The wine farms in Constantia are located close to the Cape Town city center, this is where wine making started in South Africa. The spectacular suburb of Constantia offers a wine route hosting the oldest wine farms in South Africa and produces some of the best wines in the country.
Best Wines to Taste on the Constantia Wine Route
Sauvignon Blanc – If you are a fan of white wine, the Sauvignon Blanc wines polished by the sea breeze of the nearby Atlantic Ocean in a not-to-miss place in Cape Town.
Bordeaux Blends – A red Bordeaux blend is a combination of two or more of the classic Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. The Bordeaux blends created in Constantia Valley are a real treat and we had a fantastic time tasting our way around some of the best Bordeaux’s in South Africa, top-notch, international quality.
Dessert Wines – Constantia was famous for sweet dessert wines three hundred years ago and the modern dessert wines still produced in the region is a treat, taste the wine that originally put the Cape on the map! Make sure to include the Constantia Valley in your Cape Town itinerary.
Amazing Constantia Wine Farms
The Constantia Valley Wine Route has a fantastic selection of wine farms, stunning views, delicious food, and of course award-winning wines. Wine tasting in Constantia is one of the most popular things to do in Cape Town. The Wine of Origin District ‘Cape Town’ contains a total of 30 wine farms and is divided into the wards Constantia, Durbanville, Philadelphia and Hout Bay. For an excellent alternative wine tasting route to Constantia, visit the beautiful Durbanville Wine Route just outside Cape Town.
Beau Constantia
Beau Constantia is a boutique wine farm situated at the top of Constantia Nek with spectacular views of the Constantia Valley all the way to False Bay and the Helderberg Mountains. The beautifully designed venue blends perfectly with the natural environment and the whole estate is truly something special with even a soccer field in the vineyards.
Don’t miss the ‘loo with a view’, one-way glass results in a great view of the vineyards when using the restrooms.
Want to show-off Cape Town? You can not go wrong by taking your guests to one of the most beautiful farms in South Africa.
Wine Tasting at Beau Constantia
The Beau Constantia tasting room is one of our favorite tasting venues in all of the Cape Winelands, the views while tasting are fantastic you can even see the beach town Hangklip on a nice day! Tasting is offered inside or outdoors. The views where not the only thing we enjoyed, the wines were great.
Some of the wines were named after family members. Our favorite wine was the Lucca (2016) Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc with cherry and plum aromas. The Pas de nom MCC was another great wine, 100% Chardonnay with a rich, creamy yeasty aroma. This popular tasting room can get very busy and booking is recommended.
Award winning wines not to miss – Beau Constantia Stella 2017 (Shiraz), Beau Constantia Lucca 2016 (Red Blend)
Restaurant at Beau Constantia
Beau Constantia is home to the popular Chef’s Warehouse, dine with the best view in Cape Town. This popular fine dining restaurant offer a seasonal, produce-driven menu that changes regularly. Lunch service is from 12.00 until 14.30, from 17.30 until 19.30, Wednesday to Saturday and lunch only on Sundays. Reserve
Things To Do at Beau Constantia
Craft beer and gin tasting have become a very trendy thing in South Africa. Collaborating with Guy Munton Private Artisanal Distiller, Beau Constantia produce some amazing Gin. The farm also sell craft beer and cider from Darling Breweries and Cluver & Jack Cider.
Buitenverwachting
The Beautiful wine farm Buitenverwachting is located on the east-facing slopes of Constantiaberg only a couple of kilometers from False Bay. The perfect place to eat, drink and enjoy the summer sun, with a mouth-watering platter on the rolling lawns of this amazing wine farm in the Constantia Valley surrounded by 250-year-old trees.
Buitenverwachting has an excellent coffee shop and deli. Top quality coffee even roasting their own beans. A new fine dining restaurant is busy opening on the premises, exiting times!
Wine Tasting at Buitenverwachting
The tasting venue is the historic thatch roofed Buitenverwachting cellar. The cellar makes for a very nice tasting venue. The area is beautiful with the old Dutch colonial style building, big lawn and large trees, but there are no views of the surrounding wine valley. It was a nice sunny day and we had a great tasting on the terrace overlooking the outstretched lawns. The tasting assistant had good knowledge of the wines and the area.
