Stellenbosch is a popular wine tasting excursion for those visiting Cape Town. We spent three nights in the region. Below is a mix of our experiences and a few recommendations.
We rented a car in Cape Town and started the drive east to Stellenbosch. Why did we choose Stellenbosch as opposed to Franschhoek, a smaller and equally popular wine region a bit farther east? Because we had hotel points of course. We stayed at Protea Hotel Stellenbosch, which had nice large multi-level rooms. Marriott points tend to go quite far in South Africa, compared to stateside redemptions. From all we’ve heard though, Franschhoek is wonderful and we’ll likely stay there next time we’re in the region.
After checking in we headed to Tokara Restaurant for a wine tasting. A personal recommendation for some friends, Tokara was the only winery we specifically wanted to visit. It was wonderful, largely owing to a wonderful server who spent tons of time sharing about the wines and the region. He also of course shared some special off-menu wines, and gave some refills, an easy way to endear yourself to wine tasters. There was a large fireplace in the tasting room that also added to the experience.
The next day was our big wine tasting day. Neither of us wanted to drive and we didn’t have to! There’s an awesome, professional hop-on hop-off tour company called Vine Hopper. They have 3 different routes you can choose from (we took the eastern route) and they basically make the same loop every hour. You choose which wineries you want to visit as you go. It was perfect.
Our favorite winery from the day was Boschendal, our final stop. They have this unbelievably cute deli cafe and market with delicious sandwiches served on wood platters in the middle of the courtyard. The setting is incredibly charming and idyllic.
Our second favorite was Neil Ellis, simply because they have an outdoor patch of grass with tables set up for tastings, overlooking an incredible set of peaks.
And the last worth visiting was Zorgliviet. We tasted on the patio outside the old colonial building that houses the tasting room with some French friends we met on the tour.
As you can probably tell, our recommendations aren’t based on the wine. And in my opinion, when you’re out for a day of tasting, any recommendations that are based on the actual taste of the wines is probably hogwash. They all went down easily in our collective opinion. But the settings and views make wine tasting in this region a special experience.
We returned to Stellenbosch town via our Vine Hopper driver and headed out to dinner at Basic Bistro. It gets a mention because we really think you should go. We ate out at other establishments we wouldn’t speak so highly of, but Basic Bistro was cute and the food was top notch.
