Wine on the River - Robertson

This weekend past hubby and I attended the annual Robertson Wine on the River festival. At R135 a head I must say I was expecting one heck of a show. Parking was well organised even for the very busy Saturday that we attended, we were also pleased to see that their was a card facilities to pay for tickets (we were 5 people) however the mobile ATM van was broken on the day. On entering the festival we were given our goodie bags ( ah sorry, I cant say I was particularly over the moon with a plain very average wine glass "not even embossed" and some advertising in my goodie bag) The first thing that struck me was the size, or lack of. Yes is was busy but surely the organizers expected this? People where literally jostling for seating space. The view across the river was spectacular, but any goods spots where long gone by the time we got there. Surely more space could be allocated for this once a year event?

We opted to try some wines and check out the stalls before finding something to eat, this turned out to be a bad move. However we came there to taste some wines so it was off to the stalls. There were certainly a good selection of wine makers on hand, and no lack of wines to taste, but to be very honest that was pretty much all there was. It wasnt long before we had tasted more then enough wine and we found ourselves looking for some form of entertainment, there was a "stage" but with no band and background music playing it didnt exactly draw us in. We did enjoy watching some locals doing something that resembled line dancing.

Being a born shopper, I was looking for a clothing stand or two, but alas these were not to be found, at one stage I thought I had found something but was terribly disappointed to discover what I was actually heading for were aprons.We didn't go on the boat ride, the fact that it was an additional charge was a bridge too far for me. Oh yes I also so some great hat ideas, clearly this guy thought he would provide some entertainment. LoL nice one "box head dude"

There was also a distinct lack of food tasting going on, the biltong stand didn't offer any samples before you purchased and I couldn't find very much in the way of cheese and olives ( a few stands that's it !) I was however very impressed with the Strictly Coffee stand where we enjoyed an exceptional ice coffee and great service.

The children's  entertainment amounted to two ponies and a very small trampoline. It is very naive to think that people attending wine festivals don't  have kids, maybe a kids corner with "paid" child minders would of been a good idea?

Back to the food. We had our eye on some lovely looking lamb burgers, but this was clearly not meant to be as by the time we went to get some they were sold out, (this was only 4pm) The hunt was on for something to eat, sold out was the order of the day. With the help of some line hopping from a desperate hungry hubby we managed to bag the last of some delicious lamb curry.

The shadows started to lengthen and we decided there wasn't much more the festival could offer us. I felt rather sad and more then a little disappointed. I believe the organizers would do well to take note of the "Oom die Berg" wine festival  held in Paarl which at less the half the price offered visitors so much more in the way of entertainment, variety and value for money. Would I go back next year?  No. Sorry but we are more the "fun day" type of visitors who enjoy being entertained on our day out  "grape stomping" and the like is more our thing.



At least I got to see the beautiful part of the Cape called Robertson -  and bonus,  discovered the Strictly Coffee online coffee club to keep my coffee addiction fueled.

Finding the Balance

This weekend I was treated to a fantastic outing to the Robertson's Wine Valley. Hubby and I with some great friends spent the day at Farmer RedBeard. What is Farmer RedBeard I hear you say? Well to explain this I need to tell you more about this traditional farm steeped in history. The farm has been in the Van Zyl family since the 1700's, they traveled across the bushveld from Cape Town with the hope of a better future. Their ox wagon tracks are still marked into the rock of the Langeberg mountain as witness to the tale of the hardship they endured to get there.

We arrived at just after 10am, greeted by Farmer RedBeard, his wife, Jack Jack the Jack Russel and Oggies the farm dog cross. We sat at a purpose built open fire with a choice of home made rooibos tea or traditional farm coffee brewed on the fire. We moved to the farm house where Mrs Red Beard spoilt  us with home made breads, cheese and fig jam. (The jams and honey are sold at the farm and online) Then it was time for the tour...

The farm is huge, with over 30 hectares of it farmed. There is vineyards of the finest grapes, some of the vines are over 100 years old; orchids brimming with  peaches, apricots, figs and dotted about the farm are several occupied bee hives. There are two dams both teaming with birds and wildlife.  We went on a tractor ride, which I can highly recommend, Farmer Red Beard and Mrs Farmer RedBeard entertained us with tales of past harvests and historic family events that have taken place on the farm. We started at the main house passing "DieOuHuis" which offers farm style accommodation to visitors and sleeps up to 8. Passing through the vineyards we began our assent up the mountain passing a "secret" camp site, complete with an old bus which will be used as unique overnight accommodation.  (this is not ready for guest yet but keep an eye on the website for details) 

The views were incredible and at no stage did we feel rushed or pressured. Both Farmer RedBeard and his wife speak of the balance the Farm gives to their lives and after an hour of the tour it finally dawned on me what they were talking about. Nothing on the farm is commercial, the balance between nature and Farmer is perfect. 

Farmer Redbeard is in the last days of completing his masters degree in Viticulture and explains in laymen's terms the importance of persevering the ecosystem for future RedBeard Generations.

  

All too soon our tour was over and we made our way back to the main farmhouse. Pappa Redbeard and his wife joined us and we were treated to some amazing Fig Liqueur and oh so smooth home made brandy (met ys ja!) 

We regretted not having booked an overnight stay as by now we were completely relaxed and loving the stories Pappa Red Beard was sharing with us.

There is no doubt we will be back, but this time for a weekend, we would like to try our hands at the "hands on farming" experience that the farm offers, and if we are very brave we may even try the Bee-keeping and honey making experience. Personally I want  to soak up more of the good old fashioned hospitality and genuine respect the family has for the land. As for my balance, there was a marked improvement in my stress levels for the rest of the weekend. Wow can you imagine the difference  a whole weekend would make!

See you soon Farmer RedBeard x