There’s a magical quality to driving through the Cape Winelands in autumn. The evocative landscape of sweeping vineyards, pine-forested mountains, rolling hills and autumn foliage always feels like a cinematic moment. With these changes comes exciting new winery highlights, destination restaurants that go beyond the farm-to-table mantra and luxury wellness worth staying awhile. As the summer crowds clear out and the scent of the harvest perfumes the crisp air, below are the new experiences you can’t miss to appreciate the region in all its glory.
MUST-HAVE EATS
Editor’s pick: MERTIA
Inside the former Standard Bank landmark in Stellenbosch, MERTIA is a glimmering new fine-dining restaurant and bar. It’s one of those restaurants that will print itself indelibly to your mind – an experience that transcends the food with its chic and contemporary design, balletic waiters and serious wine cellar honouring South Africa’s vines. Statement furniture and art are grounded with a neutral-tinged palette, gleaming metallic accents and moody natural light, and are joined by a sanctuary-like bathroom. MERTIA is an ode to detail. It’s present everywhere – including gorgeous glassware and that particular blend of confident, meticulous and charismatic service. Underpinning all this, there’s the lustre you’d expect from two operators who’ve significantly shaped the finer end of South African dining. The menu is a collaboration between owner Marais Kirsten-Uys and former La Colombe Restaurant talent chef Matt van den Berg. Polished diners can choose from a lunch or dinner tasting menu, both elevating Stellenbosch’s enviable produce without feeling too overpowering or molecular. Signature dishes include the ‘celebration of summer’, an aromatically layered burrata panna cotta dressed with summer tomatoes and basil; ‘jam and cheese on toast’ steeped in student life nostalgia; and kingklip with brandade and velouté that’s as good-looking as it is well-balanced. This interplay between the elevated and the everyday characterises much of the menu’s more adventurous side. But it’s the silken potato, truffle and Parmesan ‘hen’s egg’ that’s destined for icon status – the big flavours, fine texture and perfectly judged temperature really impress. If it sounds gimmicky, know that it tastes like a newfound guilty pleasure. Between all these bold, experimental ideas, there are also moments of quieter refinement. Venison, always a hit in chef Matt’s hands, is a high-water mark once more – the flavour fully developed and sharpened by a pampoen tertjie and sage. Flavoured by flame, the pineapple, lapsang and coconut dessert threatens to steal the show with its not-too-sweet complexity. Every step is flawlessly cooked without being overembellished and great emphasis is placed on the wine pairing. Once you’ve rolled your eyes in rapture, edge into the adjoining bar. Wrapped in light wood, marble swirls and cream bouclé upholstery, it looks after Stellenbosch’s after-work set with cocktails and bar snacks.
20 Bird Street, Stellenbosch
076 644 8448
VUUR Goose Island
Chef’s table dining experiences have been all the rage over the past couple of years. Professional chefs and home cooks have been coming out of the woodwork to prepare meals for those lucky enough to snag a reservation. Gather a group of friends – or make some new ones – around the table at fire-fuelled venue VUUR Goose Island and let chef-owner Shaun Scrooby share his passion for cooking with you. The self-taught chef’s latest venture might just be his most ambitious offering to date. Lunch at VUUR Goose Island is saddled with considerable expectations, which only seem to build as you make the drive to Remhoogte Wine Estate. Thankfully, the team is up to the task – from the cellar-door crew that bid you welcome to the waiters who keep the party humming and the wine flowing. The kitchen is also in on the act, highlighting live-fire cooking and South Africa’s finest meat treated with unrivalled ingenuity and care. Despite its home-spun hospitality and big heart, this restaurant sitting on a little island in a dam is polished. Across a wooden bridge, pale blue doors lure you in, revealing smooth décor elements of wood and stone, warm creamy hues and the most stunning view that Remhoogte Wine Estate has to offer. Flowing water in the foreground, vineyard in the distance. The room exudes a cool elegance and fits 16 people at the communal table and two guests at the chef’s counter. Ultimately, the menu’s up to the whims of Shaun – but whatever it is, there will be a seven-course tasting menu involved, cooked entirely on open flames and matched to six Remhoogte wines. If we were to go by previous meals, spectacularly tender Karoo lamb chops have a fine, clean acidic balance. Seared ostrich fillet is rendered totally delicious by the embers of the wood grill, with flaming-hot wagyu fat from a flambadou amplifying the pleasure tenfold. Snoek and prawns cooked in the classic West Coast Afrikaans fashion prove that the flair extends well beyond meat. Other dishes, meanwhile – braai bread or fire-roasted pineapple – barely whisper ‘smoke’. You’ll leave wondering whether there’s anything this enterprising chef can’t do. Be prepared to book well in advance, but also rest assured that it’s going to be worth it. Your patience is well rewarded with one of the most exciting dining experiences in the Cape Winelands – the bragging rights don’t hurt either. A lunch (and day trip) to be savoured.
