Zorgvliet Vineyard Lodge & Spa, near Stellenbosch, South Africa has introduced an intoxicating new holiday experience for wine lovers. The 123-acre vineyard estate, which is situated in the beautiful Banhoek Valley, offers the opportunity to get behind the scenes and see the full wine making process in action from the vineyard to the bottle. For those that like to take it a little easier the holiday also offers wine tasting with the Winemaker, a gourmet food and wine pairing dinner and special TheraVine spa treatments, such as the Pinotage balancing facial.Unlike many other wine estates who keep their wine making a tightly guarded secret, Zorgvliet welcomes guests into their cellar, and offers the opportunity to participate in the process, from picking the grapes in the field to blending wines in the cellar. There is a vineyard talk with Zorgvliet’s resident viticulturist who explains elements such as how the terroir affects the size and quality of the grapes and consequently the taste of the wine, and how they get the best yield from the vines. The Winemaker takes guests through the cellar, which is the most technologically advanced in South Africa, and explains the process from pressing the grapes, the fermentation, to blending and bottling.

The wine theme is even carried through to the spa, where as part of the holiday package guests can enjoy an individual or couples treatment from the TheraVINE range, whose patented process draws on extracts of the vine’s age-defying anti-oxidants. Treatments include amongst others a Pinotage Vine Balancing Facial, Crushed Cabernet Scrub or a Pinot Noir Contouring Body Gel Wrap.

Guests would fly into Cape Town International Airport, which is just 40 minutes away from the Zorgvliet Wine Estate. The city and its iconic Table Mountain is a great place to extend the holiday for a few more days, either before or after visiting the Wine Estate.

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