Hilary - The Winemom

WineTots Wine and Dine the Garden Route!

Updated: Sep 20, 2023

A Family Tour of the Garden Route

*Please note: all information is correct at the date of publication. See individual winery websites for up-to-date info!

Part 2:

Plett Winelands to the Cape Winelands: Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town

Missed Part 1 of our tour from Cape Town to Plettenberg Bay? Please do check it out and let us know what you think!

AfriCamps Ingwe

Our final stay in Plettenberg Bay was at AfriCamps Ingwe which is situated on the edge of the glorious natural forest in the Crags area, making it the perfect glamping family spot to stay at if you wish to visit the local wineries.

Time to unwind fully

The perfect place from which to gaze at the stars while listening to nature

Bramon Winery

Come rain or shine, you can visit the beautiful Winelands of South Africa and taste the local fruits of the valley and the fine wines created.

We visited on a rainy day and thoroughly enjoyed our experience.

We enjoyed an excellent tapas and wine pairing at the restaurant after the rainstorm, followed by a fantastic private tasting at the wine tasting room with the managers. Thank you for your hospitality and for looking after us like good old friends!

One of Bramon’s wines is the MCC 2015, which is an unusual Sauvignon MCC with a Mexican pepper aroma and is absolutely delicious! It is a lovely, fruity dry MCC. They also have a Rosé that is 10% Pinot Noir and 90% Chardonnay with a light, tart, cherry taste. My other favourite is their Nectar white wine - something so unique and special about this great-valued wine!

Bramon Winery is voted the No. 1 food and wine experience in the Plett Winelands on TripAdvisor! (For 2019)

It was then time to head down the Garden Route again… first stop at AfriCamps Oakhurst

AfriCamps Oakhurst

The kids were so excited to check out their bunk beds at AfriCamps

Excited to see their own labelled wine… seriously good braai wine!

So much family fun and adventure to be had at AfriCamps Oakhurst!

Making farm friends

We had the most wonderful time with paddling, meeting the calves, hot tub fun, forest walks, swinging and braaing under the stars. It was such a relaxing family stay with loads to do for the whole family.

Paddling at AfriCamps Oakhurst

The giant fallen tree makes for a great play area

We thoroughly enjoyed our hot tub experience under the peaceful African skies

A first for our kids was visiting their dairy where the free-range cows are milked twice a day. Their milk is then used to make Steri Stumpie kid’s milkshakes - a famous South African brand. We also got to meet the calves who were only one day to one week old!

Fresh local milk for breakfast... and braai packs and other meals can be delivered for supper!

Leaving the Wilderness, we then made our way further down the Garden Route towards Cape Town.

ReedValley

The next stop on our Garden Route tour was ReedValley just outside Mossel Bay, which pays homage to Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese history and influence in the area.

ReedValley the perfect stop just outside Mossel Bay

Stop by for an Eden Valley wine tasting and enjoy some Portuguese-inspired dishes or look out for one of their music concerts, also regularly hosting South Africa’s top music acts!

One of our favourite wines was the Sauvignon Blanc; and the Shiraz paired perfectly with the spicy chicken livers!

There is a large seating area outside, an outdoor (and indoor) stage and a kid’s play area for those long, lazy summer days!

Extra jungle gym... take care, I nearly fell off!

Watch out … learner viticulturist driver inside

Next wine stop on the Eden Wine Route was Baleia winery. (Baleia is Portuguese for whale.)

Baleia Winery

Baleia Winery’s tasting room is just outside Riversdale on the N2, with their vineyards nearby in Vermaaklikheid. They make some excellent wine.

They craft a delicious Inge Chardonnay and a perfect Pinot Noir. Baleia is also one of the only farms in South Africa, in addition to Kay & Monty, to produce a pure Tempranillo. They also make the Sebastian - a rare blend of Tempranillo, Syrah and Pinot Noir with a bouquet of black pepper, red cherries and spice.

There is an area outside the tasting room and the recent Baleia Bistro (which we have not tried yet) for kids to play ball, climb the jungle gym & jump on a jumping castle. Another perfect spot for a pitstop while driving up the Garden Route.

They also have fantastic olive oil that makes for the perfect gift.

Stilbaai

In Stilbaai we had takeout from The Anchors fish restaurant at the harbour, which is owned by and sells Org de Rac organic wines (produced up the West Coast). We then went near the mouth of the Goukou river for a swim and volleyball and ended it off by buying some fresh fish to take home with us & of course a compulsory holiday ice cream at the beach!

On our way home we had a pitstop to see the beautiful national birds, the Blue Cranes, that feed on the grasslands and wheat fields. This at the foothill of the impressive Gabrielskloof Winery perched on top of the hill. It felt like we had suddenly been transported back to the hills of Tuscany in Italy. Pity we did not have time to stop for a snack and wine tasting - we can’t wait for our next visit back there.

Now it was homeward bound. What an epic family-holiday trip up and down the Garden Route - experiencing some of the top family-friendly spots to stay at, and wine and dine at along the way.

As part of our Garden Route Tour we have been running a wine competition for the last few weeks and we are very excited to announce that the winner of the competition is…

@10shamey