Choosing which Wineries to Visit in Stellenbosch, South Africa

There's something about visiting wineries that really gets me.

Rolling vineyards? Sold.

Super passionate staff who love food and wine? Can't get enough of them (secretly wish I was them).

Outdoor dining? Yes please!

Add to those three winning elements a rustic chic decor, and you've got me oohing and aahing and hoping to never leave your establishment. So let's just say I was in heaven when we visited the Stellenbosch wine region on our recent trip to South Africa. This place gets me. 

Here's my roundup of my ranking of the wineries that we visited on our trip, from least favourite to absolute favourite. 

9. Jordan Wine Estate

Oh Jordan. So much potential, but you just didn't deliver for us. The setting is gorgeous, with a tree-covered patio, mountains in the distance and quaint water feature. But the service for our tasting was distant and uninterested. All in all, not a memorable visit for us. Maybe it was the time we visited? 

8. Vrede en Lust

We had lunch at Lust Bistro on one of our days in Stellenbosch, as the menu suited the various dietary restrictions of the people who were joining us for lunch. As much as I wanted to love Lust, it just kind of fell flat. The outdoor dining area was essentially next to a parking lot, so you missed out on those beautiful Stellenbosch views that seem to be ubiquitous at most wineries. Service was slow and the patio felt much too crowded for a quaint winery lunch. My ambivalence over Lust was such that I didn't even take a single picture of our time here...

7. Clos Malverne

Clos Malverne's location is spectacular. Make a lunch reservation and ask for a seat on the patio overlooking the rolling vineyards and mountain range. We were greeted for our lunch with a complimentary glass of sparkling wine. The red wine then flowed liberally for the rest of our lunch. While the ambiance was slightly too stuffy for our taste, the views made up for it.

6. La Motte Wine Estate

This is a very large well-known winery. The entrance to the property is grandiose, with vines sprawling in all directions and mountains flanking the outer edges of the property. You then pass by some beautiful Cape Dutch architecture buildings and a lovely pond before entering the tasting room... which feels like a stuffy man cave? A bit of a letdown after such a beautiful first impression. I know that their outdoor space is reserved for their restaurant, but it would be nice for the tasting room to get some of the love too. That being said, the wine flowed liberally and at a very reasonable price.

5. Tokara

Oozing with fabulousness and style, Tokara is a see and be seen kind of place. When we visited over a fall weekend, dozens of students from the local university could be seen taking selfies from the many stunning vantage points. If you can pretend that this crowd is absent (or better yet, visit during the week!), Tokara is an architecturally spectacular winery with a stunning patio overlooking rolling hills of perfectly manicured vines. 

4. Warwick Wine Estate

So many of the wineries in Stellenbosch are blessed with picturesque mountain views. While Warwick Wine Estate didn't luck out in that department, it figured out another way to attract its clientele: master the art of the picnic.

While I love the idea of a picnic, my picnic foods often feel poorly executed and haphazardly combined together (a baguette and cheese qualify as a picnic, right?). And while the idea of lounging on a checkered tablecloth sounds romantic, the truth is that I'm often uncomfortable while sitting on a blanket with no support, and struggle to find a place to put my food without clumsily sitting on it. 

Enter Warwick's gourmet picnics. Book a picnic here and you'll get a reserved already set up picnic spot, complete with umbrella, blanket, wooden dining table and comfy poof to rest upon. Your generous gourmet picnic comes in a lovely wooden crate and, on our visit, included sliced filet of beef, a grainy mustard potato salad, tender green beans, a bean and tomato salad, fresh bread, local cheese, spreads and a delicious lemon dessert served in a jar. Complement your meal with a bottle of wine resting in an ice bucket and you've got yourself a memorable afternoon in Stellenbosch.

3. Babylonstoren

Calling all hipsters and farm-to-table lovers. You need to visit this place. The owners have maintained the look of a traditional Cape Dutch farm, but have adopted the latest trends in decor and ambiance. Their high-end restaurant, Babel, is stunning and takes the farm-to-table concept to another level. Choosing your salad based on what colour you feel like eating? (I chose yellow; O chose green) Picking your favourite local veg or fruit from a complimentary crudité board as an amuse-bouche while you decide on what to eat for dinner? This place is fun, it's beautiful and so worth your time. Oh ya, and they also have a stunning farm hotel and offer workshops on gardening? Sign me up.

2. Delaire Graff

This is how the 1% experience Stellenbosch, at this fabulous Relais & Châteaux property. The landscaping at this property is luscious and inviting, the view from the patio of either the tasting room or the restaurant overlooks the spectacular valley between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and the service is amongst the best you'll experience in South Africa. Oh and the wine is fabulous. Yes, it'll set you back a pretty penny compared to any other tasting or winery experience in South Africa. But it ranks up there as one of my favourite winery experiences in the world. 

1. Boschendal

Boschendal is a big-name in the South African wine world. While big names often equate to soul-less properties, Boschendal stands out. Set on a picturesque property, with two restaurants that are heavily oriented towards farm-to-table cuisine, complete with gardens that you are free to wander through, Boschendal is a special place. The dining room at The Werf restaurant focuses on fresh, vibrant, vegetable-forward local cuisine, all in a setting vying to be captured for a home decor magazine. The bathroom alone deserves its own gold star. We loved Boschendal so much that we visited it twice on our trip (mostly to devour those amazing homemade ice cream sandwiches at The Werf!).