yes he is in a wine tasting daze
The market area
So many products go into perfumes
Drawers and drawers of stuff
The old boot plant
Can you see the face on the mountain
Approaching Cape Town on our return
Legends of South Africa
