Are you thinking about taking a trip to the Garden Route? It’s a beautiful area of South Africa, with many incredible spots to visit. From the Tsitsikamma National Park to the famous Storms River Suspension Bridge and Knysna Heads. The route is also sprinkled with a few little towns, including Plettenberg Bay.
While buzzing with visitors in the summer season, this lovely little beach town is great to enjoy all year round.
There are many things to do in Plettenberg Bay, from enjoying the restaurants to having a long lazy beach day. One thing that you may not realise about Plettenberg bay is that it is home to many of the Garden Route wine farms.
So, if wine tasting sounds like a fabulous way to spend a day, check out the below Plettenberg Bay wine estates when you’re next in the Garden Route.
Things to do in Plettenberg Bay: Wine Tasting Tours
Here are some of the best Plettenberg Bay wine tours that you should know about for your next Garden Route tour.
Bramon Wine Estate
Bramon Wine Estate is one of the first Plettenberg Bay wine estates in the area. This family-owned estate is considered a boutique vineyard and is situated just 20km outside of Plettenberg Bay.
Their first ever vines were Sauvignon Blanc crops, paving the way for future viticulture in the Garden Route area.
Bramon Wine Estate’s tasting room offers wine tastings, as well as a wine and cheese pairing option. The lush tasting room is a great venue to relax, and the farm is pet and family-friendly.
No booking is required for the wine tasting, which runs from 11:30 am – 5 pm all week long. It costs R60 per person to taste some of Bramon’s most delectable wines, including their prized Methode Cap Classique bubblies.
If you’re feeling a bit peckish and want to explore Plettenberg Bay restaurants, the restaurant at Bramon is an excellent option. This tapas-style venue allows guests to choose from many mezze options, all perfectly pairing with the wines.
You can also choose to order a picnic box and have a picnic on the farm, but you’ll need to order ahead of time.
Packwoods
Packwood Wine Estate is an award-winning vineyard situated between Plettenberg Bay and Knysna. It’s a great estate to add to your Garden Route tour.
Packwoods is more than just a vineyard. Set between indigenous forests, this estate has impressive views in abundance. You can hike or cycle through the forest, the farmland, ravines and coastal routes, all within the region where Packwood is situated.
This Plettenberg Bay wine tasting offers a few options. The Wine & Cheese Tasting package allows guests to taste three wines as well as enjoy handmade farmhouse cheeses, freshly baked bread, home-crafted preserves and salad created with the farm’s hydroponic vegetables.
If you’re after something a bit more glamorous, you can order their Breakfast and Bubbles package, including farm-fresh eggs benedict accompanied by a glass of bubbly or another wine of your choice.
Packwood alone offers many of the exciting things to do in Plettenberg Bay – including visiting the dairy farm, fishing and birding.
Packwood Country Estate is open from 10.30 am until 3.30 pm Monday to Friday and on Saturday from 10 am until 3 pm.
Newstead
Newstead offers one of the most relaxing Plettenberg Bay wine tours. The estate was started in 2006 by the Lund and Robinson families of Kwa-Zulu Natal who settled in the Garden Route to enjoy a new life of wine-making.
The farmers recycle greywater and use organic fertilisers to nurture every vine. The varieties that Newstead grows are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and the estate itself lies within The Crags region of Plettenberg Bay.
If you’re hungry, the Tasting Room at Newstead offers an authentic and intimate setting to grab a bite. It’s not a formal restaurant setting but rather brimmed with seasonality, offering locally-sourced menu items regularly changing to complement their wines on offer.
They’re open from Tuesday to Friday for wine tastings, and on Saturdays for lunch and wine tastings from 10 am to 4 pm.
Lodestone
Lodestone Wine Estate offers many things to do in Plettenberg Bay. This estate is a relatively new establishment, as it only started in 2012 and was built from scratch by Jan and Ingrid Tonkin.
This beautiful wine estate is covered in fynbos, and there’s a good chance you’ll see a large number of birds enjoying this natural phenomenon. The estate truly respects nature, with many small mammals from the mountain coming down to enjoy the unfenced farmland as and when they please.
Lodestone’s vineyard includes four grape varieties that suit a cool climate environment. These are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Semillon.
Lodestone is one of many Garden Route wine farms to offer an incredible tasting room experience. Taking a contemporary stance, Lodestone serves a range of seasonal meals using fresh produce and locally-sourced ingredients. This spectacular venue overlooks a lily pond and offers stunning views of the Tsitsikamma mountains.
Lodestone is open for tasting from 11 am – 4 pm throughout the season, though it’s best to check their social media pages to ensure this is up to date as this may vary throughout the year (they are currently closed for tastings due to Covid-19).
Kay and Monty
Kay and Monty Vineyards is a truly boutique wine farm, with only 5 hectares of land used for grapes. It was one of the first Plettenberg Bay wine estates to plant vines after Bramon, and they intend to keep production small-scale to deliver unique flavours.
The vines here were planted in 2004, with their first wine produced in 2012. This estate was purchased by polo player Chick Legh in 2004 and had been growing in traction ever since it was converted into a polo estate and vineyard.
The old greenhouse has been converted into a modern tasting room and restaurant, with a tranquil atmosphere to boot.
The restaurant has a sophisticated menu, where you can choose between plenty of sharing boards, flatbreads, salads, desserts and even milkshakes – as well as their signature wine tasting, of course!
They’re open from Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm, but you should book online to avoid disappointment.
Ready to sip your way through the Garden Route?
If you’re visiting the Garden Route, there are many things to do in Plettenberg Bay. Make sure that you make time to enjoy a classy Plettenberg Bay wine tasting experience at one of the region’s newly-established vineyards.
Practically every vineyard on the Garden Route map features calm and tranquil settings and beautiful mountain views, not to mention delicious wines and world-class restaurants.
Have you visited other amazing wine farms along the Garden Route? Post your favourites here, and we’ll be sure to check them out!