Warwick Wine Estate, Stellenbosch

I was recently invited to a picnic at Warwick Wine Estate as a media guest. The option was to go on the Sunday with Dave, or on the Monday without him, and I chose the Monday option. I was so glad that I did as the weather was amazing, and I got to meet some new people. Instead of going on and on about the Gourmet picnic, all I am going to do is highlight a few things. You can order either a meat lover or vegetarian option and as we had both at the table I can say that the vegetarian one looked amazing and got rave reviews from the one vegetarian person sitting with us. It was also ‘tested’ by Mike and Norma Ratcliffe and both thought it was good. I loved the pickled beetroot, pecan nut, goat’s cheese, quinoa and wild rocket salad and the grilled beef tagliata with aioli and truffle oil but I did not care much for the gazpacho salad with a chilli and garlic dressing as I found the raw onions to be too overpowering.

You can enjoy these picnics (I would recommend you book first) sitting on the deck or in the forest courtyard. If you have a family then you might enjoy sitting out on the picnic lawn and if you want a little bit of privacy, choose one of the 8 picnic pods which are named after the wines. I could also wax lyrical about the big 5 vineyard safari which we did with Mark. Here the vines are related to our big 5 animals that you can find on our bank notes, and in the game reserves. The first vines we came across were the Cabernet Sauvignon and they are related to being the lion. This is the king of the grape variety and the most well known wine in the world. The Cabernet Franc is likened to the elephant as it is big, bold and earthy. Merlot is known as the leopard as it is the most difficult wine to identify in a blind tasting, and the Sauvignon Blanc is the rhinocerous as it is the most easily identifiable varietal in a blind tasting due to its big nose. The buffalo relates to Pinotage as it is a rough cultivar.

But what I most want to focus on here is the wines, and the wine family you could belong to. After tasting the wines on offer at Warwick I have signed up for their wine family. Other than the fact that I enjoyed the wines here are some of the reasons I have chosen to join.

• free delivery (in South Africa) of 12 wines twice a year – I really like that the delivery is free. Even though I could collect the wines, this makes it easier for me. And 12 wines every 6 months should mean that I get just enough white wine to last me as I only use it for cooking
• 20% discount on the wines and wines that are not sold at retail outlets
• complimentary use of facilities at Warwick for functions – they have an outdoor ‘penthouse’ with views that are amazing
• invitations to wine functions around the world

There is no fee to join and if you are interesting in joining please send them Ane Booysen an email at wineclub@warwickwine.com and tell her Tandy sent you. My first case is being ‘assembled’ as I type this, and for my first delivery I am getting:

2 x ‘White Lady’ Chardonnay 2011
4 x ‘Professor Black’ Sauvignon Blanc 2013
2 x ‘Black Lady’ Syrah 2012
4 x Three Cape Ladies 2011

In the wine tasting that we did with Lawrence, we tasted various wines, including the Three Cape Ladies which is a blend representing the three generations of Ratcliffe women. It has a delightful berry scent and is really smooth on the palate. While we tasting wines I noticed that the estates GPS co-ordinates were on the cork. Now taking it a step further, Mike has added @WarwickWine to the corks, encouraging people to join in on the twitter conversation.

Disclosure: I was invited to enjoy a gourmet picnic at Warwick Wine Estate. I was not required to write a blog post about my experience. This post is in line with my blogging policy.

What I blogged:

• three years ago – Friday’s Food Quiz

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