Tag Archives: KwaZulu Natal

A Little Wine Tasting

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rose-and-vines

Traditional roses at the end of the rows

KwaZulu Natal is not know for its wine. When you think South African wine, you thing “The Cape.” But this little wine estate in the Midlands is giving the Capies a run for their money.

Abingdon Wine Estate is small – for a winery – with just 3.5 hectares under vines. It is a single vineyard boutique wine producer, the only one certified in KZN. All the grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay, are grown and processed here on the farm. The setting is idyllic, in the rolling hills of the Midlands, close to Howick. And it is becoming a very popular destination on the Midlands Meander.

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The Chardonnay Viognier blend

According to the website, “Abingdon’s maiden vintage, the Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2007, was the first ever certified estate wine made in KwaZulu-Natal. 2010 saw the release of five new certified Estate wines, as well as  the first Chardonnay and Wooded Viognier released in January 2011 and a Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve released in August 2011 – all representing KwaZulu-Natal Wine of Origin.”

Mick and Debbie belong to a wine club that is sort of defunct now, as a lot of the members have emigrated, but the remaining six, and me, enjoyed a wonderful afternoon there. As Abingdon had received a great write up in the Durban paper the day before, we thought it might be very busy. But Mick had made a reservation so there were no problems.

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Wine tasting under the arbor

The drive up to the cellar is a rather bumpy road, but lined with row upon row of grapes that look amazingly healthy. We opted to sit outside under the arbors, with a lovely cool breeze. Our host, Jane Smorthwaite gave us a run down on the three wines available and we decided to taste them all. Along with the wines, we had a lovely mezze platter, with samplings of local cheeses, cured meats and fruit all served with heavy, homemade bread.

The first one we tasted, the Chardonnay-Viognier blend ended up the favorite, but Jane said it was very young and the Chard would become more apparent in the next few months. Debbie described it as “lively,” and I tend to agree, it left a tingle on the tongue. The other two, a Blanc de Noir and Syrah, were also excellent. It could have been that the afternoon temperature lent itself more to the white.

grapes

Bunches growing under bird-proof netting

We also had lunch! And they have absolutely delicious food, served beautifully. Lamb medallions, steak, fish pie in what looked like a very flaky pastry and much more, including dessert! Oh dear, there goes the diet!

Between courses, Jane took us on a tour, showing us the different vines and fruit. The grapes are all harvested and processed by hand. The rows are netted to stop the birds from feasting but we could see the masses of clusters, almost ready to harvest. Jane and her husband are looking for five days of no rain so they can harvest the Chardonnay, and the rest will happen in the next few weeks.

Perhaps I will head up there during harvest for more pix – and another wine tasting session.

A Day Trip to Richmond

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the oaks

The Oaks, where we didn't have lunch

Saturday was a fun day. We took a day trip out to Richmond, about 40 minutes from here, to get some paperwork for Colleen (Bryan’s daughter) who is in a sheltered home. She is going over to see them in April and Mick is sorting things out for them.

It is a really pretty drive, picked Colleen up and went into the town for her passport pix. Richmond is a very “African” town. The streets filled with vendors selling mangos, onions, cabbages and clothes and heaven knows what else. The store fronts all dilapidated and many closed. I wanted to take pictures but was nervous about getting out with my big honking camera, way too obvious and wished I’d been able to buy the little Lumix before I left.

Anyway…

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Putt putt course at The Oaks

Because Colleen gets out so little, we planned to take her to lunch. After a bit of a misdirection, we drove back through town and out the other side, into miles and miles of tree farms. Not much out there but wanted to go to Burne Valley where we thought we might find a cafe or pub.

When we got to The Oaks, we were too early for lunch but walked around a bit. A beautiful place that looked like it has been there for years. It has pool, tennis courts, putt putt, a couple of pubs and a restaurant and a lot of guest rooms around the grounds. It would be a lovely place to go for a few days of peace and tranquility.

It was misty, drizzly day so we didn’t wander too much and went back to the “village” of Burne Valley where we had seen a sign for Etterby’s which advertised itself as a tea garden. Walking in from the road, we were met by the proprietor, a little lady who has lived on the property almost all her life. We strolled down to the house, me expecting to see a cafe or something. Silly me! Her old house was it and she sent the maid off to get table and chairs, while she told us about the place. How the tree farms had destroyed the aquifers, that there used to me abundant water in the valley, and now there wasn’t and she  had to buy village water.

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The classic old house with wrap around veranda

The house is classic, big wide veranda running around it. And the gardens! Oh what a pleasure. Old, established trees and bushes and flowers. On the veranda were starts of all sorts of plants. There was a Pride of India that must have been at least 40 feet tall.

The veranda was full of all sorts of stuff that she apologized for, saying she was storing it for a friend who was moving. All the while, her three dogs trailed after her wherever she went – a black and tan dachshund, an old staffie and little terrier of some sort who wanted to play.

pride-of-india

Pride of India tree that must be 40 feet tall

Our table was brought in from the garden, chairs wiped down and dried, and we proceeded to order toasted sandwiches and coffee, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

As I sat that, I had to compare where I was with back in the States, even Port Townsend which can be pretty funky (or at least used to be) and thought how much better life is with places like Etterby Tea Garden. Where you can’t be in a rush and you can’t expect matching cups and saucers or color coordinated table linen. And where the prices are reasonable and you wonder how she makes a profit, and then realize that she probably runs the Tea Garden simply to have visitors.

