Last week, I was invited along with a small group of bloggers to indulge in an exciting new canapé and wine pairing out at Beau Constantia. It was my first visit to the fairly new boutique wine farm and it totally blew me away. As it’s high up in the hills of Constantia, it overlooks this huge terraced valley. Also, as the restaurant and homestead were designed by a fancy pants minimalist architect, you kind of feel like you’re on an especially glam episode of Top Billing.

This is the view from inside the restaurant/lounge area:

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As for the canapés and vino, this particular gastronomic journey is the brainchild of Chef Tjaart Walraven who’s currently running it as a pop up experience on the farm.

For just R135, you get to indulge in five of the farm’s wines paired with five decadent canapés inspired by a particular country which changes every two weeks. Being spoiled, I got to try three different menus; one inspired by Asia, another by Mexico and the last being typically South African.

Of all the menu’s, I most enjoyed the Asian one; the creamy pea and ginger soup shooter (served cold) was out of this world and I’m a total sucker for chicken satay or pretty much anything that comes smothered with peanut sauce. When it came to the South African menu, I was all about the sticky, syrup-drenched koeksister.

Wine-wise, we were served varying combinations of Beau Constantia’s easy-drinking Pas de Nom line plus two of their reds (Lucca and Aidan) and a voignier (Cecily). While all them where good, I was most impressed by Cecily. Despite listing spicy and sweet-sounding notes (coriander, violets, apricots and orange blossom), to me it tasted crisp, light, green and invigorating.

In fact, it was one of the nicest whites I’d tried in ages. I actually wanted to buy a few bottles before leaving but by the time we all got up from the table I was somewhat paralytic it had totally slipped my mind. I can’t tell you how grateful I was for the shuttle service provided by The Constantia Wine Tour. Our driver, Blake, is a Constantia boytjie born and bred so knows the area like the back of his hand and full of interesting facts.

Despite a killer headache later that evening (ah, day drinking, you evil thing), this was a fab day out. If you want to experience it for yourself, pop on over to Beau Constantia. You don’t need to book and can also opt for a smaller canape experience consisting of just three canapes and wines for R75.

Love, love

Leigh