Wine Tasting in the City

When a friend of mine forwarded me an email with a link to free tickets for wine tasting, I had 3 pairs printed before he could say cheers. Wine tasting on a Wednesday in some of Cape Town’s hippest venues? Yes please.

Tuning The Vine is an urban wine tasting event with a difference – it marks Cape Town’s first Inner City Wine Route hosted at some of the city’s newest and most exciting venues. For R150 you get a glass, access to all the wine tasting in 13 venues between Bree and Wale Streets and the option to partake in cellar talks and taste challenges.

We collected our glasses from Tjing Tjing on Longmarket and headed off to our first stop, Weinhaus & Biergarten on Bree. The boys wanted to catch the first half of the rugby, so we got stuck there for a while enjoying the likes of Hartenberg, Rickety Bridge and newcomer Township Winery, who make all their wines in the township community of Philippi.

Then it was back to tapas bar Tjing Tjing to harass the guys from Villiera, who, as the bubbles only tasting, were extremely popular and being unfairly overworked by the champagne-loving crowd. Also on the menu at Tjing Tjing were Creation and Beaumont, a family-owned and run wine estate headed up by Nadia and Sebastian Beaumont. As Nadia said to me, sometimes when things get tough she reminds her husband that they literally are living their dream.

From there we made our way down to Wale Street, popping into the cellar at the Taj to sample 3 Constantia wines before descending on the tucked-away Twankey Bar for Domain De Deux and some much needed food.

Overall the evening was a great success, despite us only visiting 4 out of the 13 venues. It’s very easy to get stuck when you’re enjoying good wine and great company. A couple of people in my party didn’t enjoy walking the distance between venues, but otherwise Tuning The Vine is a well organised event and an excellent way to spend a Wednesday night.

The next event is on Wednesday 11 November and you can buy your tickets here.