Helderberg Wine Festival - DAVE NUTTER PHOTOGRAPHY

With sincere thanks to Dave from Nutters Photography for the lovely photos he took of the Helderberg Wine Festival hosted at CroYdon Vineyard Estate:

Helderberg Wine Festival at CroYdon Vineyard Estate

CroYdon Vineyard Estate proudly participated in the Helderberg Wine Festival this weekend, with a variety of activities for the whole family.
The children all had tons of fun with the jumping castle and the slippy-slide, while parents, family and friends, had the chance to sample the CroYdon wines including the newly released Chenin Blanc.

Food stalls kept hunger at bay, and CroYdon Olive Estate offered tastings of its Calamata-style olives and extra virgin olive oil.

As the sun set behind Table Mountain, the vineyards were filled with the beautiful sound of Sarah Theron as she serenaded homeowners and guests.
With glasses filled with our wine, a delicious dinner and beautiful music, the start of the Helderberg Festival 2010 was a great success.

Sunday had the men preparing for the Potjiekos competition.
Many serious potjiekos connoisseurs participated for the coveted title of CroYdon Potjiekos Winner 2010.
The winner was Francious Naude, who is also a homeowner at CroYdon Vineyard Estate as well as a winemaker.
Second and third places were awarded to Riaan van Eck and Riaan van Zyl, both also homeowners at CroYdon Vineyard Estate.

As each year passes, we have the pleasure of realising the enjoyment these festivals offer and the wonderful platform for all to showcase their talents and even produce.
We anticipate that the Helderberg Wine Festival 2011 will be even more of a success and bring many more new faces to the heart of the Helderberg: CroYdon Vineyard Estate.

For more information or to request more details about how you too can become a homeowner in this prestigious Vineyard Estate, please contact homeowner and resident SEEFF Property agent:
Claudine Wheeler
072 610 1416
claudine.w@seeff.com

2010 Wine Labeling

Amazing Race at CroYdon Estate

Amazing Race 2010
On a cold wet rainy day here in the Winelands the Helderberg Wine Route hosted an Amazing Race. No it’s not the big TV program but an introduction to some of the wine cultures here in the Winelands.
Croydon Vineyard Estate is member of the very popular Helderberg Wine Route and as part of the event the visitors had to learn how to prune vines. Each team had to try and prune as many vines as possible and the team with the highest nr pruned is the winner of this leg. Each team had to complete 4 tasks that range from counting barrels, spotting a duck with number around his leg and the list goes on. Yes it was cold with rain but looking at the teams they were clearly having fun.
First a short introduction to the Estate and wines on offer. Then off to the vineyards for the pruning and then back to warmth with some more wine and a snack for the road. Each team had to rate the wines on offer. Also the idea of understanding what a vine needs to go through to end up producing top class wines. The message from teams were very positive and what a great day out. True winter with good wine. Something that we are proud to present to visitors and homeowners.
Seeff Properties, being the on-site agents with resident agents was part of this event welcoming teams and answer questions on the Estate in terms of sales and activity. But the main aim was having fun and tasting some good wine. The winning team on this leg was Aluscha Kitche with 36 vines in 10min. The average worker will prune about 250 per day on his own. The conclusion: it’s a lot harder than what we think but great outdoor event.
If you would like to get more info on the Estate you can go to the blog at http://www.croydonvineyard.blogspot.com/ or you can email the Resident Seeff Agent at Gerhard@seeff.com or phone us on 076 590 7758
Compiled by Gerhard van Deventer (Seeff Properties)

Spring at CroYdon Vineyard Estate

Spring has sprung at CroYdon Vineyard Estate

Spectacular scenes

The secret to living in this estate is to walk around, spot the spectacular scenes and if you lucky enough capture it on film! During the past few days I walked around again and this is what you will see when you walk this lovely estate.

The change in seasons is always a spectacular event and the Western Cape has no shortage of creating beautiful scenes. During the past few days we had some snow on the Helderberg Mountains. See the spectacular sights from the lifestyle centre. We had a very cold spell out here and now we’re back to some lovely warm days again with the snow gone! But that makes change for days where the estate is wrapped in mist in the evenings as the air cools down after warm sunny days. During early mornings you will see the mist hanging above the dams. That’s when you will see the rays of sun crawling over the Helderberg Mountains and through the houses, trees and vineyards of the Estate. All the leaves are now gone and only dew drops hang on the wires. The scene is set for sunsets that any tourist to our shores will fall in love. Even from the estate you will see the sun setting next to the majestic Table Mountain and this is where our next photo came from. It must have been a n aircraft taking off from one of the airports around Cape Town and left its trail. With the sun setting behind it, it created this spectacular scene of this line just hanging next to Table Mountain! The views from CroYdon created some spectacular shots that I had to share with you.

