Ommi Berg & Palmiet Valley
words: Maryna StrachAn

It would seem that the Paarl Valley wineries still take a major back seat when compared to Franschoek or Stellenbosch. I recently attended the Ommi Berg festival (‘Round the Mountain) hosted by several of the Paarl wine farms to show off their young wines and had an absolute blast!

The day started off at Fairview where we tried out their Ega juice, which is a really refreshing combination of green grape, pomegranate and rooibos. On the wine side Ruzanne, which is a fairly new cultivar in South Africa, so watch this space. The Chenin Blanc, which due to fermentation, tasted somewhat like Appletizer and the Primo Pinotage, which was astonishingly tasty with vanilla accents, considering it had only just harvested.

On we moved to Seidelberg Estate where I was totally blown away by the Rosé, which had the most stunning muscadel flavours and was equally delicious even though I must add that it isn’t a sweet Rosé. And if you aren’t familiar with Seidelberg, I also highly recommend a visit to their amazing glass blowing factory and shop where you can buy the most beautiful glass ornaments, bowls and goodies.

Our final stop for the day was Rhebokskloof. By this time we were already well on our merry way with all of the young wine we’d consumed (high yeast and alcohol levels tend to have an interesting effect on the human brain, I’ve learnt) so we decided to pick up a couple of picnic baskets. I must admit, we didn’t even think of pre-booking one, but when we got to the restaurant, the chef managed to put the most amazing baskets together especially for us.

Baskets in hand and bottles under the arm, we found ourselves a comfy spot on the grass not too far from where musician Pieter Smit was entertaining the chilled yet happy crowd with amazing tunes from the past, a bit of rock, some rugby anthems and a lot of general silliness.

Later that afternoon we were all singing along, dancing on the grass and just having a wonderful time in the Paarl winelands amongst fun-loving people with great wine. The predominantly Stormers supporting crowd even managed to bond with a group of Bulls supporters who were down for the Super 14 match at Newlands and my sister and I simply had to show our love for a particular ‘Stoetbul’ who was very jealous of the Western Cape lifestyle.

Last weekend though, I was invited to a wedding, also in the Paarl area. The reception was held at the Palmiet Valley Estate, located just before the Hugenot tunnel. When we arrived there we were blown away by the beautiful setting.

This feeling was fairly short–lived as the beauty of the venue was quickly overrun by the pathetically poor standard of the food that was served, but what shocked us most of all was the price of the wine at the cash bar. Firstly, the only options available were Boland Cellars’ Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinotage. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m by no means a wine snob (although my friends might disagree with this statement) and I don’t have a problem with Boland Cellars. Let’s face it, it’s nice wine at a good price!

However, Palmiet Valley thought that selling a bottle of Boland Pinotage at R140 was acceptable!!!!! I nearly had coronary heart failure. This is wine one can buy for R35-R40 from any supermarket… RETAIL. I honestly can’t believe that people think they can rip customers off to this extent and get away with it, which is why I feel the need to highlight this to my discerning readers to warn you about this venue.

In the light of the very exciting world event that’s about to put our beautiful country in the media spotlight, this kind of rip-off behaviour should be strongly discouraged. I sincerely hope that there aren’t any other venues that think they can do this kind of thing.

It was such a let-down for all involved as both the wedding party and their guests were sorely disappointed at what was an otherwise joyous and happy day for all involved.
Let’s all work together to make this 2010 World Cup Soccer an unforgettable experience for both South Africans and foreigners alike and by unforgettable I mean, in a GOOD way.

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