Stellenbosch blends

Walk-in tastings are offered, while the underground tasting room and the longer guided tours need booking. The flagship is Fusion V, a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, from vineyards in the Polkadraai Hills that Emil and Sonette den Dulk planted after moving from Johannesburg.

Weekday tastings run in the Polkadraai Road cellar that was once home to Amani. Catherine Marshall started out with Pinot Noir and still makes it from cool Elgin and Hemel-en-Aarde fruit, alongside Chenin Blanc Fermented in Clay and the Ode to Arges Semillon.

Pinotage and Cape blends lead here, with the flagship Auret blending Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage. The Devon Valley farm has a restaurant serving comfort food and wood-fired pizzas, plus accommodation. The Pritchard family still own it and still use traditional basket presses.

Reds are the focus here, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage and Merlot, with a dry rosé alongside and The Gap, a blend named after the gap between the Helderberg and Lourensford mountains, as the flagship. The family winery sits on the Helderberg slopes, and Jeremy Walker made its first vintages in a converted squash court. Tastings run on weekdays, Saturdays are by appointment, and three self-catering cottages are let on the farm.

Pinotage is the focus here, and Red Leaf, the restaurant beside the tasting centre, works it into the menu, down to a Pinotage burger. Beyers Truter, previously winemaker at Kanonkop, started Beyerskloof in the late eighties, and his son Anri now runs the cellar and the bistro.

Tastings run in Cuvée, the estate's tasting room, and the options include a sparkling flight. Simonsig makes Kaapse Vonkel, the Cap Classique that Frans Malan first produced here, and the estate is still run by the second and third generations of the Malan family.

A tasting room with cellar door sales on Paradyskloof Road in Stellenbosch. Pinot Noir and Pinotage both feature in the range, with one Pinotage bottled under the Paradyskloof name.

Chenin Blanc is the focus, tasted in the Wine Lounge on the slopes of the Helderberg, with food pairings on offer. Ken and Teresa Forrester bought the farm at auction in the early nineties along with two old Chenin vineyards, and the FMC, made with Martin Meinert, is the flagship.

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.

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.

Guided tastings run from Monday to Saturday on the Bottelary Road, or you can settle in with a few bottles and a cheese platter. Pinotage appears in several of the ranges, and one Chenin Blanc comes from bush vines planted by the great-grandfather of Danie Steytler Jnr, who now runs the farm with Carin as the fourth generation of the family.

Tastings run daily here in the Bottelary Hills, with lunch from Wednesday to Sunday and a Vintner's Platter on Mondays and Tuesdays. Shiraz has been bottled here every vintage for more than half a century, and The Stork Shiraz is named after the wartime nickname of the late Ken Mackenzie, whose family still owns the farm.

Tastings here include a single-wine pour of the Boustred Chenin Blanc and a masterclass hosted by brothers Chris and Rob Boustred, with flatbreads made to go with the wines. VUUR cooks every dish over open flames in the former horse stables, and guests can stay on the estate. Murray and Juliet Boustred bought the farm on the Simonsberg foothills to make wine, and their sons now work alongside Murray.

Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon lead at this estate at the end of the Stellenbosch Kloof Road, with Nine Yards Chardonnay and Cobblers Hill, a Bordeaux-style blend, as the flagships. Tastings and tours run every day, and there are two restaurants, the casual Cellar Door and the fine-dining Jordan Restaurant, plus suites on the estate for staying over. Gary and Kathy Jordan run it on land Gary's parents bought in the early eighties.

Guided cellar tours end with a tasting in the basement cellar, and there's a garden restaurant on the estate where booking is advised. The farm sits on the Simonsberg and makes Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage, including a dry Pinotage rosé and the Vera Cruz Pinotage. Its name comes from the German for Deli's home, after the founder's wife, and the Sperling family still owns it.

Tastings and cellar tours run here, and the estate has its own hotel and restaurants. Most of the vineyard is planted to red varieties, and the flagship Bell Tower is a Bordeaux-style blend named after the bell tower on the property. The farm dates back more than three centuries, and its old manor house now serves as the cellar.

Tastings are held in the restored manor house, where the Helshoogte Pass begins its climb out of the Banghoek Valley towards Franschhoek. The estate also has restaurants and a country lodge. The wines are made from Bordeaux varieties, with single-vineyard bottlings, sparkling wine and the Simone and Richelle blends.

