Producing some of the country’s most sought-after bottles, this lesser-known wine community is morphing into a design haven well worth the short trek from Cape Town.
Photo: Elsa Young/Kokos Huis; Teagan Cunnifee/Kokos Huis; Klein Jan/Kokos Huis
By Lane Nieset
An hour north of Cape Town, the Swartland, one of the largest wine-producing areas in the Western Cape, doesn’t receive nearly the same attention as its polished neighbors in the Cape Winelands; the clean-cut vineyards of Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek, where a hop-on, hop-off wine tram runs through the valley. Instead, the Swartland is the opposite of a wine tourism hub, with dirt roads carving through golden wheat fields that form a pattern of stripes along the foothills of Paardeberg mountain. Along the highway, carefully stacked hay bales form a makeshift café—one of the sole roadside stops—and the only pop of color punctuating the blonde, desert-like expanse (which could double as a backdrop for a Clint Eastwood film) comes from the patchwork of old-bush vines and olive groves. After the winter rains, the native rhinoceros bush takes on an inky hue, which is how the Swartland (Afrikaans for “black land”) earned its name.
A group of independent winemakers helped raise the profile (and reputation) of the vast region's wine when they launched the Swartland Revolution nearly 25 years ago. Now, an influx of young artists, winemakers, and creatives are transforming the area into an artistic hub and hideaway. “The winemakers behind the revolution—who were once seen as outsiders—have created a different way of thinking, they developed a culture,” says Izak Mouton, founder and winemaker of independent label Sakkie Mouton Family Wines, which he produces at a winery in Riebeek Kasteel, the region’s gateway town.
Samantha Suddons, who crafts low-intervention wines in town under the label VINEVENOM, adds that as more young winemakers travel to other wine regions, they’re bringing that knowledge back home. “You've got a lot more experimentation and unique styles coming out of South Africa as people are working with underrated grapes and planting for a sustainable future with vines that are drought-resistant and tolerant to the Swartland heat,” she says. “The experimentation is allowing for such a diverse range of styles of wine you won’t see anywhere else.”
At natural winery, Intellego, you can join winemakers for a sunrise wine braai (barbecue) in the vineyard.
Photo: Esther Eva/Intellego
Things to do in and around the Swartland
In Riebeek Kasteel, Main Street’s Victorian buildings are dominated by a handful of art galleries and ceramics shops huddled across from colonial-style The Royal Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in the country. (It’s considered a little sister to Cape Town's grande dame Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel.) Wine tastings are an informal affair, taking place everywhere from picnic tables outside Rieebek Kasteel’s sole wine shop, The Wine Kollective (be sure to pop in and pick up a few bottles to sip throughout your stay), to poolside at boutique hotel Kokos Huis, where owner Prisca Llagostera invites local winemakers to lead private tastings.
Kokos Huis also offers tailored experiences like lunch and visits to nearby wineries and cellars that aren’t usually open to the public, like Jasper Wickens’s Swerwer Wines and her husband Jurgen Gouws’s natural winery, Intellego. If you’re visiting in the summer months (December to March), set your alarm for 5 a.m. one morning to join the winemakers for a sunrise wine braai (barbecue) in the vineyard, sipping a selection of vino alongside grilled boerewors sausages.
On the slopes of the Paardeberg at family-run Kalmoesfontein, home of AA Badenhorst Wines—which claims the oldest Grenache vines in the country—book a more formal cellar tour, tasting, and farm lunch (offered Wednesday and Friday mornings). While you’re here, swing by onsite studio Ceramic Matters—the team behind some of the impressive work featured at Babylonstoren—to see the latest creations fresh from the kiln. Shop some of the ceramics at Kalmoesfontein’s tiny farm shop in the kitchen of The Old House, where you can also pick up wine, homemade jam, and artisanal products like olive oil from the Western Cape.
Slightly farther away in Piketberg, winemaking husband-wife team Thinus and Hanneke Krüger host monthly lunch and sunset tastings in the boutique winery and cellars of Wolfkloof, home to FRAM Wines and Vino pH. Sample a selection of wines like single vineyard bush vine Pinotage and a field blend dominated by palomino grapes alongside a spread of sharing-style, farm-fresh fare like homemade sourdough with freshly whipped labneh and hummus.
One of the best ways to soak up the region’s vast scenery is hiking through the shrublike fynbos and wildflowers on Kasteelberg mountain at Kloovenburg Wine & Olive Estate, where you can sip estate-grown shiraz or barrel-fermented chardonnay alongside a cheese and meat platter on the terrace under ancient oaks.
For a souvenir that will have you ready for safari or your next braai in the vines, visit ROF-Style’s showroom at founders (and couple) Laura Struik and Leopold van Tuyll’s Cape Dutch-style home in the center of Riebeek Kasteel. By appointment only, you can get fitted for a pair of their limited-production, handmade leather buckle biker boots that were inspired by a shoe style popular in Cape Town in the 1960s.
