Something that appeals to many guests, either from an interest in wine or an interest in geology, history, and culture of South Africa, is the Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge wine cellar. Owner and founding member of the Balule Nature Reserve, Laurence Saad, conducts a fascinating pre-dinner session in a wine cellar built into a cave beneath the Billy’s Lodge deck. Story-telling of South African history through its earliest rock formations and its first people; this is an evening full of wonder and discovery.
Step down an outdoor stairwell that mysteriously leads you down an uneven pathway through overhanging bush willows until you enter an adorned cave. The cellar is cosy and warm, embraced by walls of wine. Wooden racks cradling bottles of wine surround a glass-topped knobthorn table; and ancient Bushmen artefacts are displayed in the natural crevices of granite rock.
The rock face on one wall of the wine cellar, Laurence tells, is some of the earth’s earliest geological formations, and it remains untouched to be admired in its natural form. Green sprigs of magic guarri – an evergreen bush of the Lowveld – and bright petals of Bougainvilla come to rest in the existing fissures of rock and are illuminated by the softly glowing lights.
Cusioned chairs hug the centrepiece of the room, which is a handmade table, containing, beneath its glass top, a collection of arrow heads, calabashes and ostrich egg-shell beads. The tools of the ancient Bushmen decorate this innovative display cabinet created out of a hollow knobthorn tree trunk, lit up with delicate lights, and encased in glass, forming the table on which place your wine glasses.
Each element of the wine cellar tells a story, having been inspired by the natural surroundings at Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge. The evening wouldn’t be complete without sipping on the nectar of the Gods, and listening to Laurence’s description of his favourite Pinotage – a wine unique to South Africa. Swill your wine, inhale its bouquet, and let its body rest on your tongue during a tasting unlike any other.
When the dinner drums roll, you’ll seal this special place in your mind and memory as you rise above ground again and take your seat around the table surrounded once more by the wild sounds and the stars in the sky above. Your evening at Billy’s Lodge continues, full of delectable food, a flow of wine, and stories of safari until your bed in an African suite comes calling.
Leave a Comment