Gabriëlskloof goes French for its celebration of l’amour

Spoil your Valentine with flowers and festivity at Botriver hilltop winery

Treat the loved one in your life and escape to the rural idyll of Gabriëlskloof for a special three-course feast of culinary passion at the famous Botriver wine and olive estate on Sunday, February 11.

With Valentine’s Day falling in a work week this year, Gabriëlskloof has found a way to guarantee no love is lost. The Gabriëlskloof team has simply arranged its unfettered affair of music and lingering magic for the preceding Sunday – a whole three days before the big event and a great way to surprise the love of your life.

And because the language of love is French of course, that’ll be the theme of this auspicious occasion too.

Be welcomed with refreshing bubbly and delicious oysters as you enter the cool, landscaped courtyards of Gabriëlskloof’s hilltop winery. Then, move on arm-in-arm to a relaxing afternoon of lawn games and frivolity, all the while serenaded by a typically French café piano accordion.

French is also the theme for lunch, which will showcase Chef Frans Groenewald’s passion for fresh farm produce.

“Throughout history, food and wine are ever present when there is love,” says Chef Frans. “This year’s Valentine’s lunch at Gabriëlskloof will be no different. Expect to be blown away as Cupid’s arrow never tasted this good!”

Crème brûlée is non-negotiable for this starry-eyed feast (tasting even better, or so it’s said, when lovers feed each other). So too, the delightfully dry Gabriëlskloof Rosebud – a delicately restrained rosé wine in the Provençal style of Southern France.

But what would Valentine’s be without flowers? Gabriëlskloof has that covered. An enchanting exhibition of magnificent orchids will be on display and for sale, courtesy of Stanford’s Eikenhof Orchids. Expensive red roses are so last season anyway.

Now, be the Romeo your darling Valentine expects and book early because seating is limited. Tickets to this romantic lunch, including the glass of bubbly and oysters on arrival, cost only R400 per lovebird. It starts at 12h00.

To reserve your table, call 028 284 9865 or send email to restaurant@gabrielskloof.co.za.

Gabriëlskloof Estate – a mere 80-minute drive from Cape Town – is situated just outside Bot River, on the Swartrivier Road, off the N2.