This is Cape Splendour’s first entry in ‘The Chronicals of the Travelling Suitcase’
Some time ago, I was asked by the Cape Town Kennel Club to find accommodation for a group of International Dog Show Judges and a couple of their spouses and to share the Splendours of the Cape with them!
They are comfortably accommodated at Ruslamere Guest House and Spa and I had the pleasure of sharing the Splendours of the Peninsular with them on Monday 17th October and the Winelands on Wednesday 18th.
They really enjoyed their day on the Peninsular and were impressed with the lunch at Two Oceans even though it was hectically busy. They also enjoyed the Penguins and the Scratch Patch where they managed to buy a few souvenirs for the folk back home.
Richard was very proud of a deal he struck for a lovely stone carving, he managed to negotiate a price of R750 from a starting price of R1680.
The highlights of the day on the Winelands are almost too many to mention! The first was a very informative and interesting Vineyard and Cellar tour conducted by Riaan the wine maker at Hoopenberg in Stellenbosch. The Judges tasted a large variety of very impressive wines and made a couple of purchases.
At the Cheetah Outreach program at Spier we were treated to a real show. There were 4 new cubs finding their feet on their second day there. A little female cub put on a real show of dominance which the adult mail on the other side of the fence was doing his best to match, it was a total treat!
I think the real highlight of the day was lunch at Clos Malverne where Wendy recognized that a couple of diners at the next table resembled some folk, featured in some large photographs on the wall. I made a polite enquiry and it turns out that it was the first Wine Maker , Jeremy Walker and his wife and the pictures were taken about 20 years ago when they made and won prizes for the first wines at Clos Malvern! This was followed by another polite request which resulted in the very attractive young wine maker Suzanne Coetzee coming to our table and introducing herself and signing the bottles of wine which my Judges purchased. They were delighted!
That was all topped by a really stunning lunch! Most of the diners opted for the food and wine pairing menu which comprised of 4 courses with a generous tasting portion of wine with each dish as well as a glass of their bubbly to start off with. For R168 it was a total bargain. There was just enough time for a pop I at Tokara and a leisurely drive to Franchhoek which they all enjoyed thoroughly.
Some of the judges have been here before and some had not, but I know for sure that they will be going home with some really good memories of Cape Town!