Remhoogte Wine Estate, R44, Stellenbosch
083 600 4050
Baccō Estate Restaurant
Among the many treasures of the Paarl region lies this family-run vineyard estate. The Jankelowitz family’s sleek, newly opened winery is nothing less than a contemporary architectural masterpiece. Young cypress trees line the pathway to Baccō Estate, with perfectly trimmed gardens leading up to the majestic tasting room and its impressive red-brick façade. The arched windows draw attention immediately. The design is a brilliant combination of outlandish features – black flooring, ribbed panelling, fluted emerald green marble and cushion-strewn velvet sofas. Here, various shades of terracotta and blue blend together to create interior harmony, adding a hit of colour. The airy room leans to the industrial, but any hard edges are softened by the swift and savvy waitstaff and a wine list that meanders happily through Italy. Though it’s famous for its Super Tuscan wine – a term used to describe red wines from Tuscany that may include non-indigenous grapes – you’ll want to stay long after the wine tasting to soak in the spectacular surrounds. After a glass of Baccō Estate Vermentino, a light-bodied white wine that’s deliciously complex in taste, it’s easy to slip into a mythical mid-century Italy. The opulence flows over to Baccō Estate Restaurant, which combines an exacting attention to detail with creativity and experimentation. Chef Carla Jankelowitz’s kitchen sends out unmissable cicchetti (the Venetian version of tapas), all with commendable depth of flavour. The menu changes on a monthly basis, but if you see the truffle and brie baked crème brûlée with crusty homemade bread and grape harvest jam, be sure to order it. You won’t regret it. House-made pasta is the star – hand-formed gnocchi, say, tossed with creamy avocado and fresh basil, balanced by macadamia nut butter and roasted grapes. Fish might be seared yellowfin tuna on a bed of mango chilli salsa with coriander-dusted crisps. If risotto is your pleasure, you’ll want to join the faithful and get the saffron risotto teamed with prawn crudo, charged with kaffir lime aioli and showered with salted peanuts, too. A note-perfect smoked brie basque cheesecake enlivened by amarena cherries speaks to the solidity of the kitchen. It swings from umami to sweet, velvet to crunch in a single spoonful. A thrilling pick-me-up that’s pretty hard to beat.
