I Heard It Through the Grapevine!

Although we've been so busy, we have also had time to appreciate South African culture in a variety of ways. Last weekend we took a trip to Altydgedacht Vineyard. We learned all about the history of the wine industry and spoke with the owner of the vineyard. The wine industry is uniquely South African and I've made it a point to purchase wine made in South Africa and experience all the flavors that I can! We went on a tour and we were shown all about how wine is made and how much effort is takes to make great wine. We learned about proper placements of each type of grape in the vineyard to make sure the airflow and temperature are proper for the grapes to ripen and grow just right, not too sweet not too sour. It was interesting to hear about this business and learn that often time ownership of the vineyard is passed on by family lineage. We also found out that vineyards provide job opportunities for many people so not only is it profitable but it helps to make more jobs available to those who might not otherwise have work. The business is interesting and I was shocked to hear how much it depends on accuracy. I did not understand that the wine industry was such a delicate and exacting process. 

I gained my appreciation for wine then when we had a private wine tasting. We learned how to properly taste the wine by examining its color and smell before actually tasting it. We practiced swirling the wine in the glass to enhance the smell and then we carefully tasted each sample. This was nice and I felt pretty sophisticated. I definitely did not like all the types we tried but the owner of the vineyard took his time to explain how each wine was made and go over all the components. It was nice to see his compassion and knowledge especially because I had never known anything about South African wine culture before then! Overall it was a great experience to learn and taste new things. We of course had a great deal of fun too!

After we were all flushed from our wine we went to Stellenbosch, which is another famous vineyard and tourist destination and had lunch at a place called Moyo's which serves buffet style food from the Cape to Cairo. The food was amazing but mostly we had fun listening to performers and getting our faces painted with traditional designs. We spent a good amount of time exploring the gardens and the gift shop on the outskirts of the vineyard. Just being outside and appreciating nature was refreshing after many long trips on our tour bus. We all boarded the bus with bottles of wine to take home to our families and a new respect for farming culture and vineyard life.