The Wedding Cup

A small, planned detour during our drive from Cape Town to Hermanus, took us into Stellenbosch.  I had made reservations at Warwick Wine Estate for their Big 5 Wine Safari.  Through a bit of investigation, I heard it was a beautiful estate, great views, and the wine safari was something more entertaining than the other basic wine tastings.  We greatly enjoyed the tour, in which our "Wine Advisor" told us about the various grapes, and compared them to the Big 5 animals.  Our safari led us to a tasting area, where we were able to taste a variety of the wines produced at Warwick.

Warwick Wine Estate has a Wedding Cup as its logo.  During the estate founder's travels, she learned the story behind The Wedding Cup, and enjoyed it so much, she chose it for Warwick.  A summary of The Wedding Cup (copied from Warwick's website):

The legend of the Warwick Wedding Cup revolves around the beautiful Princess Kunigunde. She was the beloved daughter of the King and Queen of old Nuremberg, whose hand had been promised in marriage to a Prince from a faraway kingdom

Princess Kunigunde fell in love with a young, handsome and ambitious Silversmith. Although Kunigunde`s father did not approve of their love, it was clear that she only wanted the Silversmith to be her husband. The King became so enraged that he had the young Silversmith thrown into the deepest darkest dungeon. Not even his daughter`s bitter tears would change her father`s mind. To her father`s dismay, imprisoning the young man did not end his daughter`s love for the Silversmith. Instead, he could only watch as his daughter grew paler and paler as a result of the separation from her true love. The King and Queen reluctantly made the following proposal: He told his daughter, "If your Silversmith can make a chalice from which two people can drink at the same time without spilling one single drop, I will free him and you shall become his bride". Of course he was certain nobody could perform such a task. Inspired by love and with skillful hands, the young Silversmith created a masterpiece. He sculpted a girl with a smile as beautiful as his own true love`s. Her skirt was hollowed to serve as a cup. Her raised arms held a chalice that swivels so that it could be filled and then swung towards another. The challenge was met. The Silversmith and the Princess joined hands in marriage and with the bridal cup set forth a romantic and memorable tradition as charming today as it was originally hundreds of years ago. 

To this day and to many couples the chalice remains a symbol of their love. Happiness and good fortune await the couple who drink from this cup.

Princess Kunigunde and the Silversmith lived happily ever after.

Ryan and I were chosen to give the Wedding Cup a try.  

After surviving our Wine Safari, we made our way down the road to another estate where I had made dinner reservations for a traditional South African barbecue.  It may have been because we were already feeling pretty stuffed from our previous days of eating, but the dinner was good, but not fantastic.  We did enjoy the face painting!