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Wine Routes
Province: Western Cape
Worcester Wine Route
The Worcester Winelands, barely an hour's drive from Cape Town, amid spectacular scenery, includes the Worcester district as far as Wolseley, Slanghoek and Hex River Valley, stretches as far south as Villiersdorp and covers the Nuy cellar to the east.
In terms of volume the Worcester district is the largest and one of the most important wine- making areas in the country, producing close on 25% of South Africa's total volume of wine and spirits.
Apart from dessert wines-- for which the area is renowned and has received many awards - the Worcester Winelands has emerged as a quality white and red wine producing area.
Classic varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay,Pinotage and Cabernet , Sauvignon as well as versatile Cheinin Blanc and Colombar have won many a medal at national shows.
The region is also the country's most important brandy producing area, with Worcester being the home of the world's largest brandy cellar, KWV, and Olof Berg Solera Cellar.
The Worcester Winelands comprises 25 cellars of which 21 co-operative cellars and 4 private estates are open to the public for wine sales, wine tasting and cellar tours. A new development as part of the Worcester Winelands was the opening of a wine tasting centre during 1998 and is situated at Kleinplasie.
For wine-lovers passing through Worcester without enough time to explore the Winelands, region wines can be bought by the bottle or case at the winetasting centre, Kleinplasie (Worcester Showgrounds). Wine tours for groups can be organised in advance. Wine tasting is available.
Things to do:
Wine Tasting
Wine Tasting Centre at Kleinplasie, wine cellars and wine estates.
Haunted Cellar Tour
Unique evening cellar tours.
4 x 4 Trail
Combine the excellent Hex River 4 x 4 trail with wine from the De Doorns Wine Cellar.
On/Off Road Leisure Mountain Biking
De Doorns Route, Rawsonville Route , Worcester Route
River Rafting
Enjoy wine tasting while river rafting on the Aan De Doorns River and have a light lunch or picnic afterwards.
Hiking Trails
Daschbocsh hiking trail - 34.5 km
Slanghoek hiking trail - 5 km
Visit Kleinplasie
Walk into history at the Living Open - Air Museum, where the public can experience the whole process of grape treading, raisin making, witblits - distilling and moskonfyt cooking.
Restaurants
Various restaurants are situated on the wine route and are worth visiting.
Wine estates on the Worcester Wine Route
Aan De Doorns
Since its establishment in 1954, the cellar - which derives its name from the stretch of thorn trees on the banks of the nearby Doorns River - has been striving towards excellence. The decades past have seen an increase in the number of cellar-members, innovation in cellar-equipment and viticultural practices and great strides in the production of quality wines. The wines have grown from good to better to best as our flagship Doornroodt which boasts a gold Veritas award proves
Badsberg Wine Cellar
Badsberg Winery is situated in the Rawsonville area at the foot of the famous Badsberg mountain, from which the cellar inherited its name. The cellar is only 800m from the Goudini Spa Holiday Resort, 20km from Worcester and 80km from Cape Town.
Bergsig Estate
In the scenic Breede River Valley nestles the wine estate with a difference - BERGSIG.
The Lategan family has been producing excellent wines on Bergsig Estate for six generations.
The family comprises father, Prop and sons Louis, Plum and De Wet, the Winemaker.
Botha Co-operative Wine Cellar
Located on the upper reaches of the Breede River Valley, some 20km from Worcester on the R43 to Ceres, the Cellar lies in an area boasting a temperate climate with a relatively high rainfall.
Several award-winning wines have been produced. 20 000 tons of grapes are handled each season.
Brandvlei Wine Cellar
Brandvlei cellar was established in 1955 and was situated next to the Brandvlei dam. In 1974 a new cellar was built, because the previous cellar was situated in centrocline of the Brandvlei schema. The new cellar is situated between Worcester and Villiersdorp in the beautiful Breede River Valley.Wines are prepard with skill and perseverance by Jean le Roux
(Winemaker/Manager) and Jandré Human (Assistant Winemaker). In 2000 Pierre Snyman joined this team as viticulturist.
De Doorns Wine Cellar
De Doorns Wine Cellar is situated in the beautiful Hexriver Valley between the Matroos and Quada mountains about 30km from Worcester on the N1 north.
The cellar was established in 1968, while the name De Doorns ("the thorns"), was derived from the many thorn bushes which covered most of the farms when stock farmers originally settled in this area.228 Members are currently producing at this Co-op and about 25 000 tons of grapes are harvested each year. Only 10% of the wine is being bottled and is available at our attractive Cape Dutch Wine House next to the N1 highway.The other 90% of the harvest is made up from export table grapes which we then sell as rebate, distilling wine and grape juice.
Deetlefs Wine Estate
This beautiful estate has been in the Deetlefs family since 1822.
