I was not expecting much from the most commercial of the producers in the Olifants River Valley… I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. Restaurant is reasonibly priced and the meal was decent enough. On my visit, the premium Namaqua brands were available for tasting and I was equally surprised by them as I was by the venue. A range of other wines produced in the area are also available for sale (but not tasting), which is a nice touch. Watch out for the Namaqua, Spencer Bay Wooded Chardonnay (R40) and The Blend (R75).

The Spruitdrift Cellar forms part of the Namaqua group and this is where they produce their red wines. My knowledge on Namaqua wines goes as far as the Bergies in my road’s papsak. I thought that I might learn something more about this famous brand during my visit to Spruitdrift, but no. What I have learned though is that my favourite sparkling wine that I use to buy at the corner bottle store for only R30, has been discontinued. In it’s place is an MCC Guinevere Brut at R150 and I’m convinced it’s the same wine.

Spruitdrift is also the tasting centre of Namaqua wines. Here you can taste their whole range apart from their premium wines. The wines that we tasted were all cheap and my favourite was the Johannesburger @R19 (This should say a lot about other wines) We did not buy any wines.

The restaurant (Die Keldery) seemed quite nice and we decide to stay for lunch. I order a creamy Salmon pasta with a Namaqua white wine sauce and lemon zest. The salmon was brownish in colour and extremely dry. At a stage I though that they maybe got it mixed up and served me the bacon pasta, but it did smell like fish though. What a waste of R60. My partner opted for the chicken breast stuffed with bacon and asparagus. He is still looking for the asparagus. The food was not expensive, but it was disappointing. At least our waitress made up for the poor food, she was very friendly.