Cape Town - As its name suggests, the Hemel en Aarde Valley is possibly the closest one can get to a slice of heaven on earth.
Think rolling hills that hug lush green valleys, fresh air and a divine serenity which comes naturally when you move away from any city’s calamity.
Add a hint of sun, brilliant blue skies with the occasional cushion of cloud and breathtaking views continuing for as far as the eye can see, and it’s not difficult to see where the name originated.
Hidden on the outskirts of Hermanus, the Hemel en Aarde Valley is about 90 minutes from Cape Town.
Traditionally, we know Hermanus as the whale-watching capital of the world. Thousands of visitors descend on the town each year as southern right and humpback whales migrate from the icy Antarctic to the warmer waters to mate, give birth and rear their young.
But what many are less familiar with is the array of spectacular wines the area produces. What makes it unique, you may ask?
For starters, the wine route is only about 15 years old and is one of the youngest in the country, unlike the traditional routes within the Cape winelands, where formal wine routes were established in the 1970s.
Second, Hermanus is one of the few areas where you can enjoy wine tasting, visits to beach and mountaineering in the same area.
And when it comes to the wines, the area, with its warmer temperatures, has managed to produce a distinctive selection – particularly pinot noir.
Winemakers in the region have gone to extra lengths to provide visitors with an experience like no other. Instead of the traditional wine cellar tasting tours, the farmers have given wine tasting a complete shake-up.
Visitors have the chance to combine the experience with extreme sport and can find themselves quad-biking through the vineyards of several different wine farms, culminating in a sunset wine-tasting.
And if you love a good story, you’re bound to be drawn into the heartwarming tales from each of the wineries.
Take Rivendell. Named after Rivendell in The Lord of The Rings, the wine farm is owned by an Austrian couple who are in their 70s.
Heimo Thalhammer arrived in South Africa as a 17-year-old student and fell in love with the Cape.
Fast forward 30 years and he finally bought a plot, which he has transformed into a small winery with four hectares of vineyards and a boutique restaurant.
Although the farm produces only 22 000 bottles a year – a drop in the ocean of wine production in the country – it has opted for a smaller yield to produce more intensely flavoured wine.
The vines were planted in 2008 and they produced their maiden vintage in 2011. The shiraz from that year is Rivendell’s best-seller and its 2012 shiraz is still in the tanks.
Then there’s the Creation Wine Estate. What was once sheep-grazing land was bought by Swiss-born JC Martin and his South African wife, Caroline, who planted the vines from scratch.
While Creations is only made up of 22ha, it produces an impressive nine to 11 different wines each year.
Created 10 years ago, it’s considered the new kid on the block. But don’t be fooled by its age. Although its first vintage was in 2007, it has received a number of accolades.
Those of which it is most proud include the best food and wine pairing in South Africa, the most innovative wine experience in South Africa at the international Great Wine Capitals competition and having three wines in the top 100 wines in the country.
And you can see why.
During its wine and food pairing experience, Creation offers an extraordinary selection of canapés from cauliflower soup to chicken fritters and avocado pear and prawn bites as it runs through its impressive line-up of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, shiraz and pinot noir.
There is a chocolate pairing session and a more adventurous secret pairing session.
The estate also allows visitors to create their own blend of red wines, with the help of an experienced winemaker – including the wine label.
In summer it offers a vineyard safari, during which visitors are familiarised with the region’s fynbos.
The safari ends with a glorious sunset picnic.
And to share it all with those who did not make the trip, visitors can write postcards at the estate which are sent to the desired recipient at no extra cost.
Creation’s speciality is viognier, which is done in stainless steel barrels as opposed to wooden ones.
The farm’s Dieter Odendaal explains that the Hemel en Aarde Valley creates ideal conditions in which to grow certain grapes for chardonnay and pinot noir.
The clay soil has much minerality, which enhances the grapes. And the day and night temperatures, which differ by 10ºC through the year, play an important role in the production of the grapes.
As a result, unlike most South African wines, which need to be enjoyed soon after they have been bottled, wines cultivated in warmer climates age better and grow in complexity and intensity.
They can therefore be enjoyed immediately or you could keep them and have a taste of the summer of 2013 in many years’ time.
With so many new and innovative experiences, it’s easy to understand why the Western Cape tourism authorities have been promoting the region so aggressively.
Their aim is to expose Gauteng’s “black diamonds” to the experience. - Sunday Tribune