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we were young and drunk
looking at (feeling) art
with a type of pretentiousness
that even I could not fathom
we felt like class with wine
in our gut and in our hands
looking at (feeling) art

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Cavalli is a luxury wine estate in the Stellenbosch wine area, and for the last couple of years (10 or so) the estate really exploded on the horizon where I drive to work most of the mornings. In fact, I drive past the wine estate every single day. I have been there a couple of times, and I love the art that they show on their wine labels, plus they have the most interesting art gallery next to the wine tasting room.

There is so much to do at this estate, that we could not possibly do everything. So, please join me on this virtual journey as I show you only a fraction of what there is to do at this estate.

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Wine and Horses: A Mirage on the Horizon

When I was still in school, we saw a type of mirage on the horizon beginning to emerge. After a while, we saw the white fences and we knew what it was... It was horse pens! We slowly saw the horses increasing, with a massive stall in the background, and then a couple of more buildings. Slowly, the estate expanded and then in 2015 or so, we visited the estate for the first time. This was 5 or so years after we saw the buildings being built (roughly 2010 if my memory serves me correct). It was enroute to my school and to my father's work, so we saw the building slowly emerge on the horizon. And then we visited the estate as adults who can enjoy wine! And so, after so many years, I also took my fiance there, as she saw some wine ice lollies... But more on that below.

The Views (As Always)

As you drive into the estate and when you look back, you are greeted with the most beautiful views of the mountains. In the winter, they sometimes turn white with snow, but this is only once in a blue moon. You can also hike in these mountains, as in the raining season, there are the most beautiful waterfalls.

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Wine Tasting and Ice Lollies

At the estate, you have the choice to sit down for a fine dining food experience, or to do a wine tasting. We opted for the latter, as my fiance saw an wine ice lollies pairing that she really wanted to do. You have the choice of a couple of white wines and local cuisine inspired ice lollies, such as chardonnay rosemary and lime.

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My usual go to is red wine. But in this case, the red wine tasting was just as expensive as buying a bottle of wine. Knowing my prefered style, I opted to buy the Shiraz rather than do a tasting.

I thoroughly enjoyed their red wine, because I also knew that we were going to do some art sight seeing later on in the gallery next to the tasting room. More on that below.

Below, you can see some of the art on the white wine labels. Sadly, they stopped making the wines with the most beautiful artworks on, and sadly we threw the bottles away (after I collected too many bottles!).

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The Tasting Room: Class and Style

As you walk down stairs to get to the tasting room, which I think sits below the ground, you are greeted with so many beautiful pieces of art hanging from the walls. This is really a wine lover and art lover's paradise.

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The daughter of the owner, if I remember correctly, is obsessed with horses; hence all of the horses outside but also all the paintings of horses that are scattered throughout the estate.

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The wine cellar and tasting room is below the restaurant. It almost feels otherworldly when you walk down the stairs. The tasting room itself is beautifully decorated and is dimly lit.

It gives whisky and cigar vibes.

Speaking of... The owners has a massive whisky collection. This is not open to the public, but the owner loves to show off (more on that below as well). Behind glass doors and walls, you can see the whisky collection, with some incredibly expensive whiskies such as the Macallan M. I am sure there are some whiskies there that I could not see that is even more expensive and rare than the Macallan M.

This is surely a place where the owner brings clients to drink whisky and smoke a cigar or two. It is definitely a world I am not 100% familiar with.

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Drunk (or Tipsy) Art Gallery Walkthrough

As we finished our wine and we got up to leave, we saw that the gallery had some nice exhibitions so I lured my fiance in to join me. We were the only ones there, even though the place was really full (we could not even get parking). So, it was odd that the gallery was empty.

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The abstract art challenged our already tipsy minds, and we could not always make sense of what we were seeing. We pondered the art as best as we could, and we even discussed the meaning of life (as we always do when we are looking at art).

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In the middle of the gallery were a couple of odd looking pieces covered in animal hyde/skin. We saw that they were chairs, and that the gallery encouraged you to sit on them. We obviously took the opportunity to do so - how often can you sit on art? But then we also saw the price of these pieces of art, which were for sale. They cost more than the average car (in South Africa at least). Which is probably not a lot of money in the art world, but still...

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The Obsession with Signed Memorabilia

The owner has a lot of signed memorabilia. And I mean two or three rooms full of them. On the side of the gallery, there are small rooms that you can enter where signed pieces of everything you can imagine hangs from the walls. From guitars signed by musicians, to old books signed by long dead artists. It is quite a thing to witness.

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My fiance was quite taken aback by the signature of her favorite artist, Pierneef. She always seeks out his artworks, and as soon as she saw the signature, she almost wanted to scream out. This is really rare, I think, as Pierneef signatures are not that common as far as I know.

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A Boutique Betwixt Art and Wine

Of all places, I would never have guessed that there would be a boutique next to the gallery and the tasting room. But there it was, selling fancy and strange dresses, jewelry, and different essential oils and perfume. It was odd walking through it, as it almost looked like the extension of the art gallery. But that was not the case. It was a thing on its own.

Postscriptum, Or Farewell to the Art

We had to get back as we could not ponder the art for the entire day. But we had an amazing time, especially with some wine in our systems. The art challenged us, and the wine was great.

If they have some new art in the coming year, I might visit them again!

But for now, happy drinking, and keep well.

All of the musings and writings are my own subjective opinions. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.