The Auswine Forum

Evening,

Anyone been to the Stellenbosch Sth Afrrica wineries?

We will be there in July for a few days and have been looking into wineries however there are so many and I have only heard of a few of them. I'm currently looking at a map of wineries, it looks like a few hundred wineries! I need to narrow the search give the days involved!

Anyone been or know stellenbosch (and related areas) wineries / must visit wineries, please let me know. Reds are the preference, shiraz style.

Thanks

Matt

I've been many times. One of my favourite places in the world.

In terms of where to stay, you can't go past La Petite Ferme in Franschoek.

Wineries: My favourite is a place called Sterhuis (http://www.sterhuis.co.za/). Contact Johan and ask for a tasting. It's private in his lounge room and well worth it!

The Spice Route is lovely for their Beer and Biltong tasting, and the wines are quite nice.

Simonsig, Flagstone, and Boschendal are also worth seeing, as is Charmonix in Franschoek.

Not in Stellenbosch, but in Cape Town you should go to Groot Constantia for lunch, and Constantia Uitsig for a dinner at La Colombe - one of the best (and most reasonably priced) meals I've had in my life! http://www.grootconstantia.co.za/.

Let me know if you need any other tips!

Would recommend Boekenhoutskloof just outside of Franschoek. Their estate Cabernet and Syrah are some of the best the area has to offer. The Sémillon is pretty tidy as well. Booking only so call ahead.

Beautiful area and some great wines that are not often available outside the country.

It depends what type of cellar door experience you are looking for, but in terms of a range of enjoyable visits, from touristy to personal, I'd recommend Vergelegen (great wines, beautiful grounds), Rust En Vrede (ditto), Vergenoegd (older vintages available), Ken Forrester (great comfy restaurant), and de Trafford (quite a drive to the winery, only open weekends). On the way to Franschoek, check out Tokara (great wines and architecture), Delair Graff (architecture) and Thelema. Fransheok is more flash and touristy, but there are some nice restaurants and nice vibe, as well as beautiful scenery and good wines from places like La Motte, Glen Carlou and Graham Beck. In the nearby Hemel en Aarde valley, there is great scenery and great wineries like Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson and Ataraxia (all beautiful wines and cellar doors).

I hope you're taking the time to do a self-drive safari in Kruger National Park - it's an absolutely incredible experience!

Definitely pick up the most recent Platter Guide - it has lots of great information that will be really useful for you (CD hours, best wines and wineries, etc.). Have fun!

Andrew Jordan wrote:Would recommend Boekenhoutskloof just outside of Franschoek. Their estate Cabernet and Syrah are some of the best the area has to offer. The Sémillon is pretty tidy as well. Booking only so call ahead.

+1

They make some pretty good stuff.....that would be my suggestion as well..

JDSJDS wrote:Beautiful area and some great wines that are not often available outside the country.

It depends what type of cellar door experience you are looking for, but in terms of a range of enjoyable visits, from touristy to personal, I'd recommend Vergelegen (great wines, beautiful grounds), Rust En Vrede (ditto), Vergenoegd (older vintages available), Ken Forrester (great comfy restaurant), and de Trafford (quite a drive to the winery, only open weekends). On the way to Franschoek, check out Tokara (great wines and architecture), Delair Graff (architecture) and Thelema. Fransheok is more flash and touristy, but there are some nice restaurants and nice vibe, as well as beautiful scenery and good wines from places like La Motte, Glen Carlou and Graham Beck. In the nearby Hemel en Aarde valley, there is great scenery and great wineries like Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson and Ataraxia (all beautiful wines and cellar doors).

I hope you're taking the time to do a self-drive safari in Kruger National Park - it's an absolutely incredible experience!

Definitely pick up the most recent Platter Guide - it has lots of great information that will be really useful for you (CD hours, best wines and wineries, etc.). Have fun!

I have been a few times and agree with the comments above. Of places to have lunch, Thelema has probably the best location. It is perched on a hillside looking back over the region and out to the coast with superb food. Ernie Els also has a vineyard in the area which makes a great Bordeaux blend. In my opinion, Ataraxia make the best Chardonnay in the country though I found the Hamilton Russell chardonnay a bit over worked. Grant Dobb who posts on the other wine site has an major interest in Dombeya which makes some excellent wines.

If you are there for more than a day and have already eaten at Thelma, La Petite Ferme in Franschoek is supposed to be superb.

One thing you will notice is that many of the wines in SA have a major Brett problem. I was in Jo'burg once and started noticing this strange smell in a lot of the wines. I got talking to one of the local winemakers and asked if the smell was Brett related. he confirmed its a big problem in SA with many wineries having to completely rebuild their processing facilities to try and get rid of it.

Mark

Gogo73 wrote:I've been to Boekenhoutskloof three times, and it is a wonderful place. I liked their Shiraz very much.

FYI, I agree Boekenhoutskloof makes great wines, but when I showed up (without an appointment), they didn't pour any of their top wines, just the second label (Porcupine Ridge?) stuff, and they said that was the norm. So I'd definitely make an appointment and ask if they pour the Boekenhoutskloof wines.

Thanks for all of the helpful replys.

Certainly given us a few first hand ideas. I've printed the thread and will read in more detail with a map.

Seems to be the general tone of stay in or near Franschoek which is what we were thinking. Given the multiple mentioning of Boekenhoutskloof, this will be a must visit.

Any experiences/recommendations of getting wine back to Australia? Ship it?

ps. Thanks Paul for the dining recommendations in Cape Town, I had been doing some searching into dining out. The cost of food/eating in Sth Africa out looks extremely reasonable. If we don't come back from this trip 5kg heavier something has gone wrong! And I'm not talking about my baggage weighted down by wine.

A pleasure! Also, if you want a great guide for tours of street art in Woodstock, or of the Townships in khayelitsha, I can highly recommend Juma from https://www.facebook.com/jumatoursmurals

Update.

Made through Stellenbosch & Franshoek. Almost cried at how cheap everything is (from houses to food to wine). It was hard to go into a restaurant and order a wine for the equivalent of $20 AUD... it felt like ordering house wine. Wine there just isn't expensive thanks to our tax on tax system.

Stayed in franshoek and stellenbosch, doing it again I'd just stay in Franshoek, the place is an amazing setting. Aust winery settings have nothing on these.

Unfortunately as these wineries were at the tail end of a 6 week trip through Southern Africa, our desires for fine food and fine wine had diminished due to all the food and wine we had been having over the previous 6 weeks. But still, spent a few days at wineries from advice here and of our driver. It was last on our trip as we wanted to be able to buy some wine to bring home in our suitcase rather than lug it around africa. We got 10 bottles home in two suitcases. Expected to be hit for duty, WET and GST and had calculated it ready to go but luckily the airport was busy on our return home and they waived us through when we tried to declare. Also having 24 bottles of Hartenberg (various) mailed home. I can't believe the government charge Duty, WET and GST on the freight as well! Oh well its all good wine and worth it.


Favourites:
Best red: Hartenberg - Gravel Road Shiraz
Best White: Hartenberg - Elenor Chardonnay
Best Sparkling: Graham Beck (blanc de blanc i think, can't remember...)

One I was disappointed with was Boekenhoutskloof. As JDSJDS posted they won't pour their top wines. Not only that, they won't sell them to you unless you buy them in a mixed dozen at which you have no choice of selection! This mixed dozen of the premium wines were not available for tasting. They expect that you will just blind buy. I tried asking for an appointment (and bribing the bloke for a sneaky taste) but they wouldn't play ball. Our driver said they are a very alternative winery and he never takes anyone there because of their purchasing policies. The chocolate Block shiraz was available for tasting, was ok, nothing special.

Thanks again for the input

All I would add to the above is

1) they have a wine grape everywhere called Pinotage which is a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut which goes into many wines. I really liked this so if you are looking to bring back something from SA I would recomend this.
2) If you have time do the drive south of cape town, one of the most beutiful drives you can do in the world. Soaring cliffs, just stunning. There was a winery along that drive we stopped at that had a really nice Chardonnay. Dont remember the name, but the drive is worth it for that alone.