Vinotherapy
‘Wine, women and food, give gladness to the heart
– Egyptian proverb
It’s fantastic to be in Cape Town during the winter months. There are fewer tourists and things are far less hectic than in December and January, when the schools are closed and visitor numbers are up. And it’s corking to be here for all the Cape winter wine events; wine fairs, gluhwein and Christmas in July. It’s all about the wine!
Our passion for great Cape wines was developed here.
We are spoilt for choice. Cape Point Vineyards, our local estate, is a short drive away from Magpie. Over the mountain is the Constantia wine route: Steenberg, Constantia Uitsig, Buitenverwachting, Groot Constantia, Eagles Nest, Klein Constantia, High Constantia, Silvermist and Beau Constantia wine farms, all producing excellent estate wines. A favourite is a Shiraz from either Steenberg or Eagle’s Nest; bold and full bodied, like me!
Over the years we have enjoyed wine festivals, wine pairings, cheese and wine events, tank tasting with the winemaker, cellar tours, even wine and chocolate tasting.
We have spent most of the last week slowing down and enjoying local wines. Our journey began at Steenberg estate, where we sampled recent vintages. We quaffed and chatted and quaffed some more. After a three course lunch and a bit more wine it was time to meander back to the peninsula: a relaxed way to spend an afternoon.
We’ve savoured fine Western Cape Shiraz, nibbling on local cheeses. When the Cape winter sun shone, a chilled Sauvignon Blanc worked well with an aromatic Thai curry. And a robust Nebbiolo was the perfect fireside accompaniment, to a melt in the mouth malva pudding.
Vinotherapy was a first; a whole new journey into wine.
The origins of vinotherapy can be traced back to France. At a vineyard in Bordeaux in 1993, Mathilde Thomas and her husband Bertrand met Dr Joseph Vercauteren. He had discovered the antioxidant properties of grapes. Vinotherapy is an anti-aging and deeply relaxing body treatment, which moisturises and rejeuvenates.
We were welcomed at the spa and ushered into the treatment room. There were several steps in the treatment.
The first step was a body scrub, a mixture of Shiraz seeds, pulp and grape skin was rubbed all over to remove dead skin cells. My therapist chuckled when I said to her that while I have put plenty of Shiraz in my body, my preferred Cape red, this was the first time it was being applied to my body.
This was followed by gentle massage with warm, Pinotage oil. This acted as a serum for the treatment that came next, a full body wrap using Chardonnay grapes, again massaged into the skin and further enhanced with a heat pad under our backs, a warmed neck pillow and an oversized fluffy blanket.
The next step of our treatment was another layer of the Pinotage oil. We emerged after over two hours of vinotherapy; Scrubbed with Shiraz, Pampered with pinktage and Cocooned in Chardonnay.
My soul was singing. Bacchus was smiling on us.
I added a final step. We floated into the estate’s fine dining restaurant and ordered a bottle of Syrah to go with lunch.
A fine week of slow living. Cheers!
What’s your favourite wine?