All in all, a good day.

 

 

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The veranda

etterby-sign

Tea shop

crinum

Indigenous amarylus

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Our tea spot

AIDS Centre

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When I was here in the early 2000′s, I was quite involved with a group in Hillcrest that runs the AIDS Center, and today we decided to go for a visit. It has grown sooo much, with masses of bead and wire work, a big indigenous nursery, a sewing and craft area and of course the offices and nurses quarters. The store has so much stuff in it that it’s difficult to take it all in. The young woman who runs the craft area, Paula, is still there and her Mum Jill, is also still there.



And of course there are no coincidences.

I could have gone in any day I’ve been here, but no, I wenttoday and they both said they had just been thinking about me! I didn’t realize that the article I did in Country Life put them on the map! And Paula said she had just written to them and given them the story of how it all came about. And here I was today, thinking

about calling the magazine! Hmmm – karma.

I bought a couple of little things – Little
Travellers – that are taking the world by storm. Each one has it’s own story and the Centre is shipping them all over the world. There is a doctor in Canada who has sold so many of them for the Centre that they recently received a check from him for R500,000 which is about $60,000. Not bad for tiny little beaded people. Money like that makes the world of difference to the people who come to the Centre daily for HIV/AIDS care.

It was really good to see them again.

Weekend at Clan

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Clansthal is one of my favorite places on this planet. I have been going there since I was 16 and it holds so many wonderful memories. The cottage is a classic South Coast bungalow, with a wrap-around verandah and red tiled roof. It is on an acre of land and the lawn runs right down to the sand, with just a buffer of indigenous plants to shield it a bit from the wind. It’s been in the Lea family since the mid-50′s I believe.

Pix here

Rosemary invited me down and Zoze came too. Rosemary had to go to a 60th birthday party (very big here) so she could only come down late afternoon but John was going down at lunch time so we met him there. The weather people had been predicting a cold front coming through (thye’ve been saying that for days!) and it was chilly in Hillcrest when we left – I was actually wearing a sweat shirt and closed shoes! But when we got to the beach, it was stunning! Clear and warm – not hot.

Amos, the caretaker, lives on the property in his own quarters. This is still a bit of colonialism – he does everything in the house, makes sure it’s ready and clean, cooks, cleans up, puts out drinks on verandah in the evening, has the coffee ready in the morning. Lovely! He has been with the Leas for eons and has AIDS, but is fortunate to be on antiretrovirals and looks very well. Initially, the government didn’t have the drugs available to the local people, so John and Rosemary paid for his medication for a long time but now he is on government-provided meds. John speaks fluent Zulu, including all the click sounds, and he and Amos have these long conversations – I catch some of it but I have been gone from here for too long to really get the drift.

First thing Zoze and I did, was go down to the annex – it has three bedrooms and a bathroom separate from the house – where we sleep, and then took the dogs down on the beach. Cleo, the rottweiler is a puppy, just nine months old, and Brutus the jack Russel is about six. Cleo is so big and clumsy and she grabs Brutus by his tail and lifts him up and sort of tosses him around. But he doesn’t mind and they play and rough house all the time. They love the sea and head straight in. When we went to the swimming area they went running in and Brutus actually surfs the small waves! It is just the funniest thing. We were in stitches. The beach is loaded with shells and I found several cowries – one really big one. I haven’t seen that many for years.

Again in this area, we found the beaches to be much cleaner than when I was here before. One thing attributing to that, is you have to pay for plastic bags so there are very few thrown out now. But unfortunately, the Indian fishermen almost always leave trash on the beach which is often quite disgusting old bait, sometimes with hooks and lines which is so dangerous. We almost had a problem with Cleo getting hold of one, but fortunately although she got it hooked into her upper lip, the barb hadn’t gone in and as I kneeled on her (the only way I could keep her down, we were able to get the mess out!). But overall, the beaches are wonderful, lined with rocky outcroppings with lovely tidepools. The sea was quite rough so we didn’t swim.

Rosemary got down to the cottage around 4:30 and we went for another walk, much to the dogs joy. And then we went out to an Italian place in Scottburgh, a few clicks south. The others had pizza, and because I am not allowed dairy at the moment, I had the most delicious grilled calamari.

I slept pretty well with the sound of the surf lulling me, but woke up with a sore throat and cold – Zoze has had it for the last week so now I have it. Anyway, after a hot cuppa that we had lounging around on Rosemary’s bed, I felt much better and we went for a long walk on the beach. When we got back, Amos had breakfast ready – a huge breakfast! What a pleasure!

John and Rosemary’s daughters came down and had invited numerous friends – the party kept growing and growing! Michelle has three littles ones, Kelly is almost three and the twins are about 18 months – and each twin has her own nanny! Huge amounts of food were prepared – a big braai! John cooked a big filet (in the oven not on the braai) that was to die for – and I don’t eat much red meat!

By the time lunch was over, there was time for quick walk on the beach before we left, so we could get home before dark. When we drove off, the party was still in full swing and probably went on till dark.