Durbanville’s wine route has a charm of its own; offering warm hospitality, a restaurant on most farms, a child-friendly atmosphere, a wide selection of wines and personal experiences, that keeps locals and visitors coming back again and again.
Some wineries offer unique pairings, such as ice cream or nougat and wine, pizza and wine, beer and biltong, or MCC and Macarons, while others are perfectly suited to families. This is thanks to great facilities for kids and parents alike, as well as non-alcoholic pairings.
Fifteen visitor-friendly wine farms make up the valley and there are a handful of private boutique wine farms that are open for tastings by appointment only, including Kronendal Wines, Russo Wines Vineyard and De Vallei Boutique Winery.
Wine Farms in the Durbanville Wine Valley:
1. Altydgedacht
Altydgedacht Estate has a small boutique tasting area, overlooking a dam and play area with a jungle gym and sandpit for the kids. They’re also very pet-friendly and are known in the Durbanville area for their pooch-friendly service, leaving water bowls out for furry loved-ones.
Tasting Room: 021 976 1295 info@altydgedacht.co.za
2. Bloemendal Wine Estate
Bloemendal Wine Estate is home to a Y-Bike Trail and Bon Amis Restaurant with a super-sized play area for the kids, a function venue, large lawns where they often have live music events, and of course, their tasting room.
The tasting room is small, with patio seating available, and a few tables on their lawn area, with a jungle gym for the kids. One can order cheese platters from the restaurant to enjoy there, as well as ice cream pairings, with cold drink parings for kids.
Tasting Room: 021 975 9591 info@bloemendalwines.co.za
3. Canto Wines
Canto Wines is a boutique winery producing unwooded Chardonnay, Merlot and Cap Classique. The sophisticated tasting room has a deli for you to build your own platters whilst enjoying a wine or bubbly tasting experience in their lounge or outside. They offer macaron pairings too, which everyone has to experience at least once in a lifetime.
Tasting Room: 021 492 2821 / 082 578 6821
4. D’Aria Winery
D’Aria Wine Estate is home to a function venue, two restaurants, The Terrace at D’Aria and Patina Steak at D’Aria, and a beautiful cocktail bar and restaurant named Botany Lounge at D’Aria.
Their tasting room with a wooden deck and jungle gym over-looks a pond and shaded lawns, which is ideal for picnicking and wine tastings. People often flock there with the furry pooches.
The latest addition to the winery is the access-controlled CU Kids at D’Aria playground with gazebos and tables for the parents to relax at, enjoy a glass of estate wine and a meal.
Tasting Room: 021 801 6772 tasting@daria.co.za
5. De Grendel Wine Estate & Restaurant
De Grendel is a family owned farm, steeped in South African history. The elegant winery offers visitors a choice of wine tasting in the lounge and on the ‘stoep’, with clear views of Table Mountain, the ocean and vineyards, with a gourmet snack selection served in the tasting room on weekends. Guests can embark on a guided farm or cellar tour or enjoy contemporary Cape cuisine in the restaurant.
Read the fascinating history of De Grendel and the Graaff family; including the establishment of the farm in 1720, Argentinian Arab horses, a knighthood, two World Wars and their foray into winemaking in 2000.
Tasting Room 021 558 6280 info@degrendel.co.za
6. Diemersdal Wine Estate
Diemersdal Wine Estate is a well-known landmark in the Durbanville Wine Valley. The farm houses a tasting room as well as The Farm Eatery, a 5 star, award-winning restaurant offering fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere. Here one can sit inside in the long, barn-styled restaurant or outside in the garden, overlooking the valley.
Their tasting room is situated under an orchard, but also offers indoor seating for rainy days. The tastings are sublime and can be paired with a variety of cheese and charcuterie platters.
Although they don’t have a jungle gym, people take their kids along to run on the lawns.
Tasting Room: 021 976 3361 tastingroom@diemersdal.co.za
7. Durbanville Hills Wines
There are few wineries that can boast as breath-taking a view of Table Mountain as Durbanville Hills can from their restaurant. Reasons to stop by, other than wine tasting of course, is the art installations speckled throughout the estate, large function venues, food and wine pairings and cellar tours.
The winery has summer sundowner live music sessions on Fridays, from 4 – 7pm, where one can enjoy either a wine tasting and wine pairing, or simply order a bottle of wine with a cheese platter and listen to the music whilst watching the sun go down.
