Wine Tasting in the Westerness...

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Somerset West (about 45 minutes drive out of Cape Town) is known to some of us Sea Pointers as the Westerness. We spent the weekend there, visiting the beach (the water is warmer), visiting family and most importantly, wine tasting. In Somerset West itself, there is a section of land covered by vineyards and a looped road with three well-established wine farms: Lourensford, Vergelegen and Morgenster.

I had been dying to visit these farms as I've heard so much about the food market at Lourensford, the beautiful scenery at Vergelegen and I remember having wine from Morgenster once before and noting how delicious their reds were. So on that premise, we went on a mission.

We started at Lourensford, which I immediately recognized because I had done a trail run a few years back along the property. Unfortunately there was no market on, so we just headed straight for the wine tasting.

The tasting room is beautiful. We sampled some olives and cheese while we tried the various wines. They have a small deli inside and they sell delicious honey from the farm. The olives are also divine, juicy and fat with flavour.
The wine tasting was around R20-R30 per person and we tried 6 wines. They also have a brand new bubbly, so look out for that. I liked the Winemaker's Selection viognier 2010 the best.


We then popped off tho visit the estates boutique coffee roastery: The Coffee Roasting Co.
As it turns out, they'll make up a coffee (in the style you want) for free, as a tasting. So I ordered an espresso of the La Fatima, while my husband had an Americano with milk of something else that was a little too strong. We decided to buy a bag of the La Fatima (about R45 for a 250g bag). 




For more info on Lourensford, visit: http://www.lourensford.co.za/
Roastery: 021 847 0536
Winery: 021 847 2300
Opening Hours
Tasting Room
Monday - Sunday: 09h00 - 17h00
Public Holidays: 09h00 - 17h00

After feeling all warm and ready for fun, we headed to Morgenster Wine Estate, and, as I originally thought, the red wines are delicious. We ended up buying probably one of the most expensive wines I have ever bought directly from the farm. R320 (2005 Merlot Cab sauv) for a bottle - but it was so dreamy delicious, and truth be told, we've already drunk it. So much for 'waiting for a special occasion'... 
At the cellar, guests have a choice between the Italian tasting and the estate vertical tasting (the same wine from various years). 
We did one of each although I think the vertical tasting is more interesting.
021 852 1738
Morgenster Wine and Olive Estate is open to the public on the following days:
Monday - Friday: 10:00 - 17:00
Saturday & Sunday: 10:00 - 16:00
Public Holidays 10:00 - 16:00


We ended our day with a stop at Vergelegen, where we did a wine tasting and chilled out to enjoy the rest of our afternoon. We liked the chardonnay 2011 the best and are saving it for a summe rlunch (R95).
Tasting/tour fees

  • Tasting @ R30 for any 6 wines available, excluding the Vergelegen Red and White
  • Tasting @ R10 each for the Vergelegen Red and White
  • Cellar Tour @ R20 per person including a tasting of 4 premium range wines
  • Opening times
    Tastings 09h30 - 16h30
    021 847 1334
    http://www.vergelegen.co.za

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