Most people who walk up to the cellar door ask the same question before they sit down: which tasting should we do? There is no wrong answer, but there is usually a best one for the day you are having. Here is how the four differ, in plain terms.
Start With the Classic Tasting
The Classic Tasting is five current-release wines in about 45 minutes, R120 a person. It runs from Cap Classique through the whites and rosé to a red, so you finish with a sense of the whole farm rather than one corner of it. If this is your first stop of the day, or you have a lunch booking at Die Swael afterwards, this is the one to take. It is also the easiest to fit around a drive, because 45 minutes is 45 minutes.
Take the Reserve Tasting if You Have the Afternoon
The Reserve Tasting is R220 a person, seated on the cellar terrace, and pours five reserve wines including Swaelnes, our Bordeaux-style blend that spends 22 months in French oak. Being seated changes the pace: you are not standing at a counter working through a list, you are sitting with the vines in front of you and time to talk about what is in the glass. Choose it when you want one long, unhurried hour rather than three quick ones on three farms.
The Chocolate and Wine Pairing Is the Crowd Pleaser
At R195 a person, the Chocolate and Wine Pairing puts handmade chocolates from a Franschhoek chocolatier beside the wines. It is the tasting to pick when your group has one or two people who do not think of themselves as wine drinkers, because the chocolate gives everyone something to talk about and something to compare. It travels well with a birthday or an anniversary too.
If you only do one thing on the farm, do the thing that matches your pace, not the thing with the highest price.
The Cellar Tour Is for the Curious
The Cellar Tour and Barrel Tasting is R320 a person, runs daily at 11:00 and 15:00, lasts 75 minutes and takes up to 12 guests. You walk the 1898 stone cellar with the winemaking team and taste from barrel, which means you are tasting wine that is not finished yet and hearing why. If you want to ask questions rather than be talked at, book this one. Because it is capped at 12 and runs at set times, it is the tasting most worth arranging before you arrive.
The Four Side by Side
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Classic Tasting
The whole farm in one flight, standing at the cellar door. The easy first stop.
R120 a person
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Reserve Tasting
Includes Swaelnes, the flagship blend. Slower, and the one people remember.
R220 a person
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Chocolate and Wine Pairing
Good for mixed groups and for anyone who is not sure where to start.
R195 a person
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Cellar Tour and Barrel Tasting
Through the 1898 cellar with the winemaking team, tasting from barrel.
R320 a person
Three Practical Notes Before You Come
The tasting room is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00, closed only on Christmas Day and Good Friday. Walk-ins are welcome, but if there are six or more of you, book ahead so we can hold a counter or a terrace table together instead of splitting your group.
Children are welcome, and they get their own grape juice tasting at R45, poured and talked through the same way. Dogs on leads are welcome on the terrace, which is one reason the Reserve Tasting suits families who arrive with the dog in the back of the car.
Ready to Pick One
If you are still deciding, take the Classic Tasting and add the Cellar Tour later in the day: they answer different questions. All four, with times and what each pours, are set out on our Tastings page, and that is where you book. If you are staying over, the Reserve Tasting can also be added to a night in one of the cottages.
