Savour the true spirit of the quaint Bot River Wine Route when local winemakers share the spotlight with the latest cellar gems from the heart of the Overberg during a fun-filled Barrels & Beards Harvest Celebration on Saturday, 21 April 2012.

Toasting the end of the harvest, wine producers from this idyllic Winelands pocket will attest that ‘beauty comes from within the bottle’ when they parade their precious wines and post-harvest looks – complete with raging beards, moustaches and facial fluff grown during the harvest! “During this manic time we focus all our efforts on the vines and wines to ensure that only the finest quality is harnessed in each bottle of wine.

This leaves us with very little time for ‘self pruning and pampering’. Even if the harvest takes its toll on the winemaker, the vine is the perfect expression of nature’s ability to renew itself every year and on this evening the merry wine folk of Bot River literally let our hair down to toast to that,” shares Cap Classique winemaker Melissa Nelsen, from Genevieve fame. Other wine producers to flaunt their whiskers and wines include Gabriëlskloof, Boutros, Barton, Maremmana, Goedvertrouw, Wildekrans, Beaumont, Eerste Hoop, Feiteiras, Rivendell and Luddite.

“We only get one chance a year to make the best wines we can and we invite enthusiasts to come and catch a glimpse of what 2012 has produced. Not only can you rub shoulders with our fine winemakers and barrel taste the youngest wines and some all-time favourites from each winery, you also get to vote for the best and boldest beard in the valley,” explains Sebastian Beaumont. This exclusive taste of true Bot River hospitality includes a sumptuous, home-grown feast ranging from a Luddite pig on a spit; artisan breads baked by Beaumont Estate, where a working watermill provides stone ground flour; Anysbos goat’s cheese, and hearty side dishes. The local ‘boereorkes’, Die Stoepsitters, will get this grapes and gourmet vibe going with live, foot-stomping music to end your Saturday evening on a high. The Bot River Barrels & Beards Harvest Celebration takes place at The Old Shed at Anysbos Farm on the Swartrivier Road, Bot River and starts at 5pm.

Tickets to the event cost R150 per person and it includes a complimentary tasting of the latest wines; a souvenir wine glass, and dinner.