Wine farms with cellar tours

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.

Only red wine is made here, mainly Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, on the lower slopes of the Helderberg. Staff guide the tastings and offer informal tours of the underground cellar, and the winemaker's lunch of steak or salmon with a glass of wine runs daily on a first come, first served basis. The Engelbrecht family has owned the estate since the late seventies, and its title deed dates from the seventeenth century.

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.

Walk-ins are welcome on Saturdays and weekday tastings are by appointment, and you can book a walk up to the home vineyard on the Helderberg's eastern slopes. Architect David Trafford and his wife Rita, an artist, started this small family winery in the mountains above Stellenbosch. The reds include a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc, and the range also takes in a Chenin Blanc and a Straw Wine.

Tastings run at the Wine Tasting Centre, and there are two places to eat, the Stables bistro and Camphors restaurant. The estate has seventeen gardens, and the camphor trees by the homestead go back to Willem Adriaan van der Stel, the Cape governor granted the farm more than three centuries ago. Cabernet Sauvignon leads the GVB Red, a blend with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

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.

Tastings come with the option of a chocolate pairing, and the restaurant serves breakfast and lunch. Pinot Noir, a Bordeaux-style blend called Ansela van de Caab and a Cape Vintage port-style wine are the ones to know. The Melck family owns the farm, on land near the Simonsberg first granted in the seventeenth century.

Tastings start with a walk through the underground maturation cellar before a flight of the estate's wines, and there's a chocolate pairing too. Isikhati, a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, heads a range that also takes in Pinotage and Chenin Blanc. It's a small estate with a guesthouse on site.

The range here includes Trilogy, the flagship blend, alongside a Cabernet Franc and the First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate sits at the western foot of the Simonsberg and takes its name from the Warwickshire Regiment, in which a former owner, Colonel Alexander Gordon, served.

Tastings run every day, with flights from the Estate Range and the Short Story Collection and pairings with chocolate, cheese or small plates. There's a pairing for children too, cellar tours can be booked ahead, and the old manor house holds The Restaurant. The estate is a WWF Conservation Champion, and visitors can drive or walk its avenue of stone pines.

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.

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.

Tastings are private and by appointment, and they can include a tour of the boutique gravitational cellar. The vineyards on De Goede Sukses, in the Simonsberg ward, are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Lyn and Dudley Marklew bought the farm, and their children Bill and Haidee run it today, with Haidee making the wine.