Warwick Wine Estate Review
As we arrived at Warwick Wine Estate's parking lot amidst the herd of top of the range vehicles, it was obvious that this is no poor man's playground! We visited Warwick Wine Estate on the 11th May 2013, to enjoy their "gourmet picnic", and because we'd heard how child-friendly it is (5 toddlers amongst us).
Curiously, none of our party drink wine - so we can't report back on that, other than to say that we've heard that their Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc does the job, and that we were really glad that even though the parking lot was jam-packed, the picnic area wasn't (were all the visitors sampling the wine inside the estate?).
The food was ok, but the big reason we'd recommend this place is the ambience - it feels rather idyllic relaxing on the grass with good friends, and little mountains in the background (Kanonkop, Simonsberg & Joubertspiek - from left to right in the photo below).
There's a grassy area, where they put down umbrellas, blankets and cushions to rest on, which is near the jungle gym - alternatively, if you like a bit of privacy, there's hideaways within the bushes.
It's a pretty setting next to the dam. Take a soccer ball to kick around with your kids on the lawn. Service was efficient, there weren't many occasions when we struggled to find our waitress, and when we put in orders she processed them very quickly.
The picnic menu consisted of ciabatta (R15), free range beef bresaola on rocket with pecorino shavings (R40), Simonsberg Camembert (R45), Pip's onion chutney (R12.50), Sundried tomato pesto (R12.50), Warwick's famous brandy & biltong pate (R30), smoked salmon roses (R50), roasted potato salad with aioli & sweet corn salsa (R30), chef Dane's Vietnamese style chicken salad (R45), flourless chocolate brownies (R35). We opted for the vegetarian options which we found ok, the exception being the chocolate brownies which were delicious. The non-alcoholic cooldrinks were standard, but the latte was very good.
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Big Five Vineyard Safari
Warwick Wine Estate offers a "Big Five Vineyard Safari", where they compare their 5 grape varieties with the big 5 animals.
Kids activities
Other than wandering around the grounds, there's 2 jungle gyms for the little ones. One jungle gym is is next to a private picnic spot, and is perfect for a small outdoors birthday party for the little ones.
History
Warwick Wine Estate was originally known as De Goede Sukses, which was established in 1771. In 1902 William Gordon bought it and renamed it Warwick (after his Warwickshire regiment in the Anglo Boer War). On the 1st April 1964 Stan Ratcliffe purchased the farm.
De Goede Sukses
Across the lake from Warwick Wine Estate we can see the De Goede Sukses wine farm.
Getting there
If you're not in the Mother City, first hop onto a flight to Cape Town and then hire a car at Cape Town International Airport.
From the Cape Grace Hotel in the V&A Waterfront
It's pretty easy to get to - we drove from Cape Town along the N1 towards Paarl, and turned off onto the R44 towards Stellenbosch, passed Klapmuts and then Warwick Wine Estate appeared on the right. Here's the directions from the Cape Grace Hotel, from which it is 53km or a 36 minute drive.
From Wedgeview Country House & Spa
If you prefer staying in Stellenbosch, here's the directions from Wedgeview Country House & Spa:
Written by Rob Baker
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