Gabrielskloof Wine Estate’s stunning Tuscan-style restaurant, surrounded by vineyards in Western Cape’s Bot Rivier, is embracing its surrounds with Mediterranean taster platters. Available until the end of May, the informal platters are best enjoyed on the veranda, with views over the landscape, or in the shaded courtyard.
Each taster comprises four wines and five small snack-dishes, as well as a Schiacciata Coll’uva – a traditional Tuscan focaccia made with grapes. Bites include chorizo and calamari, pan-fried with red wine; mini-lamb kofta on tzatziki; hummus with fried chickpeas; dolmades; and, a fresh Caprese salad with fior di latte mozzarella, tomatoes and basil pesto.
“Now is the time to take a drive in the countryside,” says Nicolene Finlayson, tasting room manager and wife of the Gabriëlskloof cellarmaster. “The cellar has awakened with the promise of another bountiful harvest and visitors might get a sneak peek of the winemaker and his team at work and even taste the season’s grapes, fresh off the vine.”
Visitors can expect to see a working wine farm in operation; experience the cellar at the height of its activity; and, even join in the harvest.
Making the most of the splendid late summer weather, the Mediterranean tasters are available daily, bar Tuesdays and Sundays, until the end of May and the cost is only R250 per couple sharing. Gabriëlskloof’s normal trading hours at the tasting room are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm and between 11am and 3pm on a Saturday.
