South African Wines Part Six: Wine for Friendsgiving

tom turkey at Babylonstoren

We had plenty of red wine on hand for the upcoming Friendsgiving we are hosting at Valley Lodge. But we were sadly low on whites so we took the opportunity of being in Cape Town for the Volvo Ocean Race to pay a visit to some local wineries and purchase a few bottles.

First stop, Franschhoek and the magnificent Babylonstoren estate. There are two ways to sample the wine at Babylonstoren.



The first is the traditional tasting room. Five wines are offered but I knew what I wanted - their signature white Chardonnay. So I just cut to the chase and purchased four of the 2012 vintage. But I did taste their signature red, the Babylonstoren Shiraz, with lunch. Not on my list to purchase but I do like Shiraz with turkey so why not? I bought a couple of bottles of the Shiraz as well.

The second way to taste wine at Babylonstoren is along with a delicious farm to fork meal at their popular restaurant Babel. 

truly farm to fork

Along with lunch, I had a glass of their signature Shiraz. Hints of scrub and spice made it the perfect accompaniment for my salmon and fruit salad with vygie or native sour fig dressing.

Closer to Cape Town in nearby Constantia, we visited Steenberg Vineyards. A few times. We dined at two of Steenberg's excellent restaurants, Bistro sixteen82 for tapas and the elegant Catherina's for a more traditional meal. Dinner at both were excellent and their winemaker JD Pretorius was just awarded the Signature Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year.

We drank a bottle of the Steenberg sparkling Sauvignon Blanc along with our oysters at Bistro sixteen82 and purchased some more at the adjacent tasting room to bring back for our friends for Friendsgiving.

We had to take photographs of the other wines we drank at Catherina's because they were not produced and therefore not sold at Steenberg. We want to remember them for our next gathering visit in the Cape Winelands. The 2011 Eikendal Classique from Stellenbosch and two wonderful dessert wines, a Muscadel from Graham Beck and a Muscat de Frontignan from Vondeling.

Luckily we still have a bottle of the Vin de Constance which we will be serving at Friendsgiving this year!

And speaking of dessert, one last stop for the Shiraz Port from Kloovenburg in the Shiraz Valley near Riebeek-Kasteel.

This part of Swartland is also known for its olive production so along with some of the 2008 Kloovenburg Cape Vintage Shiraz Port I bought for Friendsgiving, I picked up some dried olives for the accompanying salads and garnishes.

Happy Friendsgiving!