The Robertson wine region must be one of the friendliest in South Africa. I have visited it only a half a dozen times, but it has left wonderful memories with me.

The first time I visited, I decided to stay a few nights. Self-catering at Goedereede was one of my first trips on arrival in SA and it made me determined to do more. It made an indelible impression on my Shih-Tsu dog, too. On an early morning walk amongst the vines we came upon a family of Meerkats who immediately adopted their upright stance. Charlie, my dog, being the softest, friendliest dog on earth, was fascinated and set off to make friends. They scattered of course, but their home amongst the vine posts was our first port of call every day after that. Mind you, I was the same when I discovered the wines.

De Wetshof, Bon Courage and Springfield must have felt like banning me and I went back to Van Loveren a couple of times, also. Forget any blurring that the ‘Four Cousins’ range might have done to the image of Van Loveren (in quality terms, at least), there can be nothing nicer than sitting in their gorgeous gardens with a gratis plate of mini vetkoeks and a range of their Christina Van Loveren wines; especially the delicious Chardonnay and sumptuous Red Muscadel. The friendly service at Van Loveren (and De Wetsof) was much appreciated, not least that the bottle is not whisked away after pouring.

My introduction to Robertson (Bonnievale, actually) friendliness was at Arendsig, with winemaker Lourens van der Westhuizen. After an hour personally showing me round the vineyard and cellar we enjoyed some barrel tasting. Lourens made me question winemaking rules when he told me how his natural yeast Chardonnay can take many months to ferment and how, in true boutique winery style, he has to wait at every stage for the wines to be ready, even if it means giving his Shiraz another six months in barrel. I left buzzing with the generosity shown (I was, after all, just another visitor) and full of admiration and immediately headed to the La Verne Wine Boutique on the R62 to get some Chardonnay for that evening.

De Wetshof lies behind another great memory. Apart from the fact the my friends and I love their wines – particularly the ‘Nature in Concert’ Pinot Noir, both Rieslings (the ‘Mine D’Or’ is pure decadence) and both ‘Finesse’ and ‘Bateleur’ Chardonnays – their customer service saw them go ‘above and beyond’. We arrived for a tasting hungry, it was way past lunch time, but De Wetshof don’t do food. We were visibly upset (and moaning). Seeing our utter desolation, the girls there hurried off and found us something from their own fridge and we sat with bottles of Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir around us, enjoying a free light meal. Worried about Charlie (my dog, remember) - and I’m not proud of saying this – he too enjoyed the meal, out of sight of the girls ! I wonder if such generosity is normal practise in Robertson. That is how you gain customers for life.

Unassuming as the cellar door is, Springfield never fails to delight with its wines. Originally a fan of their ‘Méthode Ancienne’ Chardonnay, recently my palate has shifted to their ‘Wild Yeast’ Chardonnay, it seems purer, cleaner and decidedly better value. I know their ‘Life from Stone’ Sauvignon Blanc has almost a cult following but it has never reached those spots that their Chardonnay has for me.

On to Bon Courage, another favourite, and, by the way, the R317 Robertson to Bonnievale road is worthy of the hype – it truly is a beautiful drive and when I learnt that the different bloom colours are planted to show the different growers it became even more fascinating. The first visit had me take advantage of a lovely Bruére Gold Reserve 2008 Chenin Blanc, on sale at R38! It was rich, textured and savoury and I should have got more. I loved both 2007 Inkara’s, too, but was feeling guilty and resisted the temptation. Their award winning Blanc de Blanc 2007 Cap Classique at R105 was surely a bargain. We enjoyed sitting on benches and listening in on conversations.

Our visit to the equine and rose splendour that is Zandvliet was cut short by the arrival of a group of tourists, including some very pretty girls and my friends thought it best we leave for my own good. Shame their Hill of Enon Shiraz is never on tasting, an issue I have raised elsewhere: I won’t buy without trying. Not a problem at Rietvallei, where the friendly, Burger family service matches their approachable wines. I loved the Estéanna blend, the Red Muscadel from vines planted in 1908 and if you are feeling adventurous, go for the semi-sweet Riesling or Tinta Barocca blend.

The paying, trying and buying issue is a pet hate of mine and touched on in earlier articles. Suffice to say, I don’t like cellars that charge for tasting. I know the arguments but I think it is wrong (just returned from a cellar that wanted R40 to sample their ‘premium’ range – whose average price was R125 and average Platter rating 3 star – not very premium, but that’s a whole other article). So I’m not a fan of Graham Beck. It was more a question of what I couldn’t taste than what I could, most were not on tasting and if memory serves, they wanted R75 for a sip of six wines; outrageous. I was made to feel not only cheap (which I am), but ignorant, the servers had a very patronising attitude and the whole experience was uncomfortable. A friend I was with felt it too and we hurriedly left. And as for their ‘premium’, ‘super premium’, ‘ultra premium’ and ‘icon’ ranges, give me strength. A ‘premium’ wine for R35? Just wrong.

I’m not much of a foodie, so I can’t wax lyrical about Robertson restaurants. I’m more of a braai and beer guy, so the delicious picnic platter beside the river at Viljoensdrift was just right and we are determined to do the river trip from there soon. Lazing on the river with the sun shining and the wine chilling must be one of life’s real pleasures.

The only problem I have with Robertson is what to buy on the way home.

The Almond Grove Noble Late Harvest from Robertson Winery can’t be beaten at R38 a half bottle if you can find any (now discontinued) and if you are looking for enjoyable wines at great prices then stop at Rooiberg Winery; their Cape Vintage made from Pinotage is terrific for R39. Then I have the heart ache of whether to turn off to Conradie for their Pinotage, I usually weaken.

My last memory sums up the people of Robertson even with a spurious link to wine. Four of us had decided, at about 16h00, to stay overnight rather than drive back (the wine link). Somewhere to stay was not easy but after two rejections (nothing to do with wine) we were given the number of their friend who ‘had a place out of McGregor’. It was, in fact, a cottage perched on the side of a mountain in the middle of a nature reserve. Remote, scary but lovely and we enjoyed yet more ‘Nature in Concert’ in front of a log fire. The reason for this story? Well we were told over the phone, ‘help yourself, the key is above the door, leave some money in the microwave’. Would that happen in Sandton? Enough said.

by Dave March