The area is well known for Sauvignon Blanc wines, but our clear favorite was the wooded Chardonnay and a bottle of this rich wine with hints of butterscotch went home with us. We do not often drink rose, but loved the Buitenverwachting 2020 rose, this Blanc de Noir ‘Bordeaux Blend’ had strong peach and strawberry flavours. If you want to take home a well priced white wine for everyday drinking, the Buitenblanc a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Chenin Blanc is good value for money and great for a sunny summer braai. Casual charcuterie platters with fresh baguettes are available to eat while tasting on the lawn.
Award winning wines to try – Buitenverwachting Sauvignon Blanc 2017, Buitenverwachting ‘1769’ 2017 (Noble Late Harvest, 500ml)
- Reservations (021) 794 5190/1
- Wine tasting Monday – Saturday: 10h00 – 16h00
- Buitenverwachting is closed on Sundays
Restaurant at Buitenverwachting
Peter Tempelhoff, chef-patron of FYN Restaurant in Cape Town is busy opening a new fine dining restaurant at Buitenverwachting at the time of writing (December 2020). The restaurant will be headed up by chef Julia du Toit, also of FYN.
Coffee at Buitenverwachting
Buitenverwachting’s Coffee shop, Coffee BloC, offers a variety of artisan coffees made from beans they roast fresh on site. We are a little bit coffee snobs and were happy with our caffeine fix made with the beans from local roaster Warren Machanik. If you are a coffee lover, don’t miss our guide to the best coffee shops in Cape Town.
A small breakfast menu as well and some pastries and cakes are also available.
COFFEE BLOC TIMES: Monday to Saturday – 8h00 to 16h00 – kitchen closes at 15:00, closed on Sundays
Coffee BloC Tel : 021 794 5190/1
Constantia Glen
Located on the slopes of the Constantiaberg mountain, below Constantia Nek, Constantia Glen is a beautiful boutique wine farm with unreal views of the surrounding wine valley. The best way I can describe the wine tasting at at this awesome farm is ‘super impressed’, with everything – the wines, the venue and the unreal views. Sitting on the verandah surrounded by vineyards overlooking the wine valley we had a fantastic morning eating a Flammkuchen for brunch and tasting some great wines.
Wine Tasting at Constantia Glen
The venue is fantastic, the old stables inside the vineyards has unreal views all the way to ocean, whether you choose to sit inside or outside. Our tasting assistant was great with a lot of knowledge about the wines, the history of the farms and gave us good tips for surrounding farms to visit. There were several tasting options.
The wines were all a bit pricey, but we loved all four wines and deciding what to buy was not easy. The names of the wines are very simple, each wine was named the number of cultivars making up the blend. Constantia Glen Two is a white wine made from Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, light oak and tropical fruit flavors made this a great wine. Constantia Glen Three (2017) and Constantia Glen Five (2016) are two premium red Bordeaux blends. 5 was a more complex wine, but we loved the smooth 3 and took a bottle home for our next steak braai!
A variety of platters are available if you want to snack on something during your wine tasting. This is a fantastic location to show off Cape Town while enjoying a tasting and share a platter snacks.
I will recommend you book a tasting, this beautiful venue is very popular.
Award winning wine to taste – Constantia Glen Five 2015 (Red Blend), Constantia Glen Sauvignon Blanc 2018
Restaurant at Constantia Glen
Basically sitting inside the vineyard, surrounded by towering mountains you are going to struggle to find lunch with a better view. The restaurant serves Platters, Flammkuchen, Mains, Salads and Desserts, it is not a fine dining restaurant (making it affordable). Some of the mains on the menu included; fillet, tuna, a beef burger, trout rosti and a vegan mushroom burger. We had the ‘winemakers Flammkuchen (thin based woodfired pizza), it was great for breakfast with boerewors pieces (local sausage) and eggs among the toppings.
Reserve a table +27(0)21 795 5639 or reservations@constantiaglen.com.
Opening times – Monday to Friday 10:00-17:00, Saturday 10:00 – 16:00
Constantia Uitsig
Located between the east-facing slopes of Constantia berg and False Bay, Constantia Uitsig is a unique…
