As an ex-Noordhoek native, with a love of the Deep South, It took little more than a mention of a wine festival happening at the Noordhoek farm village for my bag to be packed and ready for the Noordhoek crush.
The festival is in its second year now and is hugely popular, selling out of tickets by the time we had arrived; luckily I had already booked via Quicket. It’s a small venue and was already at absolute max capacity so I was relieved they had capped the amount of people who can attend.
The surrounding restaurants were buzzing as were the 20 producers who had lined up to share their wines with us. I was glad to see some old favorites like Painted Wolf, Ntida, Black Elephant and Moreson not to mention Newton Johnson and Ataraxia who came a very long way to be a part of the festival.There was a good mix of well known and smaller vineyards and I got to try a few I didn’t know like Quando, Mooiplaas, and Maastricht.
The incredible warm weather we experienced meant the white wines and bubblies were flowing and as the live music started so to did the party atmosphere and a bit of sporadic dancing. As with all wine festivals, it can be tricky getting your wine glass filled when people with bad wine festival etiquette hog the wine stands but with a bit of determination you can squeeze in. All in all, it is definitely a fun experience and at R75, a ticket is an excellent value.
