I actually can’t believe I missed this one last year… But the second Winelands Chocolate Festival will be taking place at the Blaauwklippen Wine Estate in Stellenbosch on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of August.
It promises to be two days of foodie fun, suitable for the whole family, particularly those with a major sweet tooth.
What’s on the cards?
- Chocolate (of course!) – Taste and purchase chocolates and confectionery from over 40 leading artisanal chocolatiers, patisseries and confectioners.
- Chocolate Demos and Tutored Tastings in the Manor House – Demos by South Africa’s top chocolate professionals, including Abigail Donnelly, food editor of Taste magazine, Dimo Simatos, Lindt Chef and Alice Toich, the Playful Baker. Then tutored tastings of Tea (and chocolate) by Mingwei Tsai, an MCC Master Class (Nikki Friedman, MD of Môreson, and brandy (SA Brandy Foundation) by Winnie Bowman and MD Danie Pretorius, award-winning brandies paired with premier chocolates – in taking place in the Manor House.
- Morning/ Afternoon ChocolateTea with Lindt – Experience extraordinary chocolate creations made by the amazing Lindt chef, Dimo Simatos and his team. (just a note – these must be pre-booked and come at an additional cost of R250 – see their Webtickets page for details)
- Children’s Play Area – There will be 3 jumping castles (for different ages), an obstacle course and more – including a seating area for mums and dads nearby.
- Sugar Craft Creativity – Stylish competition cakes from South Africa’s chocolate/ sugar craft industry. Judging is scheduled for 11am Saturday.
- Fashion Shows – Two shows daily showing the unique-occasion and evening wear, from Stephan Olivier’s Stephano Collection accessorised with jewellery (and chocolate) by local designers Zuyda van Dyk and Jacomien Labuscgane.
- Local wines, beer, MCC and spirits – Celebrate Winter with a glass of bubbles or fine local wine.
- Food Stands – An array of gourmet food will be on sale at the various stands (including freshly brewed coffee & hot chocolate as well)
- Victorian Kitchen – Step back in time and see how the Victorians prepared their chocolate many years ago with the secret recipe from Dr Hans Sloane who later sold his special recipe to the Cadbury brothers
- See a life-like Cacao plantation and bean-sorting shack
- Live music from 1 – 5pm on Saturday (Mischa) and 1 – 4pm on Sunday (Newton and Maria)
That’s quite a line-up, don’t you think?
An adult day pass will only set you back R120 & includes a festival wine glass too. Scholars (6 – 17 yrs) can get in for a mere R60 & kids under 6 get in for FREE. Tickets are available via Webtickets over here.
Other things to take note of:
- Festival times: Saturday 9am – 5:00 pm & Sunday 9 am – 4pm
- Address: BLAAUWKLIPPEN WINE ESTATE, Strand Rd, R44, btw Stellenbosch & Somerset West (Opposite the Technopark)
And to further tempt you, I’ll leave you with a few photos from last year’s event: