Welcome to the Western Cape Wineries - a kiwi's opinion blog

I originally set up this blog to help foreigners have an enjoyable experience when visiting the western cape wineries in South Africa.

I realised that it is very difficult for a tourist to choose where to go and which wineries to visit, when you have 600+ wine producers to choose from.

When I first moved to SA December 2010, my palate struggled to adjust to SA wine, b
ut after living here for a while and after visiting over 100+ wine estates, I have found many wines which I really like and can highly recommend.

Admittingly, when you come from another country it is hard not to compare the wine in SA to what you are used to back home. However, once you realise they are not the same (they have their own characteristics due to the different soil, climate etc) and appreciate their wines for being SA wines, it will improve your opinion and experience of the wines immediately.

If you are staying in SA for a while, don't dispair, your palate will change, and you will soon find yourself liking SA wine over your home countries wine!!

I hope my blog will help wine lovers have an enjoyable wine experience while in SA.

Please note: I am not a wine connoisseur. The comments I write about the wine is mostly for my own benefit of having them on record.



Saturday 23 March 2013

Bramon Wine Estate

Today we were driving to Knysna and saw a sign saying something about a wine estate. We then looked online and saw there is a wine estate in Plettenberg known for their Sauvignon Blanc MCC. After lunch in Knysna, we decided to go check it out.


The place is just on the side of the road. There is a restaurant as well but sadly that was closed for a private function so we didn't get to see what that looked like.

The lady at the tasting room was friendly. She informed us that it is R10 per tasting of Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc MCC. The Vukani wines which I read online are BEE wines are R5 per tasting. As I never want to miss out on trying a wine, I tried all four available for tasting.


We started with the award winning Sauvignon Blanc MCC 2008. This received 4 stars with Platters and sells for R130 a bottle. It is a dry MCC with lovely fruity flavours, it is succulent and has a lovely finish.

The Crags Sauvignon Blanc 2012 is R85 a bottle, also received 4 stars with Platters. This Sauvignon Blanc was smooth, had peach, pear and apple tones. It was very nice.

The Chenin Blanc 2011 at R50 a bottle smelt wooded/oaked, slight honey taste on the palate, was rounded and lovely.

The Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 is R65 a bottle with soft tannins, dark chocolate, tobacco and slight spicy taste. It was ok.

The experience was nice, but the lady serving us sadly was not so informative about the wine. Quite surprising seeing as she has been working there for three years...

If you buy a bottle or more of wine the tasting fee is waived.

The wine tasting room is very nicely decorated and feels vibrant and warm.


Overall, it is worth the visit if you are out this way. I have looked at reviews and apparently the tapas at the restaurant are lovely. Perhaps when you plan a trip this way, you should book a table at the restaurant and enjoy a wine tasting while there.

2 comments:

  1. It sounds that you enjoyed staying this place. How was their services? It is good?

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  2. To be honest, the service was not great. For someone that had been working at that estate for the past three years, she doesn't really know much about the wine. She also spends a lot of time on her phone. The place is nice though and the SB and SB MCC was nice. We had the SB the other day and were really impressed by it. So yeah, if you are out that way it's worth a visit. Just don't go there expecting an informative tasting. They have a restaurant on the estate, I think a trip there would be nice. We couldn't go have a look as there was a private function.

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