The Cape’s wild mushrooms are about to pop-up again so make sure you’re first in line for Delheim’s exclusive Mushroom Forage Pop Up series this year! Learn first-hand how to forage and cook wild edible mushrooms at this fungi-fab experience that’s exclusively available to new and existing members of Delheim’s getup-and-go Wine Club.
Membership is as easy as 1-2-3. Pick out 12 of your favourite Delheim wines; complete your order; and, you’re in! Membership gives you access not only to the mushroom forage, but Delheim’s full gamut of events, competitions and special releases.
The Stellenbosch stalwart that pioneered South Africa’s mushroom and wine experience lies against the Simonsberg Mountain where the delectable treats slumber in a natural forest bed of mulchy soils. Then, when the weather is just right, a silent spectacle that only comes once or twice a year, plays out across the forest floor: pop, pop, pop – the mushrooms appear.
Most people are hesitant about foraging for mushrooms because they don’t know which are safe to eat. The Delheim Mushroom Forage Pop Up is the place to change all that.
“The arrival of the wild mushrooms is truly a special time because it’s something Mother Nature does by herself,” says Delheim matriarch and experienced mushroom forager Nora Sperling-Thiel. “That’s why we’re especially sensitive about preserving our wild ecosystems on the estate. We are careful about how we farm and also limit the number of participants on mushroom excursions.”
The format for Delheim’s Mushroom Forage Pop Up series this year highlights the exceptional occasion by limiting avid foragers to only two excursions. Foragers will receive a short presentation about mushrooms to look out for and which to avoid; the opportunity to accompany an expert guide on a first-of-the-season forage; a mushroom cooking demonstration; and, a hearty, fungi-focused lunch with award-winning Delheim wine.
The first pop up excursion, to take place in *March, April or May (depending on the arrival of the first rains), will comprise a group of only four lucky foragers – winners of a lucky draw of Delheim Wine Club members – who will get to take along their significant others. An intimate gathering, the time spent among the towering pines is guaranteed to be an awakening like few others.
For the second excursion, in around June/July, the doors will open for bookings from all Delheim Wine Club members. The group will be slightly larger, but still includes the full programme at a rate of R650pp.
“Confirmation of exact dates will take place with two days advance notice – a requirement that is made dependent solely on the occurrence of mushrooms,” says Nora.
This is no time to dilly dally. Delheim’s Wild Mushroom Forage experience was awarded Highly Commended of the Best Wine Event category in the Drinks International Wine Tourism Challenge 2017, and bookings for this year will be completely taken up in no time.
All enquiries and bookings – including signing up as a Wine Club Member, with all the associated benefits, including Delheim’s Mushroom Forage Pop Up events – should be sent to wineclub@delheim.com.
*IMPORTANT: The appearance of wild mushrooms depends completely on natural phenomena that are impossible to forecast with absolute accuracy, particularly after long periods of drought. Although the Delheim events take place during the high season for wild mushrooms, the estate cannot guarantee the appearance of mushrooms on the day.
Delheim Estate is located in the Simonsberg sub-region of the Stellenbosch Wine Routes, on the Knorhoek Road, off the R44.
