Time has been the winemaker's assistant and the first of
the crop is ready to drink. Tents are up
and tables and chairs dusted off. Musicians come from far and wide and a buzz
of excitement vibrates through the air. We rejoice in the product of last
year's labour and the rest that is to come and in life itself.
This much-loved event, with its family-friendly collection of old
traditions and novel attractions, has firmly secured its reputation as a
“must-do” on the Cape’s annual social calendar. This de-centralised affair
boasts a line-up of unique events and activities to suit the fun-seeker,
novice or a wine connoisseur.
There is something for everyone with: ‘Seriously Wine Thursday’, ‘Wine Up
Friday’, ‘Full On Wacky Saturday’ or ‘Wine Down Sunday’. ‘Seriously Wine Thursday’ promises to inspire
wine aficionados with a range of tailor-made activities, for instance: master
wine-tastings, exquisite wine- and food-pairings, educational wine
presentations and private tastings with the Valley’s most esteemed winemakers.
The Wacky Wine
Weekend will embrace the usual line-up of fun-filled activities, for example:
‘meet-the-winemaker’ tastings, brandy tours and tastings, river cruises, barrel
tastings, cheese- and olive tastings, a simulated rodeo bull, a mountain bike
challenge and local performing artists.
The Valley will also be presenting a gastronomic
extravaganza, with visitors spoilt for choice: oysters, abalone, freshly baked
breads, sushi, riverside picnics and plenty of stalls with fresh produce are just a few of the gourmet delights on
offer.
And while the
adults are revelling in these activities, there will, as always, be a wide
range of children’s activities including: fishing, jumping castles, pony rides,
tractor trips and jungle gym
Following on
the successful #RightPlaceRightTime of 2014, the valley will again host a funky
social media campaign, so keep your ears to the ground and eyes on your
cellphone – you don’t want to miss out on this fun aspect of the event as there
are wonderful prizes up for grabs.
Festival-goers are invited to join the Robertson Wine Valley
in supporting their local charities. Help
take the chill out of winter by donating blankets and winter clothing, for all
ages, for those less fortunate. In
return the Valley will reward you with wine, according to the weight of your
donation, with a maximum of a 6- bottle case of wine which weighs about 9kg. All donations are please to be handed in at
the Robertson Wine Valley office, corner of Voortrekker and Reitz Streets,
Robertson.
As part of the
Robertson Wine Valley’s commitment to ensure a safe festival, a Zero Tolerance
Policy is implemented towards ‘drinking and driving’. Visitors are requested to
make use of the Buddy Bus or the Designated Driver Programme. The Buddy Bus
facility enables groups of seven or more visitors to hire a chauffeur-driven
mini-bus.
There will be
two aspects to the Designated Driver option for 2015. The first option will be to “hire” a local
designated driver who will see to your destination requirements throughout the
festival. Contact details for these
drivers can be found on www.wackywineweekend.com.
Costs for the weekend can be determined according to individual festival goers
needs upon booking.
The second
option will be for those individual festival goers who will be enjoying all the
fun but will refrain from drinking in order to be the designated driver for his
friends. This individual will purchase a
passport at R120 to enable access to all the amenities but will in addition
receive a special Designated Driver pass and goodie bag.
Wacky Wine
Weekend Bus-In Packages are also available. A2B Tours will be offering one day
packages, with transport departing from the Waterfront, Tygervalley,
Stellenbosch (Butterfly World) and Paarl, to Robertson, and ‘Buddy Bus’
transport between the participating wineries. See contact details below.
For visitors
from further a-field, Beyond Reach has once again put together great Fly-In
Packages that include flights, car rental and accommodation.
So head out to the
Robertson Wine Valley for a winter getaway at the
Wacky Wine Weekend – where the fun never stops!