Baccō Estate, Simonsvlei Road, Paarl
063 296 2147
TASTING NOTES
Blaauwklippen Tasting House
A gorgeous sprawl of land along the R44 wine trail, Blaauwklippen is one winery that shouldn’t be missed. Its wines express the best of the Stellenbosch region. A stop at the new Blaauwklippen Tasting House offers a magical space for stylish wine flights and delicious bites. As you sit outside on the tree-covered patio and the autumn sunlight sparkles off your assortment of glasses, test your palette on the 1682 Pairing or Pizza Pairing. Blaauwklippen’s reds – such as malbec, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and the De Blaauwe Klip red blend – tend to be rich, fruity and full-bodied. Its chenin blanc delivers high levels of zingy acidity, while the classically exuberant chardonnay assumes a mineral-like aroma. You can’t help but walk away with a bottle (or three) to commemorate the special outing. Food-wise, the food and wine pairings don’t disappoint. The 1682 Pairing creates a balance between the components of each dish – bobotie spring rolls, grilled fillet, oxtail ravioli and malva pudding – and the characteristics of three red wines and the Blaauwklippen Estate Potstill 10YO Brandy. The perfect wine and pizza pairings, anyone? Push your pizza boundaries and match four wines to four toppings – garlic, rosemary, feta and onion; prawn and calamari; brie, gorgonzola, mozzarella and Parmesan; and artichokes, mushrooms, ham and olives. Showing highly polished tannins and excellent depth to its dark fruit flavours, the cab sav is superb with a slice of quattro stagioni.
Blaauwklippen, Strand Road, R44, Stellenbosch
021 880 0133
Stellenbosch Reserve Tasting Room & Restaurant
Over in the ‘Golden Triangle’ on the Helderberg side of Stellenbosch, there’s no shortage of top drinking and eating options. The Rust en Vrede team’s latest project is Stellenbosch Reserve Tasting Room & Restaurant, previously known as Haskell Vineyards. At this intimate next-door sibling to Rust en Vrede Wine Estate, you’ll be looked after by a dedicated, switched-on front-of-house team – whether you’re camped at the tasting bar or snag a booking on the busy dappled restaurant terrace overlooking the striped vines. The lively menu matches the mood. Alfresco dining is the drawcard here – on a sunny day, everything seems to taste better sitting beneath an umbrella with a breathtaking view. And when the rain does arrive, there are plenty of alternative spaces inside. Traditional ideas get imaginative turnarounds across the menu, but good taste reigns supreme. So, fried calamari arrives with rocket and a lemon peri peri mayonnaise; lamb rib pairs marvellously with rosemary, lemon and salt flakes; and an excellent Parma ham salad gets a sprucing of stone fruit, bocconcini, red onion and balsamic vinaigrette. Perhaps the biggest star is the precisely cooked beef fillet, neatly presented with horseradish crème fraîche and crushed baby potatoes with chimichurri. It’s food you want to eat, paired with wine you want to drink. Desserts keep the Mediterranean theme rolling with the likes of halva ice cream with salted caramel and pecan crumble – a satisfying finish to a spot-on long lunch.
Stellenbosch Reserve, Annandale Road, Stellenbosch
072 480 0073
visit@thestellenboschreserve.com
www.thestellenboschreserve.com
Morgenster Restaurant
We have a deep love affair with Italy. The food, the passion and the practice of slow living have a way of making us feel as though we can forget time. At the newly opened Morgenster Restaurant, endless hours melt away without worry over long meals filled with Morgenster Estate’s Italian wines and laugher. This is a great spot for lunch or early dinner, defined by a natural, light-filled minimalist dining room with white tablecloths and a pop of colour. Just how we like our Italian restaurants. If you can’t say no to a big ball of burrata and linguine ai gamberi (that’s linguine with prawns, smothered in a fresh tomato sauce with garlic and sweet chilli), then hot foot it to Morgenster Restaurant stat. It also specialises in Italian-inspired salads and the meat and seafood signatures that have made Italian food famous – beautifully presented and hard to fault. Options like grilled line fish served over wilted greens as well as umami-rich rib eye alongside a herb-packed salsa verde keep things interesting with a fresh twist on Italian cuisine. Dine indoors or al fresco on the terrace, which overlooks the dam, but don’t leave without a tasty tipple. The Morgenster Nabucco Nebbiolo achieves a near-perfect balance between fruit and savoury notes, each in harmony. It’s a rich and complex red wine that showcases the best qualities of the Nebbiolo grape. Finish as the Italians do with a delightful espresso and a plate of Cremezola with peaches, toasted walnuts and Morgenster honey.