Tasting Room: 021 558 1300 info@durbanvillehills.co.za
8. Groot Phesantekraal Wine Farm
This boutique winery has a tasting room and country style restaurant that are both exquisitely designed. The cobblestone floors of the restaurant speaks volumes about one of the oldest wine farms in Durbanville’s history and makes one feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The tasting room has a beautiful lounge area and private tastings can be booked in the beautifully renovated chicken coop.
The patio area outside is often used to do wine tastings and serve brunch on sunny Saturdays. Their cheese platters are simply sensational and guests can enjoy coffee and cake at the farm throughout the day.
Tasting Room: 021 825 0060 wines@phesantekraal.co.za
9. Hillcrest Wine Estate
Hillcrest Estate is a boutique winery complimented by the very popular Hillcrest Quarry, home to many live music events, drive-in movies, concerts and festivals.
One can enjoy casual dining and pizza at Hillcrest Restaurant, experience a wine, beer or gin tasting as well as wine and olive pairings at their tasting room or beer garden. They have great pizza specials on weekends, with free live music at the restaurant on Sunday afternoon.
Tasting Room: 021 970 5800 info@hillcrestfarm.co.za
10. Klein Roosboom Boutique Winery
Klein Roosboom (directly translates as ‘little rosebush’) Boutique Winery offers intimate, themed cave-like tasting areas – the old concrete wine tanks were knocked open – along with an outdoor terrace, lawns and jungle gym for the kids.
Their tasting caves need to be booked online at Dineplan, especially over weekends as they get rather busy. Each of the caves are themed and can seat up to six people comfortably. Pop in at Jéan Deli, learn the secret of sabraging one of their Cap Classiques or book a fun party-bike adventure through the vineyards.
Tasting Room: 060 877 2678 info@kleinroosboom.co.za
11. Loch Lynne Wine Estate
The beautiful and elegant Loch Lynne Wine Estate, Durbanville is located about 2kms past Diemersdal Wine Estate on Koeberg Road.
Whilst they don’t currently offer wine tastings, they host summer weekend picnics with live music, to be booked in advance, as well as the Loch Lynne Hill trail walk. The characteristic grain silos and barn pays homage to the farm’s origin as a grain-producing facility and adds to the farm’s appeal as wedding and corporate venue.
Contact Details: 061 636 2393 info@lochlynne.co.za
12. Maastricht Wines
Maastricht Wines is a boutique wine farm that only recently built a tasting room and opened to the public for wine tastings for groups of people ranging from two to sixteen, by appointment under Covid-19 conditions. They offer cheese platters, as well as their famous Maastricht ‘Bitterballen’.
Winemaking is in the blood of the Louw family, they have been making wine in Durbanville for decades, and the young winemaker of Maastricht Wines, Thys Louw, is cousin to his namesake, Thys Louw of Diemersdal Wine Estate.
Tasting Room: 076 540 5105 info@maastricht.co.za
13. Meerendal Wine Estate
Besides their award-winning wines, Meerendal Wine Estate offers many activities, such as mountain biking trails, a Saturday parkrun under normal circumstances and Galileo Open Air movies. The original Cape Dutch homestead operates as a boutique hotel with six luxurious suites.
The estate is home to Carluccis’s Deli, which is ideal for picnics as well as an estate restaurant. They have a very large jungle gym and outdoor seating area to enjoy on a sunny day that is perfect for families.
Tasting Room: 082 699 4380 tasting@meerendal.co.za
14. Nitida Wine Cellars
This family-owned and managed farm hosts two restaurants, Restaurant Cassia and Tables at Nitida, as well as a tasting room and venue overlooking the dam.
Tables at Nitida is child-friendly with shaded patio seating and a jungle gym on expanses of lawn for the kids. They sell cheese platters to enjoy on the lawns picnic-style too.
The cellar is one of the most consistently awarded and loved boutique wine cellars in South Africa.
Tasting Room: 021 976 1467 info@nitida.co.za
15. Signal Gun Wine Estate
Signal Gun has beautiful lawns with shady trees, a large jungle gym for the kids, and an undercover tasting area with large scatter cushions one can take to the lawns. Their wine and beer tastings are very popular and you can do a beer and biltong pairing at the farm, also home to Hoogeberg Brewery, and non-alcoholic grape nectar pairings. Their cheese platters are abundant and rustic.
Signal Gun restaurant, just above the tasting area, has live music on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in their garden, making this a very popular wine estate on weekends.
Tasting Room: 021 976 7343 tasting@signalgun.com