Kobus Deetlefs, the sixth generation to live on the farm, is a graduate of Stellenbosch University with an Honours degree in Oenology and Viticulture, and lives with his family in the original Cape Dutch Homestead overlooking the magnificent, award winning gardens.The estate is situated in the picturesque Breede River Valley just outside Rawsonville at the foot of the Du Toit's Kloof Mountains. It is these great mountains that provide the early shadow formations and therefore the long cooling period at night, ideal for enhancing the delicate and complex flavours in the grape.
De Wet
Since 1990, premium cultivars of red and white wine grapes have been planted on a large scale. To support the drive for higher quality, the Cellar has been modernised and has produced the champion red wine of the Worcester region several times during the past few years.
De Wet Winery is one of only a few cellars marketing a wine with the "Heart Mark" of the South African Heart Foundation. De Wet Winery mainly supplies to the wholesale trade, but small amount of selected bottled wine is sold from the premises and in local restaurants.
Du Toits Kloof Wine Estate
The Du Toitskloof Wine Cellar began production in 1962 and is owned by ten wine producing families. Today there are 637 ha under cultivation. Having so few members, quality control is easy to maintain, and the cellar master, Phillip Jordaan, controls and regulates every step of the process - from the vineyards to the bottle.
Goudini Wine Cellar
Goudini Wine Cellar lies next to the Smallblaar River near Rawsonville, in the fertile Goudini Valley, about a hour's drive from Cape Town. The Celler's name Goudini is derived from a Khoi - san word meaning "fragrant honey". The award winning wines produced by Goudini reflect outstanding quality.
Groot Eiland Co-operative Wine Cellar
The Groot Eiland cellar is some 16km from Worcester and 1km from Rawsonville.
Groot Eiland Wine Cellar was founded in with 13 members. The unusual name Groot Eiland (big island) developed from the fact that the Celler and its farms were literally surrounded by water.
Merwida Wine Cellar
Merwida cellar is situated in the Breede River Valley and Goudini region. The cellar is approximately 2 km outside Rawsonville and 15 km from Worcester. Merwida has been in possession of the Van Der Merwe family for generations and is surrounded by various farms that produces grapes for the cellar.
Nuy Wine Cellar
This cellar, located at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains, is one of the smaller co-operative cellars in South Africa. Despite its size, Nuy enjoys a widespread reputation for its excellent wines which, year after year, win top prizes at local and national wine shows, among other the coveted Diners Club Award, presented in 1988 and 1991 to winemaker Wilhelm Linde
Opstal Estate
This cellar is situated only about out 29km from Worcester in the Slanghoek Valley.
This cellar is well-known for its dry white and red wines, and hanepoot dessert wine.
Cellar and farm tours available:Mondays to Saturdays by appointment only.
Overhex Wine Vineyards
This is a wine cellar not to be missed! Situated in the fertile Breede River Valley (only 6km from Worcester on the Robertson Road) this cellar offers a selection of wines. This cellar has undergone dynamic changes concentrating on the wine drinkers of the future.
Romansrivier Wine Cellar
Romansrivier Wine Cellar is situated at the foot of the Mostertshoek mountain 6km from the picturesque town of Wolseley in the Western Cape. The ideal climatic conditions and soil types result in the finest grapes which, with the skills passed down from winemaker to winemaker over the years and a concerted team effort in the cellar, result in wines of distinction.
Slanghoek Wine Cellar
Slanghoek Wine Cellar is situated in the picturesque Slanghoek Valley, 80km from Cape Town and 3km from the popular Goudini Spa (ATKV Resort). As a result of the unique geographic position, microclimate and varied soils, wines cultivated in the valley boats a unique character. The care, expertise and dedication of the wine farmer, combined with the most modern cellar equipment and refined art of winemaking by our cellar masters and their team, has resulted in the production of wines of excellence year after year.
Stettyn Wine Cellar
Stettyn Wine Cellar lies about 33 km from Worcester on the Villiersdorp road.
Villiersdorp Wine Cellar
Situated about 50km from Worcester. The Villiersdorp Wine Cellar is unique in the Overberg region.It was formed in 1922 and is one of the oldest wine cellars in the country. Its 60 members annually produce 8 000 tones of grapes.The " Kelkiewyn" wine centre is situated on the banks of the Elands River. This attractive new building is home of Villierdorp's wines, dried fruit and mouth-watering locally bottled products and a full range of curious and gifts.
Waboomsrivier Wine Cellar
This cellar, 25 km north of Worcester, is located in the coolest part of the Breede River Valley, and is therefore ideal for the making of wine. Grapes from 30 farms, embracing the foot of the Witzenberg mountains, are used to produce the wines that carries the excellent reputation of this cellar. The making of red wine is a tradition to Waboomsrivier Wine Cellar. They were one of the first cellars in South Africa to import the complete "Perra" concept from France. Thus they are perfectly geared to produce large quantities of outstanding wines to accommodate the ever-growing wine market in the new millennium.
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