A Long Weekend In The Elgin Valley

About an hour’s drive from Cape Town lies the Elgin Valley, ‘the place you drive through on the way to Hermanus’. It’s worth stopping over, however, as we discovered during a long weekend spent cycling, hiking and tasting wine in the valley…

- Liza Van Deventer

Our weekend starts at Wildekrans Country House, a historical Cape Dutch homestead at the foot of Houw Hoek Mountains. Owner Alison Green and her architect husband, Barry Gould, moved here from Johannesburg in 1999, after Alison’s father gave her the property as an early inheritance.

We set out for a walk in Kogelberg Nature Reserve with our guide, Patrick Mapanje, whose vast knowledge of the fynbos habitat is astounding. We see so many protea species that it’s hard to keep count.

It’s worth exploring the Kogelberg area on foot. Two slack-packing trails include Wildekrans on the itinerary: the 60km Green Mountain Trail and the 50km Blue Mountain Trail. They combine guided hiking – carrying only a daypack – with comfortable accommodation, home-cooked meals and top-notch wines, which the Elgin Valley has become known for.

After I’ve had a refreshing swim, Alison opens A Simple Red, a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend that Barry made himself in his kitchen.

In the morning, a scenic drive via Viljoenshoop Road brings us to Almenkerk Wine Estate, where friendly staff greet us at the modern tasting room. This family-owned estate is a partnership between husband and wife Joris and Natalie van Almenkerk. The Belgian/Dutch Van Almenkerk family bought the farm in 2004 and bottled their first wine in 2009. Through trial and error, 11 years later they have become one of the top wine producers in the region. This, Natalie says, is mainly thanks to her husband’s determination to learn more about winemaking and the chemistry behind it. We search for him in the cellar, where he suddenly appears, whooshing down a fireman’s pole from the office on the first floor.