Stellenbosch

Preview of Agimpels’s blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: www.travelpod.com This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator. Learn more about these videos: www.travelpod.com

Longlands Country Estate is a unique development in the heart of the Stellenbosch Winelands. It offers the opportunity of an authentic rural lifestyle in near proximity to all modern conveniences. It is situated 5 minutes from central Stellenbosch on the M12 within easy access to the airport, schools, university, hospital, etc. Longlands is conceived as a community with a cohesive character that incorporates not only the natural beauty of its idyllic location, but also custom-designed common areas such as the Longlands Oval, where adults, children and families can participate in leisure and recreational activities in a secure environment. The estate comprises 100 residential houses, and the balance is dedicated to landscaping, dams and extensive vineyards. Contemporary Cape Winelands Architecture offers individuality of architectural design within consistent parameters. State-of-the-art security ensures real peace of mind whilst also providing total privacy and a sense of open space. Other unique features of this development includes fibre optic telecommunication cables for telephony and security lines as well as terrestrial and digital television and the Internet. It will be the first estate in the Western Cape to feature a central online gas system. There will be a modern environmentally-friendly grey water system in addition to the fresh water supply.

Charming 4 star hotel in the heart of Stellenbosch Winelands

Preview of Carlaandmike’s blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: www.travelpod.com This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator. Entry from: Stellenbosch, South Africa Entry Title: “The Wine Country of South Africa” Entry: “Wine tours — they have the reputation of being very snobby and stuffy. We’ve been to the Napa Valley and had a great time so we had to check out South Africa’s vineyards, especially since the tourist industry here really talks it up. Our first wine estate was Vergelegen — I still have a hard time pronouncing it. Taking the tour you realize you have to have some serious capital to own/start a winery — at least this kind of winery. Although located on property that has been cultivating wine for hundreds of years, the wine factory itself was ultra-modern and had a state-of-the-art design. There was fresh grass and a pond on the roof of the building and instead of machines pumping the precious grape juice to the next process — gravity is employed. However, the storage facilities are old-fashioned — using primarily French Oak and some American Oak. The equipment alone costs in the hundred of millions — US dollars. But obviously the wine industry is an enormous business and there is money to be made — because in a 3 town area there are literally hundreds of wine estates. The tour guide at Vergelegen was young so we stayed for awhile chatting with him about not only wine but South Africa as a whole. He …

A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Stellenbosch, South Africa by TravelPod blogger Agimpels titled “Wine Country”. TravelPod is a company of TripAdvisor™. Agimpels’s travel blog entry: “Day 14 – Wine country Now THIS was a day we all had been looking forward to. We had been to Napa, Sonoma, Monterey and South Florida (yes non-believers, tropical wine) and now the believers are making the pilgrimage to South Africa’s Wine Country and Stellenbosch in particular. As we mentioned, Gordon’s Bay was the center of our little world. A short 20 minute drive and we were there. We had not planned specific wineries as it would be like trying to find a single penny in hundreds. They all had to be good. Trust us, they were. We sampled brandy and some of the best wines anywhere. We also ordered a lot of wines to be shipped or, if they winery had US representation; we got the information for that. We arrived at Spier Wineries around lunch so here we stopped. Not only do they have a nice tasting area, they have a crafts market, restaurant and well manicured grounds. They also have a Cheetah Sanctuary. Right after lunch Xuchi and I headed there. They had some young, under a year old, cheetahs we could pet. These are wild animals abandoned and unable to live in the wild. They were so beautiful and purred very loud when we rubbed their backs. Oh, yes, we did get lots of photos. We got into the van and to explore heretofore uncharted wineries. We did stop and Van Rhys for …

great wine area near Cape town – wine tasting at its best…..