Cape Winelands

Travel Advice for Seniors: Cape Winelands

No tour of Cape Town is complete without a side tour to the Winelands. There are many very well-known wine areas including Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and Paarl in this part of the world. Each wine area has its own specialty and each town has its own unique beauty. The vast majority of South Africa’s wines come from this area.

Our home base for our wine tour was Spier Wine Farm in the Stellenbosch area. Spier is itself a winery and tastings are available on-site. This was one of our favorite hotels in South Africa. The location was great, rooms outstanding, the views spectacular and the food and amenities superb.

We started our stay at Spier with a couple’s massage (two separate rooms). This was part of a package that was followed by a bottle of wine and a heavily-laden charcuterie board plus two reclining pallets in separate room following the massage. The price was reasonable and the fare was excellent. Nice relaxing way to wrap up a great trip!

The Spier also had a bakery/market for picnics on the large grounds, and a garden walking path along a creek. It was a destination onto itself, and we highly recommend it.

Now back to the wines. Our favorite South African wine is the Pinotage which we discovered completely by accident while requesting a Shiraz for “Sundowners” while on safari (the South African equivalent of Happy Hour only at an elephant watering hole during sunset!).

Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage are outstanding South African exports and are very popular. We tried all of them at several wineries over the course of a day and a half, one of which was also a lavender farm.

We toured with a wine expert who also expertly tailored what we were sampling to meet our tasting requirements and made recommendations on her favorites. A word about wine tastings: The tasting samples that we had were pretty generous, so it would be wise to avail yourself of a hearty breakfast or at least some of the crackers which were usually on offer.

Since we were going to several wineries and were planning on eating lunch at yet another winery, we asked to taste only red wines we were interested in unless there was a stellar white that the winery was known for. Also, we TASTED the wines (not gulping down every last drop) and then dumped the rest of the taste into a carafe, rinsing our glass for the next taste. We were usually served about five different wines, which can make for a tipsy day unless your prepare yourself. It is courteous but not necessary to buy wine at the wineries. I usually look for the wineries signature wine and then make sure that I can’t already get it in the States before buying. Again, watch your liquor limit and suitcase weight limit. You can purchase wine at the duty free at the airport on the way home, but I like to get rarer wine directly from the source that is not readily available commercially.

One of our favorite things to do on a wine tour is to make time for a long, drawn-out meal at a winery. Usually, wineries specialize in this, many serving three or four courses. It is not inexpensive, but it is very, very enjoyable and we highly recommend it. We had lunch at Longtable at Haskell Vineyard and also at Glenelly Bistro. Both were fantastic with menus featuring lamb, pork belly, fresh caught fish and springbok to mention a few selections. If you are unsure of what wine to order with each course, just ask the waiter to make a recommendation.

You may get tired of the facility tours, but it is polite to do walk through as wineries are very proud of their facilities. We especially like the ones that do something unusual such as pump classical music through the storage areas or take us on a horse-drawn carriage tour of the vineyards. Be patient and polite while getting to the main event.

We highly recommend the Winelands Tour as an addition to your trip to Cape Town and/or South Africa and there are plenty of groups that organize them. Stellenbosch, Franchoek and Paarl are great place to spend a night if you can fit them into your itinerary.

Where we stayed: Spier Wine Farm Breakfast included. Wonderful accommodation with wine tasting, spa and nice restaurant.

How we got there: 1-2 Hour drive from Cape Town..This was part of a three-week private tour through Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

General Accessibility Information: South Africa is a mixed bag of accessible and non-accessible facilities. Some tour operators offer accessible tours, and some high-end hotels are accessible. Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements.See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.