Venturing inland from Cape Town you’ll find the Boland, meaning ‘upland’. It is a superb wine producing area, and indeed the best known in South Africa. The magnificent mountain ranges around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl provide ideal microclimates for the vines.
There’s been colonial settlement here since the later half of the 17th century, when the Dutch first founded Stellenbosch and the French Huguenots settled in Franschhoek. Both towns pride themselves on their innovative young chefs, many based at wine estates, and the region has become the mainspring of South African cuisine. Along with Paarl, these towns make up the core of the Wine Lands.We spent three nights in Franschhoek touring the vineyards of the region, eating fine food and of course drinking the fabulous wine. Our boys have visited many vineyards and experienced wine tastings around the world but theses were some of their favourites.
MORE ABOUT THE CAPE WINE LANDS
Located about fifty kilometres east of Cape Town, the Franschhoek/Stellenbosch/Paarl wine making region produces a staggering 1,000,000,000 litres of wine per year! The perfect mixture of fertile soil, access to water, hilly terrain and the Mediterranean style climate (hot dry summers with cool wet winters) make for ideal grape growing. This area was first settled by the Dutch back in the 17th century when the earliest of the wine farms were established making this a very mature wine region – and arguably one of the world’s best.
THE WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE
The Cape Wine Lands experience differs greatly to many other parts of the world. The wine farms are large, and have sizeable tasting rooms and outdoor areas. You are almost always served at a table and charged a small tasting fee (though negligible really in the scheme of things, and usually taken off the price of any purchases). You are usually given a handful of between 3-6 wines in your tasting; the tastings are generous; all staff have an excellent knowledge of their products; and tasting notes are given verbally and at well-spaced intervals. Often some sort of food accompanies the wine. Many of the wineries we visited had restaurants, beautiful picnic areas with luxury picnics provided, children’s play areas, large grassy spaces and even chocolateries and ice creameries! It is easy to visit wineries in South Africa with children.
CHILD FRIENDLY WINERIES IN THE CAPE WINE LANDS
SPICE ROUTE, PAARL
Spice Route, a boutique wine village, is the perfect day-trip destination for the whole family. This was our first experience of a South African wine estate and it was so different from what we were used too. It was huge with three dining options including a very child friendly pizzeria, a deli, glass-blowing studio, children’s play area, chocolaterie, brewery and ice creamerie. This is somewhere you can come for the day or at the very least a good few hours. We were used to visiting a winery for an hour, tasting the wine and then leaving having bought some bottles, but this was far more than that, somewhere you could spend several hours.
Here we did a wine tasting sat outside with fabulous views of the mountains, sampled some chocolate in the chocolaterie and did a charcuterie tasting. We left with wine, chocolate and saucisson!
FAIRVIEW WINE AND CHEESE, PAARL
Fairview is an outstanding wine farm offering a unique experience and ideal for children. At the entrance to Fairview is the goat tower, and a proud billy goat with huge horns stands guard on the tower staircase. There is also a huge, safely covered pond with enormous koi fish that delight the children. The focus at Fairview is cheese and wine. We sampled both in a beautiful tasting room. The boys loved it here as they did a grape juice and cheese tasting, alongside us. They felt very grown up sipping their grape juice and tasting the various cheeses.
The Goat Shed restaurant is informal, with a range of dishes including steaks, fabulous salads and cheese platters to enjoy with wine by the carafe. Fairview also has a fabulous deli and bakery selling breads, cheeses and cold meats.
BOSCHENDAL, FRANSCHHOEK
Boschendal, one of the oldest wine estates (1685) in South Africa, is located between Franschhoek and Stellenbosch in the Cape Wine Lands. It is a massive estate with restaurants, two picnic lawns, deli style shop and children’s play areas. We experienced a luxury picnic here complete with a bottle of wine. It was delightful. We sat at a table under a big shady oak tree where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch. Children are provided with their own picnic hampers complete with more child friendly food.
After lunch we did an outdoor wine tasting while the boys played football with some other children on the large grassy area. Perfect.
MORESON, FRANSCHHOEK
The restaurant at Moreson, Bread & Wine, has a lovely shady courtyard with shallow ponds for older children to splash about in close by, and a play area with big cushions and toys set up in a special corner on the verandah. Children definitely have fun exploring here. The menu has a special section for Kids called “Petit a la carte” offering pizza toast, noodles, fish and chips and a healthy Pick n Mix board of cold meat, cheese and fruit. The restaurant is famous for its charcuterie so choosing cold meat platters for everyone to share is a great option. They offer a wide variety of wines, but the Miss Molly range was our favourite.
WARWICK WINE ESTATE, STELLENBOSCH
Warwick Wine Estate is an outstanding family run wine estate, located in the beautiful Stellenbosch region. It is the perfect location for a gourmet picnic, the perfect place to relax with family or friends and ideal for children. The estate is well designed with many different picnic options available depending on your preference and the size of your party. The lush picnic lawn is the perfect spot to relax on oversized cushions under umbrellas and ideal with children. The Forest Courtyard is a full-service area where you sit on tables and chairs. You can also book one of their eight pods, which accommodate up to twelve people in shaded comfort. They have a great kid’s jungle gym, and a water fountain to cool down in, as ours did!
We did a wonderful wine tasting here, loving the Warwick estate wines.
See Also: A Wine Tour Around Martinborough, New Zealand
For read more about Stellenbosch Bites and Sights on the Streets of Stellenbosch – BoyEatsWorld
WHERE WE STAYED
We spent three nights at Val D’Or Guesthouse located just outside the village of Franschhoek. You will need a car to stay here. We stayed in the three bedroom owner’s cottage which gave us plenty of room. The gardens are large and there is a pleasant swimming pool. Breakfast is eaten on the terrace with spectacular views over the gardens to the Franschhoek hills beyond. A beautiful spot to spend a few days.
We loved our time in the Cape Wine Lands and would definitely recommend as super family friendly. To conclude, the wine estates in South Africa are very set up for families, much more so than most wineries around the world. You are often able to combine wine tasting with other fun activities. Children’s play areas are common and can occupy children while mum and dad taste wine. Wine tastings are often outside so it is easy to keep an eye on children playing.