Tastings run every day, and the Bodega restaurant, set in a Cape Dutch-style barn, serves lunch and tapas from Wednesday to Sunday. The estate is on Blaauwklippen Road in Stellenbosch, and the Blaauwklippen Wine Trails begin with a tasting here.

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.

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.

Tastings run in the Tasting Room and Deli, with options that include a wine and chocolate truffle pairing, and a complimentary cellar tour goes out daily. Lanzerac describes itself as the birthplace of the first commercially bottled Pinotage, and its Cape Dutch Manor House and werf are a Provincial Heritage Site. The estate in the Jonkershoek Valley is also a hotel with a spa and several places to eat.

Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are the focus here, from the Old Vine Chenin Blanc to the Eden single-vineyard wines. Tastings take place in a private tasting room on Eden Farm in the Polkadraai Hills and cover the Raats Family, Bruwer Vintners and MR de Compostella ranges. Booking is essential because the tastings are kept small, and Bruwer Raats's sons now work in the family business.

Sommeliers guide tastings of Quoin Rock and Knorhoek wines, seated inside or out with the Simonsberg vineyards in view, and oysters or a cheese and charcuterie platter can be added. Quartz Restaurant serves lunch, and guests can stay in the Manor House. Tastings are booked online, and younger children come by prior arrangement.

Bush-vine Chenin Blanc from the Bottelary Hills goes into the Secrets & Lies bottling, and the range also includes Pinotage, Shiraz and a Cap Classique. The family-owned estate farms vineyards in the Golden Triangle too. Tastings can come as pairings, one with biltong, dry wors and cheese and another with cake.

The tasting room offers three tastings, and bookings are only taken for groups of more than eight. There's a restaurant pouring the wines by the glass or bottle, and the cellar sits on the Helderberg slopes with Table Mountain in view to the west. It began as a joint venture between Ernie Els and Jean Engelbrecht to make a Bordeaux-style red.

Tastings with outdoor seating on Groenvlei, a farm at the foot of the Helderberg, where the range runs from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and a Blanc de Noir. Peter Falke, born in Germany, bought the farm in the mid-nineties, and his family has traded in South Africa since the late sixties.

Tastings run on a terrace looking over the vineyards towards the Helderberg mountains, and the restaurant changes its chef's menu weekly with the seasons. The estate also has an art gallery, a boutique and an indoor equestrian arena with paddocks, set among indigenous gardens.

Tastings here centre on site-selected and single-vineyard wines, in a tasting room at the foot of the Helshoogte Pass. Neil Ellis started out as a négociant buying in grapes, and the fruit still comes from vineyards in Stellenbosch, Elgin and Darling. His son Warren now makes the wines.

Tastings are by appointment only, with flights drawn from the Precision Series, the V-Series and the Tales range. The vineyards sit among the Schapenberg hills near Sir Lowry's Pass, on a farm restored by the Gabb family, originally from Shropshire. The estate is Fairtrade certified and a WWF Conservation Champion.

Olive oil and wine can be tasted separately or together here, with the wines split between Bordeaux varieties and the Giulio Range, an Italian line named after operas. Giulio Bertrand, a businessman from Piedmont, bought the Somerset West estate in the early nineties, planted olive trees and brought Sangiovese vines from Italy.

Chorus, the restaurant on the estate, serves seasonal four- and six-course menus. The vineyards on the Schapenberg above Somerset West are certified biodynamic, and the Circle of Life range covers a white made mostly from Sauvignon Blanc and a Bordeaux-style red.

Shiraz is the focus, with the Shiraz Select as flagship, and tastings draw on the Private Collection range alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage and whites. The farm sits on Polkadraai Road, on land first granted in the late seventeenth century, and the Bührer family have owned it since moving from Switzerland in the late eighties.

Visits are by appointment only at this small Devon Valley winery, where Merlot leads the range. The flagship Synchronicity blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Pinotage, and is only made in selected vintages. Martin Meinert bought the land in the late eighties.

Tastings are held on the top floor of the winery in the foothills of the Simonsberg, with cheese and charcuterie platters, and the Vine Bistro serves French bistro food at lunch and on Friday and Saturday evenings. May de Lencquesaing bought the estate, and her private glass collection fills a museum in the winery that's free to visit. Lady May, from a single vineyard, is the flagship.