The Darling Wine Shop, Darling

The wines of Darling are blessed with the consistency of quality due to their viticulture location and yet a diversity of style that makes them all so different. With scarcely half a dozen producers there is a lot to explore!

There is however a practical side to a visitors “route of exploration” in that in typical Darling diversity, the vineyards are located in four different directions from the centre of the town. To visit all the Vineyards in one-day is possible but not always practical, and this is what has inspired Darling négociant Charles Withington to come up with the idea of the Darling Wine Shop - a one-stop shop in the centre of Darling where one could buy virtually the entire range of any of the Darling wines, and at cellar door prices.

From his many years of experience in wineries and “re-inventing” of a few Cellar Door Tasting rooms, Charles realises the criticality of having the right staff to make it work. One would not think so, but the majority of the questions asked by the visitors are not “wine technical” but more about wine in general and the area in general. ( I once did a presentation on “50 questions you Cellar Door staff should be able to answer” and found it amazing how many answer to “simple” questions were not forthcoming.) The staff of the Darling Shop all live in Darling and over and above a good local wine knowledge, have a good knowledge of surrounding areas too, and this is greatly appreciated by the visitors.

We stock the wines of Cloof, Darling Cellars, Fairview, Groote Post, Tukulu, and Withington.

The Darling Wine Shop also provides the opportunity for the many, many visitors to Darling who come to see Evita, explore the flowers, and experience the Voorkamerfest, and who are invariably lovers of good wine and fine food, to be able to source these delights right here in the centre of the village, saving them time and travel.

The Darling wine shop also provides a host of other possibilities :

1. Mixed cases like the “summer stunners” with a selected white wine from the six producers, or the “winter warmers” where the same exercise is done with red wine.

2. An opportunity to purchase all the areas wines in different combinations.

3. To taste the “wine of the day”.

4. To make use of a very efficient freight delivery system both locally and internationally to have Darling wines delivered to your doorstep.

5. In these days when delivery costs are expensive, to be able to have goods from different suppliers all arrived in a single consignment.

6. The whole “Taste of Darling” project which encompasses all the best in food and wine from Darling.

7. “Spoil yourself Fridays” - where we bring in to the shop mussels and oysters harvested that morning , and for people to buy.

And so there we are - we urge you to come and visit us and see and experience the delights of Darling.