It is truly a beautiful place to live. Here you can still enjoy space and freedom in a secure environment! If you want to view this estate you can contact me as Resident Agent.
Compiled by Gerhard van Deventer (076 590 7758) – Seeff Properties. You can also find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com and search for CroYdonite CroYdon Vineyard Estate.

Valuations

The City of Cape Town’s 2009 General Valuation Roll was certified by the City Manager in January 2010 and is open to public inspection and objection only until 30 April 2010. All 780 000 properties in the Cape Metropole area (including residential, commercial, agricultural and public infrastructure properties) have been valued at market value as at 01 July 2009. The new valuation roll will be used as a basis for the calculation of property rates from July 2010 onwards.

Should you consider that the valuation of your property is incorrect make sure to lodge your objection with the municipality before the 30th of this month or contact us immediately to assist you therewith at marketing@stbb.co.za

Passion for tradition! Croydon annual grape stomping

As the sun sets against the majestic Helderberg Mountains, Croydon Vineyard Estate is preparing itself for a fun filled evening with some traditional grape stomping. This once-a-year event goes to the heart of winemaking whereby the residents stamp the grapes to produce the estates “soetvoete” or dessert wine as we would know it and loads of fun!

The preparations start with the cleaning of the fountain. Then the grapes are stripped from the stems and into the pond. The kids get the first run to start the fun. Then the bigger guns come in later. Every now and then a new group of owners will get a turn to ad there “sweet” stamp onto the grapes. As the evening progress the groups tend to walk slower. Wonder why.. maybe it’s all the talking and laughing or maybe.. who knows.. An event at Croydon Vineyard Estate without a nice relaxed dinner and some good wine will just not be a good one. While the stamping is in progress a delightful snack table is set up. This new addition to the estate runs far beyond just an evening like this. It includes a service whereby an owner or a client can come in and order a snack lunch or a drink or a coffee when they visit the estate.

Back to the event.. after a while of pure traditional fun the dinner is served. A calmness falls over the estate as owners and visitors mix over a glass of wine with winemakers Beyers Truter and Corius Visser. Time to share in the delights of living in this lifestyle estate and realise you bought into an age old tradition of winemaking on your doorstep and it’s yours to enjoy! And so yet another great event is engraved in the history books of this wine estate. The secret to a fun filled lifestyle of wine and quality living is now in your reach. Homeowners agree it is events like this that give an estate character and this one is yet again going to set the estate apart from other estates.

For more information on the estate and events at the estate speak to the on-site resident Seeff agent. Article and photos by Gerhard (Seeff agent: 076 590 7758)

A hot day at Croydon

and more pics

2010 kicks off! Some news from Seeff Properties

So 2010 has started, kids are in school, everybody is back at work by now and only the memories of a summer holiday lingering in the back of our minds. For some this is the time where life returns to our daily routine. For Croydon Vineyard Estate this means a new harvest to attend to.

If you want to live and enjoy this lifestyle the secret is to wake up and take an early walk through the farm and see how the day unfolds. Listen to the birds and watch the sun rise over the Helderberg Mountains. This is also the time that you will see the normal activity of the winery kicking into top gear. Staff arrive, the winemaker is in the cellar already hard at work to prepare the cellar for the new harvest. Barrels are visible outside as a sign that the cellar is almost ready for the harvest. Croydon Vineyard Estate had a very good season in 2009 with good blends being produced. In a short message from the winemaker, Corius, the feeling is that the 2010 harvest is again a very good one. We had some good rain and now we had some very hot dry days. This is what is needed to push up the sugar level in the grapes before harvest start! Grapes are tested every day to make sure they harvest each section on the right day.

On the building side it looks like this might be the year where we will see a number of houses going up. It is clear that Croydon Vineyard Estate is a popular place to invest and build at the moment. The feedback from clients searching for a place to build will easily admit that the estate does have a lot of activity compared to other estates. This is dew to good value for money when we look at stands and also the lifestyle a potential buyer will get here. The estate is well established and with a market being more active this estate has placed itself amongst the popular options for buyers to choose from. The end of 2009 showed good sales of stands and houses and the start of 2010 has already produced a number of sales with more in the pipeline. If you drive in the estate with the resident Seeff agent it becomes very clear that we have good activity and now is the time to buy with a general rise in the property market.

So what makes this estate different than others? Few pointers..
Live on a working wine farm.
Enjoy your allocation of wine from the farm and even make your own wine.
Affordable large stands for sale.
Own builder and own architect
True Cape Farm style houses.
Easy access to main routes, airport, beaches, schools and shopping.
Use of fully fledged gym and pool.

But from living in the estate myself it will be the lifestyle that will be the biggest factor. The sense of space and freedom. Five years down the line this estate will still have all the space and the lifestyle we dream about! Make a smart move and come and view this estate to get a taste of true winelands living!

Compiled by Resident Seeff Agent: Gerhard 076 590 7758

Some 2010 views of Croydon