12 Must-Visit Wine Farms in and Around Cape Town

Guest post submission by WanderCapeTown

South Africa has become world-renowned for its wine, a top competitor that compares to Chile, Argentina, and even Germany.

Reds, whites, and rosé’s, almost all South African wine is produced in a small sub-section of the Western Cape called the Cape Winelands which surrounds Cape Town and neighbouring cities and towns. 

So naturally, visiting a wine farm and tasting some of South Africa’s famous wines is one of the best things to do while in Cape Town.

If you are travelling to Cape Town and looking to indulge in the dreamy wine farms of the area, this is the article for you. I’ll be categorising these wine farms according to the area they’re in, from the city itself to an hour’s drive from Cape Town. Enjoy the read! 

Cape Town Wine Farms

Cape Town is a sprawling city that stretches far and wide. These wine farms are situated within Cape Town and aren’t more than thirty minutes drive from the CBD. One of the best suburbs of Cape Town to experience wine tasting is Constantia which is where you will find three of these wine farms.

1. Groot Constantia 

Distance | 18 km (11 miles) 22 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R115 ($6) for 5 wines

Groot Constantia is South Africa’s first and oldest wine-producing farm and is an integral part of South African wine heritage. It is an excellent place to learn about the history of wine-making in South Africa. 

This magnificent wine farm offers a variety of experiences for you to choose from depending on the mood you’re in. If your mood is just wine? Their standard wine tasting gives you the option of five delicious wines to taste. Have a sweet tooth? I’d highly recommend their chocolate and wine pairing. Each chocolate has been crafted to pair with the wines in this tasting! Want to learn more about the farms’ history? Groot Constantia offers a Visitors Route Experience that gives access to the Manor House Museum and Cloete Cellar.

All the tastings come with a complimentary branded wine glass as a souvenir of your visit to South Africa’s oldest wine farm. 

2. Constantia Glen Winery

Distance | 19 km (11,5 miles) 24 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R130 ($7) for 4 wines

Uniquely cradled between the Constantiaberg and Table Mountain, Constantia Glen boasts breathtaking views of the False Bay landscape. Accompanied by the late afternoon sun streaming through Constantia Nek, this wine farm is an excellent wine-tasting and charcuterie board experience.

Constantia Glen offers 5 different wine-tasting options to choose from. They are the Flagship tasting (4 wines), the Full House tasting (7 wines), the Van Wyk Family tasting, as well as the white wine and red wine tasting (6 and 5 wines, respectively). My personal recommendation has to be the Full House tasting paired with a charcuterie board, but frankly, you can’t go wrong with any selection of tasting or food! 

3. Buitenverwachting

Distance | 19 km (11,5 miles) 23 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R70 ($3,5) for 5 wines

This beautiful wine farm is nestled against the Constantiaberg on the east-facing slopes. It has an incredible range of activities waiting to be explored!

You could easily spend the entire day on this farm, starting at the Coffee BloC, their in-house cafe, meandering through the jewellery studio and gift shop, experiencing their wines in the cellar, enjoying delicious food at the Beyond Restaurant, and wrapping up the day with some freshly baked goods and yummy sweet treats from the Take-away Deli. 

I could easily spend the day sitting on a picnic blanket under the shade of the lush oak trees on the well-maintained and manicured lawn, enjoying the summer sun and sipping on delicious wine shared with friends and family.

4. Steenberg 

Distance | 24 km (14 miles) 29 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R130 ($7) for 5 wines

The Steenberg winery is a complete destination, home to the luxurious 5-star Steenberg Hotel and Spa, a sunny terrace at the Tryn Restaurant, a curated wine-tasting experience as well as the Bistro Sixteen82 featuring a flavourful and interesting tapas menu. Along with the 18-hole golf course, Steenberg is a playground and the perfect base from which to explore the city and the iconic Cape Atlantic seaboard.

There are a variety of wine-tasting options to suit your preference. These include a bubbly tasting of 4 sparkling wines, my personal favourite from Steenberg, a classic tasting of 1 sparkling wine and 4 wines from the classic range, a red wine tasting of 4 elegant Steenberg red wines and last but not least, the flagship tasting which offers a Pinot Noir Cap Classique followed by the 4 flagship wines. Reservations are required when visiting the tasting room.

This 300-hectare wine farm also offers its visitors the opportunity to explore with the use of mountain bikes. If this is not your thing, the Peter Matkovich golf course is one of the best-conditioned courses in South Africa. 

Wine Farms surrounding Cape Town

As mentioned previously, Cape Town is large. While these are a bit more of a drive away from the city centre, each wine farm offers a stunning range of wines to taste and a vista to enjoy, as well as a rich history if you’d like to learn more about the wine and the estate. 

5. Diemersdal

Distance | 32 km (20 miles) 32 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

Possibly some of my favourite wines in the Cape Winelands (favourites are hard when options are vast, but this is definitely a top contender) come from this wine farm. The Diemersdal winery is a must for those looking to enjoy both exquisite wine and exquisite views.

