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Wine Tasting at Hermanuspietersfontein
Sip and swirl award-winning whites and reds in a handsome Hermanus tasting room
Finish the week with a Friday wine tasting at Hermanuspietersfontein; sampling the handsome Hermanus cellar’s red and whites won’t cost you a pretty penny.
By offering FREE, Monday to Saturday tastings of its across-the-board four-star (as awarded by South Africa’s premier wine guide, John Platter) range, the winery aims to share the fruits of its labour – and of its impressive BWI (Biodiversity and Wine Initiative) champion farm – with visitors from near and far.
Specialising in Sauvignon Blancs – Hermanuspietersfontein claims five – Bordeaux blends and Rhone-style blends, the wine farm boasts a vast and varied assortment of vino, from easy-drinking lifestyle wines to serious, more complex contenders.
Hermanuspietersfontein and its winemaker, Bartho Eksteen, pride themselves on their ability to not only consistently claim a collection that ranks well overall, but also on their knack for creating something startlingly different, but no less delicious.
As an outstanding example, Swartskaap, meaning “black sheep” in Afrikaans, is the only single-variety wine in the range – hence the name – and is (here’s the surprise) a Cabernet Franc. Primarily used as a blending grape due to its tendency to pick up acids and tannins, the Hermanuspietersfontein varietal remains unscathed by the handling process year after year, and has won three SA Terroir Wine awards as of early 2012.
Similarly, the winery’s Number 5 Sauvignon Blanc is also given an atypical treatment – it’s lightly wooded in French oak – but nonetheless, the unique approach has paid off: the wine won the 2010 Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year award.
Apart from a wine tasting experience that yields, arguably, one of the most well-rounded ranges in the R321 wine route area, the sampling session is also an unexpected opportunity to brush up on a bit of local lore and sustainability principle – both cornerstones of the Hermanuspietersfontein identity.
The wine farm was named in honour of the Dutchman who founded Hermanus – Hermanus Pieters – and is an outright display of pride in community and in place. The story permeates every stitch of the winery’s fabric, and makes for a great accompaniment to the vino.
In the same vein, sustainability is central to the Hermanuspietersfontein ethos. The farm from which the grapes are sourced is devoted to conservation and environmentally-friendly farming practice; thus, great care is taken to create a product that’s as tasty as it is pure and honest.
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am – 5pm; Saturday: 9am – 4pm; Sunday (Dec 15 to Jan 15 ONLY): 10:30am – 3pm
Tip: Aside from the regular tastings, visitors are also encouraged to scoot by the cellar on a Saturday for the once-weekly Hermanuspietersfontein food and wine market. Roughly 19 vendors sell homemade goods and fresh produce, and kids and dogs are welcome. Get there early to claim a picnic table and to win a fair go at the market’s finest wares.
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Looking to overnight in Hermanus or surrounds? Hermanuspietersfontein has three charming farm cottages just outside of Stanford.
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