Morgenster Estate, Vergelegen Avenue, Somerset West
021 852 1738
Le Grand Domaine Enoteca Sunday Lunch
Dining options abound at all levels in the Cape Winelands, but a good Sunday lunch is a must. Located on Stellenbosch’s iconic Church Street, Le Grand Domaine Enoteca is a cosy, atmospheric wine bar loved by locals and visitors. Frankly, with warm woods, decadent chandeliers and black-and-white pattern underfoot, this is what wine bar dreams are made of. Enoteca, Italian for wine repository or cellar, proudly houses the renowned Grand Vin de Stellenbosch and Stellenview Wines. There are few meals that are more soothing than its new Sunday Lunch, a mouthwatering spin on all the classics designed for sharing. Begin with a hangover-busting glass of Grand Vin de Stellenbosch MCC Brut 2021 before digging into a heaving plate of roast leg of lamb drowned in red wine gravy. Accompanied by garlic butter smashed potatoes, honey roasted carrots, grilled corn on the cob, traditional koeksisters, ystervarkies (South African lamingtons) lemon tart and a glass of red wine or two, it’s guaranteed to lull you into a blissful food coma. The sweet, tender and lightly charred carrots with whipped feta dip and exotic nuts are a highlight, and the Grand Vin de Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot 2020 is always non-negotiable. Just make sure you don’t have anything too strenuous planned for the rest of your day! Service is reassuringly relaxed, with solo diners leafing through newspapers alongside couples, families and groups of friends.
7 Church Street, Stellenbosch
021 300 3279
ALONG THE WAY…
The Hazendal Hotel
Vibrant design and first-class facilities await at The Hazendal Hotel. For a long time, Bottelary Hills was a well-kept secret privy to only in-the-know wine enthusiasts. While the region has boasted an impressive line-up of cellar doors and boutique restaurants for many years, now it’s truly open for business. Standing against the backdrop of the Simonsberg mountains, The Hazendal Hotel is shining a light on one of the Cape Winelands’ most breathtaking gems. You’ll exhale as soon as you pull into this driveway. It’s all clean lines, modern design and quirky touches that create a seam of character. Drop off your bags and enjoy your welcome wine in the sleek lobby of the hotel. The staff are friendly and attentive, ensuring an intimate and relaxing stay. Within the 34 rooms, personal touches are mixed with high-end finishes, guaranteeing a stay that feels as luxe as it does homely. A neutral colour palette prevails, yet what distinguishes each room are the art pieces and splashes of colour. There’s much to love, all conspiring to leave you feeling utterly cossetted – plush bathrobes, floral arrangements and a well-stocked fridge and minibar, but most of all the beds swaddled in Egyptian cotton. Room configurations vary; however, even the smallest are well appointed with private patios, smart TVs, coffee machines and air conditioning. The styling and efficient use of space make them seem roomy and indulgent at the same time. The Hazendal Hotel stands out for its amenities that make it hard to leave the property. Pure secluded luxury is the order of the day here: Fill any free time you have by exploring the Hazendal Wine Lounge, going for massages and spa treatments or lolling about at the heated pool. There are enough sun loungers to go around – you can forget about the dreaded visit to the pool at dawn to reserve a great spot. The only thing for you to worry about is keeping on top of your SPF application. There’s also an 18-hole golf course, a padel court and an incredibly cool fitness space. The vibe here is palpably slow – no rushing from one activity to the next, just relaxing. To recharge, there’s a deli offering all-day breakfast, takeaway sandwiches, and hot and cold plates designed for sharing, as well as numerous eateries – The Eatery, The Restaurant and The Bar. Breakfast features savoury waffles balanced by health-conscious options such as shakshuka and banana bread oatmeal.
Hazendal Wine Estate, Bottelary Road, Stellenbosch
021 903 5034
