Durbanville Hills is truly a piece of paradise. Situated, you guessed it, on the hills of Durbanville... Allowing an immaculate view of the northern suburbs winelands as well as Table Mountain, Table Bay and, of course, Robben Island.
Although the Durbanville area is renowned for its Sauvignon Blanc that excels under the cool conditions where it is grown mostly on the cool south facing slopes, the range of red wines also benefit from the warmer valley outskirts and opposing northern slopes.
Since we couldn't decide between wine and biltong or wine and chocolate pairings, we opted for both and shared so that we could get the full experience. We started off with the wine and biltong pairing, consisting of five wines and five types of biltong. This is truly any wine and biltong lover's dream!
The Durbanville Hills Merlot Rosé, a lovely dry rosé with strawberry and raspberry notes, was complemented by the salty and mildly spiced beef biltong sticks. Next up was the Rhinofields Pinotage paired with Kudu biltong which amplified the natural sweetness in the wine. Our third wine was the Durbanville Hills Bastion, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, which was my favourite wine of the day - having a perfect balance between red fruits and spices. We paired this one with some beef chutney sticks which was an absolute winner.
Next was the Durbanville Hills Shiraz with beef droëwors seasoned with traditional biltong spices and complimented by the Shiraz's own spicy undertones.
Our final biltong pairing was quite interesting... a soft and fruity Durbanville Hills Chardonnay paired with chilli chicken biltong. Not the type of biltong I'm used to, but luckily I'm not scared to try new things.
Durbanville Hills has a divine selection of chocolates which we paired with some of the same wines we tried the biltong with - the experience completely different though. With creative names like Blushing Bride and Spiced South Easter, I was quite excited for this pairing experience.
The dry Merlot Rosé's berry flavour combined perfectly with the Blushing Bride chocolate with its dark red rose and raspberry flavours. Next up was a Cabernet Sauvignon and the Echoes of Good Hope dark cherry and malt chocolate. In this combination, the chocolate complemented the fruitiness of the wine and it resulted in a wonderful mix of fruit, tobacco and wood on the palate.
Our second-last combo was the same Shiraz we had paired with the beef droëwors - this time paired with the Spiced South Easter chocolate. The Shiraz is a typical cool climate wine with spicy notes while the smooth milk Cape Malay Spice chocolate is infused with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. An amazing combination!
Our final tasting for the day was the Rhinofields Chardonnay paired with the velvety white Summer Breeze chocolate, bursting with lime and lemon notes. The chocolate complemented the fresh, full-bodied and fruity wine and blended elegantly with the wine's fullness.
Whatever the day or season, Durbanville Hills' wine pairings is a good excuse for an excursion and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
The wine and chocolate pairing costs R65pp and the wine and biltong pairing is R80pp. For more, go to www.durbanvillehills.co.za.
