Round up family and friends for a culinary high jink to the Durbanville Wine Valley, just 20 minutes from Cape Town CBD, for a Soup and Sip weekend from 13 August 2021. Wineries across the region have prepared special menus paired with local wines for the event, as they look forward to welcoming visitors back to the winelands.
Among the delights served up will be smoked yellowtail and mussel chowder served with Pinotage; a hearty beef and vegetable potjie, slow-cooked in red wine; and, a brie and fig soup paired with noble late harvest. Each farm has compiled its own offering, which varies from a quick stop-and-eat to sit-down lunches – with the emphasis on spacious, open-air dining in the countryside, and limited numbers.
“We’re super excited about this event,” says Durbanville Wine Valley (DWV) manager Natasha de Villiers. “The past months have been tough on everyone, and we see this as an opportunity to re-connect.
“Durbanville’s history was shaped from hospitality, as a watering place that offered relief to travellers in days before cars and even wagons. Soup & Sip re-affirms this at a time when some warmth and sense of community is most welcome.”
The event is especially family-friendly this year, with the incorporation of delightful kiddies’ “pairings” available at venues, says Natasha.
Another important aspect of the occasion has been a charity drive. Soup & Sip was originally scheduled for July, but when lockdown regulations were scaled up the event had to be postponed. A donation by wineries in celebration of Mandela Day (July 18) however, went ahead.
Members of the DWV came together to make just over 100 litres of soup for Tannie Doekies’ Soup Kitchen, a local feeding scheme in operation for over two decades. The initiative located in Fisantekraal feeds some 300 people-in-need every night.
Mandela Day Soup Kitchen
Durbanville Wine Valley is home to some of South Africa’s most well-known wineries, which have a long history of producing champion wines thanks to the region’s cool climate, and diversity of soils and slopes.
In a recently highlight, the region took top honours at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show (OMTWS) - one of the wine industry’s most authoritative shows - claiming no less than four trophies including Most Successful Producer Overall, Best Pinotage, Best Chardonnay and Best White Wine Overall.
Wineries participating in Soup & Sip 2021, from August 13 to 15,are Bloemendal, Canto, D’Aria, De Grendel, Diemersdal, Durbanville Hills, Groot Phesantekraal, Klein Roosboom, Maastricht, Meerendal, Nitida and Signal Gun.
As they have done throughout the past year, all wineries observe strict Covid-19 protocols to ensure safety and social distancing. Bookings for Soup & Sip must be made in advance and with individual participating farms. Soup & Sip menus and pricing will be posted on the Durbanville Wine Valley Facebook page and website.
For more information about Durbanville Wine Valley, visit www.durbanvillewine.co.za or send email to info@durbanvillewine.co.za.Many of the wines from Durbanville are available for sale directly from the wine route’s website.