The Stellenbosch wine farms worth visiting

Estate Pinotage and Paul Sauer, a Bordeaux-style blend, are made here on the lower slopes of the Simonsberg. In the tasting room you can taste and buy the wines and watch a video about the farm's vineyards and winemaking, and private tastings in the maturation cellar run on weekdays by booking. Brothers Johann and Paul Krige run the estate, which is named after a hill where a cannon was fired to announce ships entering Table Bay.

The full range is open to taste here, Rubicon included, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. A seated tasting by reservation adds an older vintage of Rubicon, and the estate is closed on Sundays. The Myburgh family has owned the farm since the mid-eighteenth century, and Hannes Myburgh runs it today.

The wine and chocolate tasting pairs the estate's wines with chocolates made for it, and bookings are recommended. There's also a Wine Drive Safari and a walk along the Porcupine Trail. Cabernet Sauvignon is the core grape, with The Jem as the flagship blend, and the Ord family has owned Waterford since its founding.

Tastings run here in the Banhoek Valley, just off the Helshoogte Road out of Stellenbosch towards Franschhoek. The vineyards are planted to French varieties, and the flagship is Rhodium, a red blend. Adrian Vanderspuy set the winery up in its present form in the early two-thousands.

Italian varieties such as Sangiovese and Nebbiolo are the focus, poured at a tasting centre and restaurant on the upper slopes of the Helderberg near Sir Lowry's Pass. Alberto Bottega, born in Milan, founded Idiom with his wife Valerie as a family legacy, and the estate also keeps Vinotria, a library of Italian wines.

Chardonnay, including The Single Tree, and reds such as Syrah come from vineyards high on the Helderberg slopes, next to the Helderberg Nature Reserve. Tastings are held in a stone building in Swiss chalet style, with views over the bays and Table Mountain.

Alongside the wine tastings on the crest of the Helshoogte Pass, you can try the estate's potstill brandy or take a tutored olive oil tasting. The Director's Reserve pair covers a Cabernet-led red blend and a white blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. There's a restaurant at the winery, and a separate deli with a shop, café and children's play area.

Tastings run every day, with food platters served alongside the tutored ones, and the range includes a Banghoek Chardonnay and The Laurence Reserve red. The estate on the Helshoogte Pass also has two restaurants, one of them the Asian-inspired Indochine, along with lodges and a spa. Laurence Graff of Graff Diamonds has owned it since the early two-thousands.