Tag Archives: vineyard

Shriveled black grapes

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Black 'n all shriveled
In my previous post I mentioned the black and shriveled grapes that I tasted directly from a local vineyard - these would be them. Okay, so I didn't have one of the most shriveled - I'm not sure they would be so pleasant, but the moderately-shriveled ones, hiding behind the very shriveled ones - they were pretty good. :)

Tart red / sweet black

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Tart red / sweet black
I noticed plenty of old black grapes hanging from this vineyard as I walked along the perimeter. Many were shriveled as if the moisture had been sucked out of them, but this little bunch was still fairly red, and young-looking.

I decided to try one of the black and one of the red ones - just to compare. The black, slightly deflated, grapes were fairly sweet while these red ones were pretty much the opposite - a little tart. So, i had another slightly deflated black grape. :)

I'd never actually walked along a vineyard, eating grapes, and while I only had about 5 in total, I have to say that it was a somewhat pleasant experience. You should try it some day.

Last of the leaves

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Bright orange vine leaf
The vineyards in our area are more or less carrying the last of their autumn orange-brown leaves. This particular vine grows in our back garden, on our patio's fringe. It's an old plant, established by the garden's original owner.

Looking at the leaf's veins - I wonder if a palm-reader could tell me anything about the plant, it's wine-producing potential, or perhaps its future in our garden. :)

Yellow fields and blue skies

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Yellow fields and blue skies
We took a drive out to Riebeek Kasteel - a little town in the Riebeek Valley recently. If you've been out into the Cape countryside, I'm sure you'll believe me when I say that the view in real life is so much prettier than what this photo portrays!

In case you're wondering, the white nets that you see in photo cover the grape vines. I assume that they're used to protect the ripening grapes from the harshness of the sun. It's curious to me though that only this patch is covered - do you think it could be because this particular patch is used to provide grapes for late-harvest wines?

Red leaves

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Orange vines, red leaves
These could be some of the last autumn leaves to fall. The signs of Spring are already starting to show in our garden - we have a lemon and naartjie trees full of fruit, our proteas have started bearing flower heads, and the air smells fresher than ever.

Even though we've been having great weather, it's not quite time to put away the warm clothes and double duvets. This little taste of warm weather won't last too long - winter isn't over yet! :)

The vineyards are orange

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The vineyards are orange
On 2 February 1659, Jan van Riebeeck (founder and Dutch Commander of the Cape), produced the first wine recorded in South Africa. Today Cape Town and its surrounding areas are well-known for wine production - possibly because of the ideal weather (not too cold, not too hot, with a lovely summer sea breeze to cool the grapes) but more likely because of its inhabitants love the drink (arguably) a little too much. :)

This is a closer view of the vineyards shown in yesterday's post about graffiti. Many vines in vineyards over Cape Town have already lost their leaves, but like this one, some still have a beautiful red/orange hue.

Graffiti, vines and ambivalence

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Graffiti and vines
I normally like graffiti - but I'm not really thrilled by this expression of art. For me it's a combination of the wrong canvas (face brick), the location (which was among the vineyards in Stellenbosch) and I guess the lack of originality that makes me a little ambivalent about the work.

How do you feel about artwork, and about graffiti in general?

Vines and wines of the Cape

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Vineyards of Constantia
After a winter of leafless barren-looking vines, these tiny ones are the first that I've had the pleasure of seeing this spring. In only a couple of months these small vines will be looking absolutely huge with plush green leaves and will (hopefully) be laden with huge and juicy bunches of grapes.

I can't claim to be a wine connoisseur, but I'm very reliably (and perhaps biasly ;) ) told that Cape Town produces some of the best wine in the world. So, if you're not from these parts but would like to try our wines check out wineweb, a local site that allows you to order a huge variety of our glorious wines over the Web.

While browsing I spotted this, well-priced, pack of 6 different wines from the Spier wine estate - doesn't it sound awesome?