Once again, Stanford’s warm heart and deep care of others motivates the Village event this week. On Saturday, 26th November, from 3pm to sunset, will be our first ever Stanford Stumble. Great fun is to be had, and the profit will go to the Abigail Hoogbaard fund. (Abigail is a little girl from Stanford who suffers from CHARGE syndrome, and needs financial assistance for specialist schooling).
A 5km run or 2km walk through the vineyards at Stanford Hills. Teams will be dressed up, with prizes for best dressed. The traditional water tables will be replaced by wine tables, hence the name Stanford Stumble! The race will end on the front lawn at Stanford Hills, where there will be live music by Jazz band SWAY. And of course, excellent local wine and beer! Children are welcome, and the African Horse Company will be offering pony rides. A jumping castle and free use of the swimming pool should keep the young ones entertained!
Great prizes to be won. R50 per team of 2 to enter, and 2km should be a walk in the park for most (excuse the pun!)

There will be cool drinks, water and mini-picnic baskets on sale, as well as Boerewors rolls. Leg massages available at race end, sponsored by La Femme, and all in aid of charity. Please contact Steph at the Stanford Tourism office for entry forms ask@stanfordinfo.co.za or 028 341 0340

MARIANAS by Bibi van der Zee published on 2 July in the British Spectator.
At last, after many years of questing, I have had the perfect lunch. On
holiday in South Africa, and alone for the first time since our honeymoon
back in the pre-baby mists of time, we found our way to the tiny but famous Marianas, where they serve only lunch, and that just four times a week.
Peter, husband of the eponymous chef, greeted us like old friends and
ushered us to a little table, wreathed round by grape vines and anemones,
and looking down over the garden, through the vegetable plot, and up to
purple mountains that drowse behind Stanford.
We ordered wine by the glass, and the first sip of Hermanuspietersfontein
Sauvignon Blanc actually brought tears to my eyes. Peter brought home-made bread and talked us through the day’s menu, local foods all cooked with Mariana’s own twist of humour, some classical style and a subtle hand with ingredients. Starters were barley salad, springbok rillette, pear salad or gruyère tart, followed by pickled fish, confit de canard with lentils, apricots and honey, springbok pie, oink nek or skaap and dinges (’sheep with two teeth - lamb but slightly older, has a bit more flavour,’ explained Peter).
My pickled yellowtail fish in a cold curry sauce was tangy and wonderful,
while Mike’s tender oink nek (deboned neck of pork) came in a sea of buttery gravy. Full of giggly happiness and wriggling our toes in the sun, we ended our meal with a shared glass of sparkling wine with Peter and Mariana, and my favourite sort of rambling amiable political conversation. It’s an odd feeling to know you have actually had the perfect lunch. The quest for the perfect dinner, however, continues.
Since her return, Bibi has been drinking nothing but South African wine.

This quiet little village of Stanford, tucked away alongside the meandering Klein River as one drives between Hermanus and Gansbaai, sure knows how to throw a party!

At the recent STANFORD OESFEES CHALLENGE on the 19 March at Sir Robert Stanford Estate, 200 participants successfully competed in the first Stanford Oesfees Challenge. The 10km trail run and mountain bike ride was presented by Hermanus Adventures. They generously donated R1, 000.00 of their entry fees to Hospice Overstrand.

The Stanford Canoe Race was staged during the morning with over 100 canoeists participating. The 20km circular race was won by Lance King of the Milnerton Canoe Club.

The  Summer Concert audience  enjoyed the music by Sterling EQ, while tucking into their picnic hampers. There could not have been a more spectacular venue enhanced by an amazing Harvest Moon.  Stanford’s wine farms are hard to beat for setting, scenery and good old fashioned hospitality.

Put this date in your diaries for next year folks! Stanford is the place to be during the harvest.

As the weather cools and the leaves change their hue, the vines generously offer their harvest. Driving through the Overberg at this time is a visual delight.

The local wine producers have some unusual solutions to their daily challenges. At the end of a long hard year at Stanford Hills Estate, workers announced the coming harvest in a unique and novel way - with vuvuzelas! During the season, they had used the noisy trumpets to scare off baboons and birds. This year will be the first year of production of Shiraz, and the small harvest will be stomped by foot. Talk about putting your foot down!

On the other side of Stanford, driving along the R326 in the early hours of the morning, you may be startled to see a strange contraption with lights ablaze in the vineyards. This was Raka Wines innovative solution to their harvest schedule. They had to pick earlier than usual, because of the warm summer, and dry season.  They wanted to get the grapes to the cellar while still cool, so they made a plan to pick at night. The young Dreyers mounted a generator and light bulbs on tuna-poles on the arms of one of the farm’s tractor-drawn sprayers, creating a ‘lightbug’ with which to harvest.

We look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labours. Let’s raise a glass to the Stanford wine producers!

The first frenetic month of the year is behind us and as we ease into the lovely loving lovable month of February, our thoughts turn to romance.  Valentine’s Day is just one week away and its time to bring THE PLAN into action. As Gary the tooth fairy would say…..”Get that girl” (or boy)

Stanford is the perfect place to woo the love of your life. This delightful Victorian village is surrounded by verdant vineyards, and here there is no need for Hallmark and red roses; the local hosts have a plan for even the most uninspired amongst us.

Stretch the celebration over the entire weekend and then some! Start on Saturday morning with  breakfast and the best coffee outside Italy at GRAZE. Drive over to Mosaic Farm on the edge of the lagoon for their Valentine’s market and indulge in local wines and local produce. Head back to the village to freshen up before taking the beautiful scenic drive out to Brunia Wine Estate where you will be greeted with a glass of bubbly before sitting down in the most evocative of settings to enjoy the 3 course dinner, with dancing to follow.

Wake up on Sunday morning and meander up to the Art Cafe for the  champagne breakfast. Snuffle around the antique shopes before you head off for a horse ride on the pristine beach at the Plaat, enjoy mid-morning coffee and   scrumptious chocolate cake at Coffee on the Rocks, book a picnic lunch at Klein River Dairy farm and watch the river glide lazily by.

Monday is the DAY, so make sure you have the poetry book tucked under the pillow, the soft songs loaded on the i-pod and the booking made at Villa di Baia for champagne cocktails on the Sundowner Terrace before enjoying  the elegant 4 course meal prepared by the resident lady chef.

If this doesn’t clinch the deal, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be!