Wine farms you can stay at

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pinotage, Shiraz and a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend lead the range at this Devon Valley estate, which has a tasting room and lodges for overnight stays. Dutch couple Marianne and Fons Aaldering bought the farm with its vineyards already planted, and the family still runs it, with their daughter Jacqueline and her husband Gert-Jan Posthuma managing the winery.

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.

Red wines are the focus at this small winery on the Helshoogte Pass, with tastings in a room inside the owner's home on weekdays and by appointment at weekends. Prohibition is a straight Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Shiraz carries a new artist's portrait on its label each vintage. The farm also has self-catering cottages.

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.

Tastings run daily, and the Postcard Cafe serves breakfast and lunch out in the open air. The wines come from organically farmed, high-altitude vineyards in the Jonkershoek Valley, on the Oude Nektar farm the family bought after years in Tokyo. Cellarmaster Jose Conde is self-taught, and the name joins two family names, Stark and Conde.

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.

Tastings run Monday to Saturday, cellar tours are by appointment, and Rykaart's, a family-run restaurant, serves a set three-course meal built around produce from the farm. The estate on the Helderberg is farmed organically and biodynamically, and its Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay come from old vines and a block planted by John and Erica Platter.

Every tasting here comes with a food pairing, whether in the barrel room, the vinoteque or, weather permitting, out in the vineyard. The estate sits on the slopes of the Helderberg around a Cape Dutch homestead and historic cellar, with a restaurant open daily and several houses and cottages to stay in. Children can make and bake their own pizzas while the adults taste.

Tastings at Weltevreden run every day, from a guided flight to a premium option that adds a walk past sculptures by Ruhan Janse van Rensburg. The short range of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Rosé and Shiraz is named after Bertha, the mother of the Bezuidenhout family who bought the estate. The homestead is a National Heritage Monument, with the Jonkershuis Restaurant and guest accommodation on site.

Tastings run daily at the Cellar Door, with chocolate, cheese and charcuterie pairings, and at the Manor House with seasonal platters; booking is advised, and walk-ins are taken when there's availability. The Deli serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there's also Retreat Restaurant, Arum and pre-booked picnics on the lawns. The estate describes itself as a regenerative farm, with walking and mountain bike trails, horse rides and cottages to stay in.

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 are held in a former horse stable, and there's a hiking trail on the farm, with guided hikes in the flowering season that finish with a tasting. Brothers Tielman and Louis Roos run the Bottelary Hills estate, which their family bought in the sixties, and part of it is a private nature reserve set aside for fynbos.

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.

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.

Tastings are held in the original cellar, and the wines include a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon blend. On the food side there's the Avant-Garde restaurant, which draws on South African and Russian recipes, a Russian tea garden, the Babushka deli and Pivnushka, a family-friendly spot for flame-grilled food and craft beer. Dr Mark Voloshin bought the Bottelary Hills estate in the mid-nineties, and it's run as a family business.

Tastings run every day on the Helshoogte Pass, and the range takes in a Malbec, a Cabernet Franc and a Chardonnay alongside a rosé and a dessert wine. The restaurant serves Banhoek country cuisine with tables under the trees and a play area for younger children, and there are suites and country rooms for anyone staying over. The name recalls the farm's past as an apple orchard.

Wines here include the Y range of Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot, and Danilo, a blend of Merlot and Grenache. The farm sits against the Helderberg and belongs to the Naude family.

There's a tasting room, the Terroir restaurant and a lodge on the property, which sits beside the De Zalze golf course. The Chenin Blanc runs from a bush vine bottling to a Family Reserve made from unirrigated vines more than forty years old. The Basson family bought the farm in the nineties and still owns the vineyards, while AdVini now holds a majority of the wine business.

Wine tastings and a guesthouse share the estate, which sits between Stellenbosch and Somerset West with views of the Helderberg. The wines come in three ranges, Collection, Reserve and Platinum, and the Platinum line includes an Old Bush Vine Chenin Blanc, a Pinotage and Latitude, a Cape blend. Baarsma's Holding, a wine company from the Netherlands, owns the estate.

This Simonsberg estate concentrates on Pinotage and Chenin Blanc, with the Single Block Pinotage as its flagship. There's a country lodge on the working farm, and the owner is AdVini, a French wine group.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are poured in the tasting lounge, with an MCC Rosé among the premium options and a food and wine pairing on offer. The Banhoek Valley estate also has a bistro-style restaurant, a spa and rooms to stay in, and guests can swim in the pool, fish the dam or ride the bike paths.