Do not expect a visit to all the obvious wine estates destinations when booking a quality day cheese and wine tour in Cape Town with the self-styled cheese affineur and wine sommelier we discovered.
If you are an explorer at heart, and long to experience a part of the
Cape Winelands many tourists never get to see - while meeting prize winning cheese and winemakers along the way - this quality day tour of the winelands comes highly recommended.
Each wine tour is unique and personalised: On the African Terroir tour your day could start with a scenic drive and a discussion on terroir that will wind past Camps Bay towards Muizenberg. Here you might stop at a cosy Levantine deli overlooking one of Muizenberg's favourite surf spots.
Lazily gazing at the sea over a coffee and a traditional Levantine breakfast, you'll become acquainted with your fellow travellers while breaking, dipping and dunking your bread into traditional pastes, rubs and cheeses.
Afterwards you could be taken on a guided tour through the deli, where olives are cured and fresh olive breads are baked.
You might even be brave enough to drink a shot of fresh olive oil infused with hints of apple and cut grass, whilst your guide informs you that Mediterranean winemakers always drink a shot of olive oil in the morning to line their stomachs, and good tasters never brush their teeth before a tasting.
Stomach lined, your day tour might take you past the Cape Flats towards the Stellenbosch winelands, for a stop at an award-winning brandy distillery.
After savouring prize-winning brandies, you could end up at an overgrown fairytale farm with stunning views of the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Table Mountain. This charming Stellenbosch wine estate is coloured by so many poetic stories regarding previous owners, that you'll feel like you've been transported straight into a Dickens novel.
Here you will commence to taste some of the best independently made cheeses in the Western Cape, paired with a crisp salad, freshly baked bread, and a selection of the estate's signature wines.
You'll learn everything and more about cheese and wine while savouring cheeses from various award-winning SA cheesemakers. Like the Gouda, bought from an eccentric pensioner who makes acclaimed cheeses out of his garage in the seaside town of Somerset West.
The estate's sommelier will also weave stories: Like the romantic tale about the first owners' wife - Ansella van de Caab - an Angolan girl who was on her way to Portugal to marry a soldier when her ship was pirated off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope. We won't give away the ending, but don't fret, it's a good one.
After a relaxing afternoon under the oak trees, your cheese and wine day tour of the winelands surrounding Cape Town might wind its way through the mountains towards Franschhoek where you will be taken on a tour through a Champagne cellar housed in an old abandoned quarry and observe the age-old tradition of Sabrage.
So if you're looking for unique things to do in Cape Town: Take the road less travelled on a journey that will evoke history and awaken the senses. We qualify this quality wine day tour as one of the best wine tours to do in the Winelands from Cape Town.
Molo Says: "We've been around the block - and can say with authority - that this cheese and wine tour of Cape Town and surrounds is something special. Contact our travel team or phone +27(0)78.686.75.05 to book this tour at cost price.
