Drunk!

How gorgeous does this whole mature Gruyere look?

Apologies for the terrible title – a late evening conversation on twitter the other day about advertising slogans reminded me of the CountryLife butter advert which we had in the UK – you’ll never put a better bit o’ butter on your knife – and so I thought I’d plagiarise it for this post.

Because we were having a wonderful time all over Botrivier the other Sunday, and I really can’t see how it could have been any better. Beaumont had invited us to their Open Day and then, following recommendations from several people, we had decided to try Gabrielskloof for lunch in order to make the most of our trip over the pass. In tow were the in-laws, the husband and the child, so it was a packed car which creaked its way over Sir Lowry’s and into Botrivier to follow the painted flowers into Beaumont.

The Open Day is something which Beaumont holds fairly frequently and it’s a wonderful excuse to head down there, taste some wine and then chill for the rest of the day. I ran into heaps of wine-folk such as Niels & Penny Verburg, Jorg Pfutzner and John & Lynne Ford from Main Ingredient – all of them tasting the wines and then snacking on the tables loaded with delicious cheese, bread, olives and tapenades.

And then down to the dam for a swim. Charlie and I went to investigate and found a ferryman happily rowing groups of random kids around in an old boat – some in it, some being dragged behind it with squeals of delight. The blankets were spread all over the place, the corks were being popped and it looked like everyone was settling down for a perfect summer slob-out session. Some of those people are probably still there, lolling around amidst the undergrowth and I’m sure that the Beaumonts will make them very welcome if and when they finally emerge.

Fierce guard dog lying on the lawns, eating a cork.

Then onto Gabrielskloof, a very modern-looking winery sat in splendid isolation at the top of a hill. The winery is named after Gabriel le Roux who first planted vines in this area 150 years ago although those now being carefully shepherded into the bottle by winemaker Kobie Viljoen are a mere 8 years old. The winery has a restaurant, a deli, conference rooms and huge big courtyards with rectangular pools in them. Kids were playing all over the wide stoep, dogs were playing in the water and large tables rapidly filled up with happy families settling in for the afternoon.

Quail & grape salad, steak ‘n’ chips, sorbets

And when the food arrived, you could see why the place was so full. Big plates of honest, hearty, deliciously tasty food which almost floored us all. Followed by equally big plates of equally delicious food for afters as well. The wines have no mark-up from the wonderfully relaxing tasting room and were well-priced and – more importantly – well-chilled. I’ll write more about them later as they rather kindly gave me a bottle of their yet-to-be-released red which I have yet to try. An excellent meal at under R200 an adult head with wine and tip – I thoroughly recommend discovering this bit of Botrivier for yourself sometime soon!