Solms Delta Wine Estate

Solms Delta is a beautiful wine estate situated near Franschhoek one of my favorite places. I visited the farm with a group of friends to do the picnic in the forest by the Berg river for a birthday celebration. We had perfect Cape Town weather packed and ready to relax.

They have preserved the history of the farm in many different ways and it is fun exploring the estate with it's breathtaking views of the mountain and acres of vineyards. On arrival you collect your picnic boxes which are prepared if you ordered them as we did upon making our booking. 

After collection and the long drive you are allowed to have a free wine tasting which I suggest you do, the wines are all really delicious as each one became better than the next as well as a Pear cider which went so well with our picnic packs. They also offer the Chenin Blanc at R30 a bottle if you are attending the picnic served nice and cold on this hot day, all the wines have a story behind them and the reason they are called their unique South African names. They then drive you to the river in a tractor which was a fun treat, great for kids.

The Picnic Package is R145 per person and includes biltong and droe wors, bread, butter and crackers.

Assorted cheeses, onion marmalade, potato salad, broccoli salad, coleslaw with chorizo and a greek salad.

Mains were marinated ribs, meatballs, chicken pieces, salsa, fish pate' and cheesestraws. Finally for dessert was caramelised pineapple tarte tatin, mascarpone cream and fruit salad. All washed down with our wine and pear cider made for a great day out. The river is shallow but nice to hear it while you lay on the grass and the tractor collects you at 4:15 to return to the farm. You can buy wines to take home and there are many more events that take place here, concerts, food and wine pairing, trail runs etc.

I suggest everybody visit this estate but its a really nice idea to take your international guests to give them a feel of Cape Town.

Solms Delta Wine Estate

021 - 8743937

Pictures and article copyright by Tamsyn Wells

Babel at Babylonstoren

I have been waiting for ages to visit this restaurant, they are pretty much fully booked every Sunday and now I can see why. Not too far past Stellenbosch is a perfect wine farm called Babylonstoren this farm has it all, animals, garden, food, wine, atmosphere, beautiful venue and great service.

The interior is very clean, crisp and white completely different to the vineyards outside but a perfect match to the simple, clean dishes where most of the ingredients are picked straight from the garden and prepared. The food is very seasonal and one of the few restaurants where I saw Quince and num num berry repeated throughout the dishes.

The first taster of Babel's offerings was the bread, freshly baked, served with the most delicious baked pear marinaded in thyme and olive oil, now I don't like baked or poached fruits very much but this was something I will be making at home with cheese very soon.

We ordered the Voigner, a crisp white wine which went perfectly with my meal. Water is free on the table poured from a tap in the middle of the restaurant.

The menu is fairly small but I still had difficulty choosing as it all sounded really delicious but it being lunch time I had a Franschhoek smoked trout with burnt sage butter, rolled red spinach, quince and something I have never had before is a num num berry which was something like a cross between a cherry tomato and a berry. I often order fish when I want something light and am normally underwhelmed but this dish I would actually return and have it again.

Some other dishes were the Roast Rack of lamb, citrus chardonnay sauce and grilled satsuma.

Roast beef fillet on the bone with anchovy butter, deep fried leek and shiraz sauce

Grilled eggplant in a pizza style with tomatoes, gorgonzola and olives.

Quince and spinach pie with melon salad

Beetroot and turnip carpaccio with num num confit and smoked trout

All the main courses come with a side of the most delicious duck fat roasted potatoes, fine beans in mustard sauce and balsamic roasted beetroot.

I had no space for dessert but they all looked delicious as they whizzed past us from the kitchen and I

was very close to trying the creme Brulee or chocolate fondant, both classic desserts.

I will definitely go back even for their fresh salads and a walk around the vineyards.

Main Courses were between R160 - R180 and our bill came to R300pp

Pictures and article Copyright by Tamsyn Wells