Come for the pastries and homemade granola at Kokos Huis. Photo: Teagan Cunnifee/Intellego | Guests at Kokos Huis can go wine and olive tasting. Photo: Klein Jan/Kokos Huis
Where to eat and drink
Start the morning with a cappuccino and a hearty bacon-and-eggs breakfast at specialty coffee roaster Beans About Coffee, or take a seat on the outdoor terrace of Mediterranean-influenced The Barn for brunch (the shakshouka is a must-try) or ciabatta roll-topped burgers and lamb kofta skewers for lunch. The patio of The Valley Bistro, Wine Boutique & Deli is another popular place to post up over brunch cocktails, light lunch fare like poké bowls, or wine and cheese and charcuterie platters in the evening. (It’s also a great spot to stock up on picnic fare like quiche and freshly baked bread.) You’ll quickly fall into the local rhythm after your first gin and tonic on the arched stoep, or veranda, of The Royal Hotel, where you’re sure to run into some of the winemakers you’ve been meeting.
If you don’t have the chance to make it over to Wellington to FiftyFive Croissants, you’ll find a selection of the cafe’s almond- and chocolate-sprinkled pastries and homemade granola served at Kokos Huis for breakfast. If you do make the 45-minute drive to the neighboring wine district, reserve dinner on the patio of Osteria Prego + Wine Bar, where the highlight of the menu is the Portuguese beef filet prego sandwich stuffed with meat hammered in sea salt, curry leaf, and rosemary that’s been pan-fried in butter. You also can’t go wrong with an order of truffle fries for the table paired alongside a glass of crisp, sparkling wine.
At Mila at Doolhof, which occupies an original, 19th-century wagon house on the Wellington wine estate, linger over shared plates like roasted kingklip fish in curried mussel broth and roasted butternut salad with pickled beetroot and harissa. Another spot worth the short drive is Noop in Paarl. Here, dishes celebrate the simplicity of flavors from seasonal and local ingredients, like herbs plucked from the onsite garden, meat handpicked daily from local butchers, and venison sourced from the restaurant’s farm in the Namibian Kalahari—plus, the restaurant boasts an extensive wine list with more than 350 options (a third of which hail from Paarl).
At Kraak’s pop-up farm events in Wellington, dubbed Kruijd (of Dutch origin meaning “herb” or “spice”), linger over an all-day feast of freshly baked mosbolletjies (sweet, brioche-like buns) served with chicken liver pâté and onion marmalade and whipped feta with roasted tomatoes, followed by open fire-roasted beef tenderloin rubbed in a local herb salt and drizzled with homemade chimichurri. If you can, time your trip around one of the seasonal Kraaktafel long-table dinners, themed soirées held in surprise locations throughout the Western Cape with playful dress codes and entertainment like a pianist playing on a stage propped up in a field of cacti.
At the sprawling Sterrekopje Healing Farm, stays include bathhouse rituals, private yoga and qigong. Photo: Inge Prins/Sterrekopje Farm | Sterrekopje's on-site farm grows indigenous and heritage plants.
Photo: Adel Ferreira/Sterrekopje Farm
Where to stay
Newly opened Kokos Huis is a six-bedroom boutique hotel housed in a 200-year-old, whitewashed Cape Dutch farmhouse with three separate cottages (complete with built-in brick braais) that frame a palm tree-lined pool and cabana. Each room in the main manor home comes with its own personality, with a loft-like space showing off views of Kasteelberg mountain under the vaulted roof and an old farm room filled with antique armoires and a wood-burning fireplace, with a front door opening onto the stoep and pool.
At farmhouse-chic hideaway Kalmoesfontein, the handful of accommodations include a former winemaker's cottage tucked amongst old Cinsault vines and a converted grain silo with an open-plan bedroom lined with windows showing glimpses of the mountains in the distance. On Thursdays, join locals and winemakers from around the region for wood-fired pizzas paired alongside an eclectic collection of bottles brought by the producers themselves.
In Franschhoek, Sterrekopje Healing Farm sprawls across more than 120 acres on a 17th-century Cape Dutch estate, with 11 sanctuaries and suites outfitted with a mix of rich tapestries and carpets, pastel-hued murals, natural elements like stone sinks and wooden stools, and outdoor soaking tubs and garden showers. Stays include bathhouse rituals performed by holistic practitioners, private yoga and qigong, and plant-based plates created from more than 60 varieties of indigenous and heritage plants grown on the farm.
On the Boschendal Estate, also in Franschhoek, Camp Canoe is a playful, Wes Anderson-inspired version of glamping, with seven secluded tents with wood-fired hot tubs, built-in hammocks for stargazing, and jars of marshmallows ready for the braai. In Wellington, the team behind whimsical event planning company Kraak recently debuted a set of suites that blend raw yet elegant Mexican and Japanese aesthetics. Sitting at the foothills of the mountains, farm-to-table is equal parts lifestyle and philosophy here, and everything is curated as beautifully as if it were a setting for a photoshoot.
Read the original article on Condé Nast Traveler.
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