Wining, Dining, Photographing, and Partying

Today, I went on a wine-tasting and sight-seeing tour with Petra to the area known as Stellenbosch, the winelands of South Africa. Remember, the drinking age here is 18. We called upon one of the drivers that drives a lot of the ProjectsAbroad volunteers around named Sinclair. Sinclair is a retired schoolteacher who used to teach history, making him a perfect tour guide. As a result, he offers all sorts of personal tours of the surrounding area of Cape Town; he explained that he wanted to take me to places that the big, commercial tours wouldn’t take me - sort of an “insider’s guide.”
Sinclair was extremely friendly, fun to talk to, and really knew his stuff. We drove about 20 minutes from Cape Town and were soon in the midst of beautiful mountains, wondrous water, and several other breath-taking sights. He stopped at key points along the way for us to take photos – he always knew the best places to stop, too. I have attempted to put up a few of my favorites in this post.

As we passed all of the beautiful mountains, he said, “Now you understand why the Dutch took so long to give this place up!” Indeed, I did. He even took us to the shantytown areas that were remnants of Apartheid, where thousands of people still live; the sight of it all is a little staggering.Shantytowns.

We stopped at three different wineries along the way, and in between, Sinclair explained the history of the Cape. I tried all sorts of different wines, and I think I gained enough knowledge to be on my way to being a sommelier (an expert in wines).

Petra and I are wine experts.

I can’t decide whether I’m more of a red wine or a white wine person, though; they definitely both have their pros and cons. I guess they’re both good in different situations.

Sinclair explained to me that the geography of the area lent itself particularly well to making wine since the large mountains blocked harmful wind from damaging the vineyards in the valleys. He said that of all the wines that Cape Town exports now (it’s apparently one of the top revenue sources currently), the Pinotage is the one that started it all. So.. I purchased a Kumkani Pinotage that I particularly liked.

We also tried a dessert wine called a Stellenbosch Hills Muscat de Hambourg that was my favorite – it was sweet (but not too sweet) and warm; I can see myself curling up with a good mystery novel by a fireplace, drinking a glass. I got a bottle of that too - it's only produced at that cellar and is relatively rare.

No, I didn't take this picture. But this is the place we went =]

Decision time: do I drink the wine here or ship it home? I’m leaning towards shipping it home; perhaps we could have a “David arrives from South Africa and now we get to drink this South African wine in celebration” party? I don’t know.

I’m thinking it’s illegal for me to take wine back into the US since I’d be under 21 and in possession of it when I come back, so maybe shipping it home is best. Of course, if a situation turns up that requires celebration here…. ;)

Sinclair also took me and Petria to a local restaurant he liked called Dros. I had the oxtail, by his request. It was AWESOME but tedious since you had to cut all of the meat off the bone. Fun fact: South Africans are not big on napkins or refined table manners (I’ve noticed this at home too). Trying to keep up my cotillion skills on such a messy dish was difficult, and I eventually traded my knife and fork for the ten-finger approach.No one was looking at the camera except me.

In all seriousness, it was an exquisite day where I got to see the beautiful sights of rural South Africa, taste some great South African wine, and enjoy great company at the same time. I think I could get used to this South Africa thing.

I should have brought sunglasses.

That evening, we attended a 50th birthday party for Philly’s twin brothers. It was like a mini-church service mixed with a huge party; several people got up to give testimonies or talk about their faith, and then people prayed and said nice things about the birthday people. I talked to Derrick and he says that since they have such a large family, every big birthday is a huge ordeal. They even had a DJ! Although here are my observations about South African music tastes:

• Michael Bublé, Justin Bieber, and Alicia Keys are insanely popular.
• 80s and 90s classic rock are still big for adults here too.
• They sing “Happy Birthday” with like 2 or 3 added verses. It’s kind of ridiculous.

And now, I’m sitting here writing this post while Sebastian rocks out to his Bee Gees Greatest Hits DVD for the umpteen millionth time. A good night.