Our Stories

American philosopher Henry David Thoreau once said, "Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth."
While the idea of travelling seems impossible at the moment, this season of our lives will pass too. Here is a selection of scenic wine farms to savour, where the wine is chilled, the dining al-fresco and the views simply stunning. Add them to your Trip Planner, travel later and for now, enjoy the views.

The Visit Winelands team of passionate wine and travel writers are sipping on some of our favourite wines while we do our part to flatten the curve during the lockdown.

Meet the people behind the stories on our blog, take a peek at what’s in their wine glasses and tell us what’s in yours as you dream about your next winery visit – like we are!

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a nation-wide lockdown on Monday evening, 23 March 2020 that will be in effect for 21 days from midnight on 26 March 2020 to midnight on 16 April 2020.

If you are an international visitor in South Africa, please familiarise yourself with these regulations and find the contact details for our visitor safety programme and the coronavirus hotline here.

Our wineries are doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Strict safety and hygiene measures are in place. The hours of wine and other alcoholic beverages service have been reduced by the South African Government.

Before heading out to your favourite winery, please check online to see whether they are currently operating. Read more here.

‘I paint flowers so they will not die.’ – Frida Kahlo

It’s a completely natural fit, the blending of meticulously curated art with the Cape’s picturesque winelands. Be it perfectly sculpted pieces that add character to landscaped lawns, galleries that showcase the best of the country’s classical artists or a space where contemporary art meets African fusion.

Here are some of the top winery art galleries to visit in the Cape Winelands.

Ranging from 1700’s Cape Dutch buildings with thatched roofs, to ultra-modern millennium brick, cement and glass buildings, the Western Cape Winelands offer a diverse range of architecture, the one more show-stopping than the next. Even more so, most of these buildings are either set against the backdrop of the majestic Western Cape mountains, lush green vineyards, designer crafted gardens and/or a sapphire ocean.

A fresh year of exciting wine events is already underway. We’ve updated a selection of some of the main wine festivals and events to help you plan, especially if you want to extend your stay.

Get ahead of your busy schedule and diarize 2020’s food and wine festivals now. From large, family friendly shows to intimate, black-tie affairs – there’s plenty to get excited about.

No matter how you look at it, wine farming just isn’t the same as any other kind of farming. You won’t find a cattle farmer hosting a special release of his 2020 vintage beef or a vertical tasting from a wheat farmer. And though some of the glamour and glory of winemaking might seem unfair to other farmers, it all makes a bit more sense during harvest time in the winelands.

Vineyards are lush and full of fruit and visitors get to be part of the harvest fun. Get a sense of the grape’s journey from vine to barrel with these eight harvest festivals.

There’s plenty of great food and fine wine in the world, but nowhere else has the ‘weskus vibe’ of the Namaqua West Coast. The people you meet here are what sets this place apart.

The scenery is much like you’d expect: little red fishing boats resting on the beach, an icy, bright blue ocean, fields of flowers lining the roads and fresh fish being served up with a glass of white wine. Stay a few days and join in some of the discoveries that we made on a recent road trip to the region.

The South African winelands is not only set up for wining and dining, it is also the perfect backdrop to explore your adventurous side, with the natural elements and lay of the land providing the perfect network of trails for mountain bikers.

The Winelands of South Africa are well known for their mountain biking culture, with a huge base of riders and an impressive network of trails cutting through the valleys. But there is also a growing movement of trail runners starting to take advantage of the impressive mountain passes, rolling jeep tracks and challenging technical single-tracks that are found throughout the wine regions.

‘Tis the season for festive markets, carols by candlelight, sparkling decorations and all the magic that a warm South African summer Christmas can bring.

To make sure you and your family have a merry memorable time in the winelands, here’s a round-up of 20 of the 2019 holiday season events and attractions in the different wine routes you can’t miss.