Bikes N' Wine

On our last voyage to South Africa one of my biggest disappointments was that I didn’t make it out to the winelands to tour the local wineries.  On Wednesday Kelly and I made sure we didn’t miss out on a trip there this time.

We booked our trip through a local tour company called Bikes n’ Wine and it ended up being a fabulous experience.  The “Vineyard Meander” tour took us on a 9km ride through vineyards of Stellenbosch with gorgeous views of rows of grapes and mountain ranges all around us.  One of the best parts was that the entire trip was just us and our guide, Gerry. 

The vineyards were an hour train ride outside of Cape Town so it was very peaceful without all the noise of the city.  We rode on dirt trails off the roads to keep away from any cars and for a more relaxing ride.  Our adventure took us to two wineries, Spier and Vredenheim, and an award-winning brandy distillery.  The wines were wonderful.  We sampled different Pilotage, Merlots, Chardonnays and Shirazes that were very tasty.  The brandy distillery was very cool, I’m just not a big fan of how strong and harsh it tastes, though they did give us a welcome drink with brandy and apricot juice that was very tasty.

Along the way we learned how the winelands developed and really enjoyed the natural splendor of the surrounding area.  We also had a delicious African lunch at the Vredenheim estate where I tried the traditional Bobotie dish and Kelly a delectable pizza with a Bobotie meat topping.   The great lunch, wonderful bicycle ride and tasty wines made it a perfect day of cycling the countryside of South Africa.

What a great combination.

I had to sit in the leather chair and look reflective while drinking a brandy.