Year 3 -29 July 2026 – Wine Country -Stellenbosch -South Africa

We woke to a lovely morning and the sun came up over the mountains and began to light up the vineyards. We walked to breakfast which was in the Old Bakery. The breakfast was amazing as they had their own blueberries, oranges, grapefruits and their own yoghurts which they make – one of which was a Buffalo Milk yoghurt from the Water Buffalo which they have here. They also make their own croissants and bread -of which there are a number of types. They also had delicious omelettes etc.

After breakfast we headed off to the Waterford Winery which is Alex’s favourite winery in South Africa. It took us about 40 minutes to get there.

The Waterford Estate is Located in the picturesque Blaauwklippen Valley and the estate enjoys the stunning backdrop of the Helderberg Mountain which imparts a unique character and sense of place to their wines.

The Waterford Estate, proudly owned by the Ord family since its establishment in 1998, derives its name from a blend of the family name and the waterfalls that grace our estate — WATERF + ORD — an idea lovingly conceived by daughter Ashleigh Ord. The estate seamlessly combines old-world charm with new-world innovation, paying homage to traditional winemaking methods learned from renowned regions while infusing pure passion into every bottle.

Their journey began when the Waterford Estate was officially established on 1 April 1998. Jeremy Ord brought in winemaker Kevin Arnold to develop the Waterford property, formerly known as Stellenrust. Kevin Arnold served as our winemaker from 1998 to 2001, laying the foundation for our signature style with their first vintage, the Kevin Arnold Shiraz.

Waterford Estate is proudly recognised as one of the world’s premier premium red wine producers, celebrated among the top 100 vineyards globally and acclaimed by Tim Atkin for offering the best cellar door experience. Their wines consistently achieve impressive ratings of 92+ from Tim Atkin, along with 4.5+ star awards from Platter's Wine Guide and gold medals from Decanter. The wine they produce called The Jem puts them in the top 1% of wine producers in the world. They rely on deep roots in their farm's healthy soils and are committed to hard work and sustainable practices, honouring the land that sustains them and enriches their winemaking legacy.

Waterford Estate is globally recognised for both our exceptional wines and unforgettable guest experiences.

We drove into the drive of the estate and had this track which took us past some little lakes and between a row of orange trees either side to a large building with a little tower in the centre. It had a feel of an Italian Palazzo.

We parked the car and walked in and there was a large courtyard with tables with wine glasses on them and there were little trees in between. We were met by Luke who took us to a table with water and said we must start with a glass of something to get your palate going. He poured us a glass of their Blanc de Blancs Cape Classique, their sparling wine made in the traditional Champagne method which was nice. Once we had this he took us to look at their cellars and wine making area.

This winery is relatively young compared to many which originated in 1685; however, their wines are of the top quality and recognised as such.

It was interesting to see the steel vats they put the wine in and the French oak barrels they use and to see them laid out in the vast barn. Various wines are kept in the barrels for different periods of wine depending on which wine they are making. Once we had been shown around we got into their safari van (the type they use for animal safaris) and we headed out on to their estate.

Luke showed us different vineyards dotted about -some at a lower level and others on the side of the mountain. They irrigate some at the lower level but not at the top level. Although Waterford started in 1998 they acquired some vines which were grown by the previous owners and their oldest grapes which date back to 1966 are Chenin Blanc grapes. The sun was out and there were stunning views of the valley and mountains and the vineyards with their lines decorating the scenery.

We drove on and came to a stop by one of their little lakes amongst the vines which had a table with a tablecloth on it.

Luke said have a walk around and he will set up the table.  He brought out a plate of cheeses, breads, salamis and other nibbles. We then started to taste their wines and we tasted the following:

-Chenin Blanc from the 1966 planted vines. Apparently SA makes 50 % of Chenin Blanc in the world.

- Chardonnay – Estate made from 1988 planted vines

-Grenache – a light red wine – rarely bottled on its own as it is normally blended.

-Antigo 2022– a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

-Cabernet Sauvignon -2019

-The Jem 2017- which is a blend of 8 different grapes and ranked as a top wine.

This was a unique tasting experience sitting overlooking the lake with vineyards around us and surrounded by mountains. What a treat.

Once we had tasted we drove round other parts of the estate and saw their cattle which grazed amongst the vineyards. We returned to the tasting room and cellars and well we had to buy some of this excellent wine which I can hopefully bring back to the UK on Stormbird.  

We then drove to Franschhoek which is quite a sheek small town, full of wineries and cafes and restaurants and seemed quite French in feel. We walked around and visited the thatched church. We then returned to Babylonstoren.

I then went on their Olive Oil tour and Alex went to the spa.

They have 53,000 olive trees here which have all been brought in from Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece and they have 14 different varieties of Olives. Harvest is between April and July and they only pick by hand. They only make extra virgin olive oil which means it has to be pressed within 24 hours of being picked and a temperature of 17 degrees or less.  Once pressed it remains in tanks for 9 months and is then put into cans and they make about 85,000 Lts a year.  

Once we had been shown round the processing area we then had a tasting which was interesting as they got us putting olive oil over buffalo milk ice cream with some balsamic vinegar which they also make. It sounds bizarre but it was delicious. We had other olive oil with meat and another with avocado with mozzarella and tomato. Another great tasting.

Once we had changed we were for supper to the Carnival Evening they had organised. We were greeted with a cocktail and then shown around their meat shop which had meats in a cold room surrounded by salt tiles. They had Chianna Beef from the cattle of that name and store it for between 28-42 days.

We had special bread to start with buffalo butter, then Boerewors sausage, then beef tartare, tongue, bone marrow and then a salad. They then gave us sirloin steaks strips followed by ribeye with roasted vegetables. You could eat as much as you want and it was excellent. We then had milk tart as a desert. It was a great meal and we shared a table with a South African couple from Cape Town who we discovered knew friends of Alex’s in London – it is a small world.

It had been quite a gastronomic day and we will move on tomorrow.  

 The picture of the day is of the view we had from our wine tasting.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I am now on the way to Durban and will then head for Cape Town and then on to St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com