Elgin Valley Wine Route 10 farms

Elgin Valley Wine Route

The vineyards of the Elgin Valley Wine Route benefit from high altitudes and cold winters with abundant rainfall, and southeasterly sea breezes in summer. These elements ensure slow ripening, resulting in wines with purity of fruit, complexity and elegance.

The route encompasses 15 wineries, while festivals include Elgin Cool Wine & Country Food and the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium held annually in October. An exciting development is the Elgin Railway Market with a wine bar, crafts and food stalls.

Experience

Visitors to rural Elgin will be instantly charmed by its unassuming beauty. Nestled just off the N2 highway, the area is an outdoor adventurer’s playground with hiking routes through the rugged Boland mountains and world-class mountain biking trails.

Adrenalin junkies love to visit the Cape Canopy Tour zipline in the Hottentots Holland Nature reserve and there are a variety of tranquil getaways where less active visitors can kick back and reconnect with nature.

Food lovers have a good selection of restaurants and farm stalls to choose from and, as well as the array of wine farms to visit, there are also a number of craft cider producers.

A number of the wine farms on the Elgin Wine Route have top-notch restaurants onsite and most pride themselves on sourcing local produce where possible. As well as these restaurants the area boasts some fantastic farm stalls offering delicious country fare. There is also a Texan-style smokehouse and the Elgin Railway Market which hosts a tantalising range of cuisines all under one, art-deco-inspired roof.

Elgin is just an hour’s drive east of Cape Town and is perfect for a picturesque day trip or relaxing country getaway.

Wineries

The Elgin Valley is fast making a name for itself in the wine world. Historically known for its apple and pear production, recent decades have seen a number of orchards being turned to vineyards by passionate winemakers who have recognised Elgin’s uniquely cool climate as the perfect environment to create distinctive, characterful wines.

The wine route offers scenic drives through Elgin’s picturesque Overberg valley. Expect a warm embrace from this friendly community where you can enjoy intimate wine tastings whilst taking in spectacular vistas over vineyards and valleys.

Every wine farm in the Elgin Valley is family owned. Visitors are often treated to wine tastings conducted by the owner or wine maker themselves making this wine route a true gem.

Things To Do

Escape to Elgin and enjoy South African country life at its best.

Take a trip down our wine route
Visit the Elgin Railway Market – you can even arrive by steam train!
Check out the local produce at our farm stalls
Experience fine-dining at one of the winery restaurants
Pick your own fruit and veg at Terra Madre farm
Hike in the nature reserve
Mountain bike or trail run on some of the best trails in the Western Cape
Go ziplining through the mountains with Cape Canopy Tour
Take to the water in a zorb, SUP or a kayak
Hop on a quad-bike
Picnic in the vineyards

Events

The Elgin Wine Route hosts two popular events annually: The Elgin Cool Wine & Country Food Festival at the end of April and the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium early in October.

As well as these wine-related events the area hosts a popular Open Gardens in the spring time regular mountain-biking and trail running events. It is a popular choice for rustic weddings and those who want to escape the city for a conference or team-building workshop.

Related Blog

Make sure these MTB-friendly wineries are on your route

The advent of mountain bike (MTB) enthusiasm has been a boon for many wineries. Many have dramatically expanded their offerings to cater specifically to this sport.

At the same time, these routes have given wine-lovers a new way to explore old favourites too.

The list that follows comprises a small selection of intersecting trails and wineries in diverse regions of the Cape Winelands. Most of the trails require permits and more information about these may be found at corresponding links.

Grootbos Experience Coastal Safari Sunset

The unconventional coastal wine route

Over holidays the stretch of the R43 between its intersection with the N2 and the coast gets particularly busy as families head out to the favourites of Hermanus, Franskraal, De Kelders and Pearly Beach.

At these times, the R43 becomes its own de facto wine route - not by traditional evaluations of terroir or climate, but because of the many of these regions the road traverses. In this example, there are also several world-class wine experiences along the way too.

This then becomes the invitation not only to stock up for the coming weeks of relaxation, but to replenish the home cellar by filling the Ventertjie on the return trip.

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