The Diemersdal wine farm offers a plethora of wines to choose from, as well as a selection of wine tastings to help you decide your favourite, which is honestly really hard when all the wines are so good! If I had to choose a favourite, I would have to say the Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc is a classic summer wine that is refreshing and easy to drink. The Diemersdal Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot would have to be my winter choice, as it pairs well with almost all hearty dinners or even just a fireplace and friends. 

6. Klein Roosboom Boutique Winery

Distance | 25 km (16 miles) 24 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

Another top contender of mine. This family-owned wine farm offers a variety of delectable and easy-to-drink wines for you to choose from. Wine tasting at this farm takes place in their old concrete wine tanks, which have been knocked open to create cosy tasting caves. 

While tasting at the farm, the staff personally share the stories and secrets of the farm. Accompanied by an awesome restaurant with even more awesome food (especially the pizzas) this wine farm should definitely be on your list when visiting the area. 

7. Durbanville Hills 

Distance | 24 km (15 miles) 24 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

Durbanville Hills is one of South Africa’s most prolific wine farms. It is renowned for the high-quality wine that is produced there at affordable prices. Not only are the wines delectable, but the tasting room also offers incredible views of Table Mountain and the Table Bay area. 

Visitors to the wine farm are spoilt for choice! There are 8 different wine tastings that you can choose from. Cheese and wine pairing, chocolate and wine pairing, biltong (which is South Africa’s dried and cured meat similar to American jerky, only substantially better), dried fruits and wine pairing and finally, hot chocolate and wine pairing! Good luck deciding which you would like on the day. I still struggle when visiting Durbanville Hills.

8. Bloemendal

Distance | 28 km (17 miles) 30 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

This gem of a wine farm is one of the largest wine farms in the region spanning over 230 hectares. It is here that you’ll be able to find 360°, a beautifully designed wine-tasting hall constructed upon Kanonberg, blessing you with a full 360° view of its surroundings. 

Similar to the uniqueness of 360°, Bloemendal also has a unique nougat and wine pairing, which I cannot recommend enough. It is different and interesting, and exceptionally yummy! 

Wine farms under an hour away 

This is where a designated driver will come in handy, which also opens up the possibility of doing multiple wine farms in one day. These farms are all within an hour of travel from the CBD and are a weekend must for travellers looking to experience all of what Cape wines offer.

💡 Note: Something worth mentioning but will not be covered in this article is the Franschhoek wine tram which is a whole experience in itself! 

9. Boschendal Wine Estate

Distance | 61 km (38 miles) 50 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

I absolutely love this wine farm! I am not joking when I say that the bathrooms here are some of the most beautifully designed bathrooms I have ever stepped foot in, with huge glass windows that give its visitors breathtaking views of the vineyards. Boschendal is an award-winning wine farm with an incredible range of wines for you to try. 

Not only are the bathrooms and wines exceptional, but the weekend market is definitely something that should be experienced. These are seasonal, so if you are around during springtime, make a point of visiting this wine farm then. Other activities that are offered at Boschendal are exploring the farm on horseback, a mountain bike trail for adrenaline junkies, picnicking, as well as an art gallery to visit. 

10. Babylonstoren

Distance | 54 km (33 miles) 44 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R110 (6$) for 7 wines

Another favourite of mine, Babylonstoren, is one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms which boasts some of the most incredible and diverse fruit and vegetable gardens. It is worth visiting this farm for the gardens alone. But besides the beautiful garden bursting with fresh produce, it is home to a spa and a variety of workshops like soap-making, foraging, and culinary herbs, to name a few. 

Frankly, there is so much to do and explore at Babylonstoren I don’t think you can fit it all in one day. You will have to plan ahead to make sure you see and do what most appeals to you. But if you are in pursuit of wine, I would recommend the Babylonstoren range as this gives you 7 wines to try.

11. Lanzerac Wine Estate

Distance | 57 km (34 miles) 52 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

Have you ever heard of the Pinotage grape varietal? A quick history lesson to make Lanzerac stand out. Pinotage is a varietal grape made in South Africa, a crossing between Pinot Noir and Cinsault created by Professor Perold of the University of Stellenbosch back in 1920. It has become renowned as the grape of South Africa, and it was Lanzerac who first commercially bottled the Pinotage varietal.

Besides the extraordinary wine heritage of this farm, Lanzerac also boasts a wonderful chocolate and wine pairing that I could not recommend enough. 

12. Warwick Wine Estate

Distance | 52 km (32 miles) 43 minutes
Price for standard tasting | R50 (2,5$) for 6 wines

The Warwick Wine Estate is nestled against the Simonsberg Mountains and is the home of a beautiful vineyard, bistro, tasting room and deck, and most notably, picnic spots. Warwick offers an awesome spread of tapas and a bottle of wine of your choice in a basket to take out onto their grounds to enjoy with friends, family, or a significant other.

One of my favourite pairings to do at this marvellous wine farm is the Gourmet pairing. Here you will be treated to something completely different, like marshmallow and MCC pairing, as well as goat’s cheese, fresh basil and Sauvignon Blanc pairing. 

Tasting ready! 

There you have it: a comprehensive list of amazing wine farms to visit in and around Cape Town! My personal favourites are Diemersdal, Boschendal, Klein Roosboom and Babylonstoren, but I hope that you can now find your own favourite wine farm in Cape Town.