|
As they say, charity begins at home. And
so does our battle against the dreaded
L-word: Litter. With the help of a
sponsorship from Nedbank Business Bank
Winelands, the Stellenbosch American
Express® Wine Routes will from 1
December be driving a programme
encouraging the local community to
clean-up the damage done by
inconsiderate litterers.
Back:
Marthinus Fourie, Regional
Manager of Nedbank
Business Bank
Winelands, Annareth Jacobs.
Front: Johann Krige, Wine Routes
Chairman and Genevieve
Marx, Business Manager of
Nedbank. The dog is Imoya. |
Because first
impressions count, no tourism
region can afford the unsightly
image of litter scarring its
landscape. Especially if that
region is a wine region like
Stellenbosch, one that relies
heavily on its natural beauty.
Litter,
unfortunately, seems to be part
of the South African landscape
and fighting littering is often
an overlooked part of a tourism
strategy.
With the
assistance of Nedbank, the five
sub-routes of the Stellenbosch
Wine Routes will be monitored on
a monthly basis to see which
route has best managed to fight
the litter scourge. Each month,
the winning sub-route will
receive an amount of R2000,
which is to be donated to a
wineland charity chosen by the
sub-route representatives.
As a region,
we need the farmers and the
communities to take
responsibility for the fight
against litter as it is their
land, fences and roads that are
unfortunately tainted by the
selfish acts of habitual
litterbugs, a pest that seems to
be extremely hard to wipe out. |
Not only will this de-littering
campaign improve the surrounds for those
who live and work there, but it will
also help to curb the unsightly image of
a beautiful wine land desecrated by
plastic bags, bottles and other
aberrations.
I especially hope that the children
on the various farms will be encouraged
to participate in the clean-up projects.
By instilling a culture of respect for
the environment and their living
conditions from an early age, young
people will be hardened against litter,
benefitting the environment and the
community on a whole.
Support this initiative. Because it’s
only us that can make the difference.
|
RENOVATIONS and refurbishment are part of
any bustling tourist route. And sometimes
you don’t actually miss something until it
is closed! That’s why it is great to see the
House of J.C. Le Roux has opened its doors
after its lengthy facelift. And now it
really has everything one could wish from a
Méthode Cap Classique cellar.
Insightful cellar tours and tastings in the
ultra-modern cellar, fun-filled picnics in
the sun and mouth-watering meals at the
deli-style restaurant are just some of the
features visitors can enjoy at the House of
J.C. Le Roux. The new oyster bar is the
ultimate aphrodisiac and here visitors can
come and enjoy the oh-so-guilty pleasures of
the finest bubbly served with sea-fresh
oysters.
The House of J.C. Le Roux will be open from
mid November 2007 and Tables at J.C. Le
Roux is open seven days a week from
09h30 till 16h00 with breakfast served
between 09h30 and 11h30 and lunch from 12h00
till 14h00. To reserve your table, or for
information on cellar tours and tastings,
call (021) 865 2590 or visit
www.jcleroux.co.za. |
 |
|
 |
AND how about the super new restaurant at
Hidden Valley Wines?
Award winning Chefs Bertus Basson and Craig
Cormack are proud to introduce their new
restaurant in association with Hidden Valley
Wines. This is a small, service focused
restaurant on the Helderberg mountain range,
with impressive views of Cape Town and the
Stellenbosch valley.
The menu consists of a small, ever evolving
menu, focusing on fresh, local, seasonal
ingredients, of which a great deal is grown
on the property, simply cooked and
beautifully presented.
Lunches are as tasting plates, so join them
for 3, 4, or 5 courses all paired with
Hidden Valley wines. Dinner takes on the
same format as the lunch menu, comprising
fresh and seasonal produce.
For more information, or to book your table,
phone (021) 880 2609, or visit
www.dineatoverture.co.za. |
|
|
|
THE Helderberg Picnic Festival was held
at Dellrust in Somerset-West, attracting
hundreds of eager picnic-goers. Isn’t it
great to see the very civilised and
oh-so-relaxing picnic culture being alive
and well. Besides vineyards, the
Stellenbosch outdoors were created for
picnics!
At this Picnic Festival,
R3000 was raised for Die Burger newspapers
Christmas Fund for the benefit of
underprivileged children.
The organisers passed
around a large Christmas card, and for the
“privilege” of writing a message on the
card, festival-goers could donate a sum,
with festival-organisers CADEK and Dellrust
chipping in to make it R3000.
Hopefully Christmas will now be a bit
brighter for a number of children. |
Front:
Leane Esterhuize (Dellrust
receptionist)
Chris de Klerk (Organiser & owner of
CADEK Media)
Etha (MC & singer)
Back: Lizelle le Roux &
Emrie de
Klerk
(from the group Eclips) |
|
A
NEW DVD series about wine has been launched
with the support of the Stellenbosch
American Express® Wine Routes. The Mzala
Series sees an amiable presenter, Keith
Dudula, travelling around the winelands to
talk about varieties, winemaking and the
wine culture. The aim of the series is to
break down the stereotypical snobbish
attitude that is often associated with wine
and to make learning more informative, funny
and fun.
The
DVD collection is made up of 15 episodes, of
30 minutes each. 10 episodes focus on
specific wine varietals (Chenin Blanc,
Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier and
Semillon among the whites and Cabernet
Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Pinotage and
Pinot Noir among the reds), and the
remaining 5 on Blending, Method Cap
Classique, Noble Late Harvest, Port and
Brandy.
The
Stellenbosch wineries that feature in the
series are: Stellenzicht, Zorgvliet, Spier,
L’Avenir, Flagstone, Bilton, Simonsig,
Neethlingshof and JP Bredell. And the Wine
Routes will definitely use the DVD’s as
educational tool at wine shows and other
promotional opportunities.
|
The
Wine Route Room at the Stellenbosch Tourism
Bureau is currently bussing with activities.
With an average of 20 000 visitors to the
bureau on a monthly basis, it is the perfect
opportunity for us to promote our members.
Daily wine tastings are on offer, and visual
material of all our members are on show on
our new plasma screen. Members are welcome
to make contact with Shantal on (021) 886
4310, or
info@wineroute.co.za,
to ensure that your product is showcased to
visitors to our beautiful town.
Well, that’s
it for 2007. On behalf of the Wine
Routes, have a splendid festive season
and I look forward to seeing you in the
New Year. For those travelling away from
Stellenbosch on holiday, please take
care on the roads. And for those coming
to visit us – we are waiting with arms
wide open ...
Until next time!
Annareth Jacobs
CEO Stellenbosch American Express®
Wine Routes
|
|
|
