the big constantia

in what i think is the last post in the trilogy of dearsolo goes to cape town, my family and i went to the famous groot constantia wine estate in cape town for a wine tour, cellar tour and wine tasting (along with this really nice canadian couple, eh). my sisters, who both live in cape town, have been to a lot of the wine farms in both cape town and stellenbosch before, and i have always dreamed of learning more about wine.

rephrase, i have always dreamed about learning more about wine so that the really pretentious things i say about wine actually make sense, lol. it was a real learning experience and believe me when i say i can’t wait to do it again, maybe next time in stellenbosch.

we started out with a tour of the constantia house, and it was incredible to see all of those artifacts that are a few hundred years old and are in such pristine condition. natuurlik, we weren’t allowed to take photos but my fingers were itching to at least memorialise some of the beautiful artwork in there. it also made me want a handcrafted four-poster bed, but you know, one thing at a time.

then, we continued the little history lesson where we got to see the original 4000l barrels of wine, vintage vehicles and bottles that they used for the wine. it was so cool to see how far we’ve come, from incredible flat bottomed and short bottles to the shape we have today. a very cool guy also took some cheesy family pictures of use (and a really nice one of my sister and i through a beautiful heart shaped hole in a door).

and then, after seeing ducks that truly do not get wet, we went on the cellar tour. i learnt so much about how the colour of wine stems from how long you leave the skin on the grapes (and that you can make white wine from red grapes, shock horror), the actual process of making wine at groot constantia, that groot constantia is such a famous wine – napoleon even drank it, that’s when you know, and that the barrels are french wood that can only be used three times max before being turned into furniture (i have never wanted a barrel-wood table/chair more in my life). that all being learnt, when we actually did the wine tasting, saying words like “smokey wood undertones” and “subtle fruit-y nuances” weren’t just spewed pretense anymore; i actually (remotely) knew what i was talking about.

the groot constantia wine estate is truly such a beautiful and enriching place, it holds so much south african history as well as wine history. i have never enjoyed being a tourist as much as i did on that day haha.

and now the part you’ve all been waiting for has arrived, i stop writing and start posting more pictures 🙂 until next time,

even though i’ve never been to greece, this feels so grecian to me.

top from forever 21, jeans from topshop, shoes are converse from sportscene