On a recent tour of South Africa we went to Stellebosch for a days wine tasting. We had no idea where we were going but I saw a sign by the side of the road “Waterford Estate”. By this time we were already in late afternoon so we decided to go for it.

After driving for what seems like hours the road turned from a tarmac road into a dirt track. We were really not sure if we had taken a wrong turn of if the place was even there! Eventually we came out the other end and into what seems like a paradise! The place is amazing to look at and the view as you enter the property is exquisite.

We parked up, walked up into the courtyard and were greeted by one of the servers. We were seated in the corner of the maple tree filled courtyard. Such a pleasant place to spend an afternoon.

We were offered the standard wine tasting or the “chocolate and wine” experience. The latter consisted of the standard wine tasting plus 3 wines that were paired with chocolate. This sounded like a gimmick to me, but in most cases I’ll try anything once, so we opted for the chocolate and wine.

The service was very good, the wine glasses were large, and we were presented with generous amounts to try. The server was very knowledgeable too, explaining each wine in turn and the background of how it is made and why it tastes as it does.

The wines from Waterford were really quite special. The whites were very fruity and very different from anything I have tasted before. I cant remember the name of the one I liked most, but I believe it was one of the Pecan river bottles.

The flagship wine seems to be the Kevin Arnold Shiraz. To be honest I don’t think there was a single wine I didn’t like, but that one was certainly very nice.

The chocolate experience was very interesting. Once we had tasted the standard selection our server presented us with a wooden block, like a very thick table mat, laid out in 3 sections. On each section was a wine glass and a slab of chocolate. In between was an explanation of why the chocolate was paired with the wine.

The selection was as follows:

Cabernet Sauvignon - Dark Chocolate
Kevin Arnold Shiraz - Masala Chai Dark Chocolate
Heatherleigh Natural Sweet desert wine - Rose Geranium Milk Chocolate

We were advised to take a sip of wine, then take a bite of chocolate, then take another sip of wine. I was amazed as to how different they tasted and how well they complimented each other. I had ever heard of having chocolate paired with wine before, but this certainly worked really well.

The first was the Masala Chai Dark Chocolate with the Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a lovely combination and made me wonder why I had not discovered chocolate and wine before!

The second was the Kevin Arnold Shiraz with the Rock Salt Dark Chocolate. You can actually see the salt in the chocolate and it is there to make the strong flavour of the Cabernet just that little bit easier to drink. I must say it really worked and this was the one that completely sold me on the concept of chocolate and wine.

The most interesting was probably the desert wine, paired with the Rose Geranium Milk Chocolate. I am not usually a desert wine drinker, but this was so smooth and combines so nicely with the milk chocolate that I think I am now a convert! I just wish I’d picked up a bottle at the time.

To be honest the surroundings help a lot when tasting wine. It is so easy to get totally lost in the experience. By the time we had finished I was seriously temped to see if they had accommodation available!

This was definitely my most memorable and enjoyable wine tasting experience (only slightly pipping the Yodeling experience of of the Peju winery in California!). The setting is simply amazing and the atmosphere is great. I would recommend this to anyone visiting the Stellenbosch region of South Africa and if you go wine tasting there you MUST visit Waterford!

Link: http://www.waterfordwines.com