Friday, 1 August, 2025
Inside Guide, Kit Heathcock
Walking down through tumbling garden beds brimming with herbs and flowers, there’s a relaxed homestead feel as you arrive at Vriesenhof. The modest thatched manor house at the top of Paradyskloof (near the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden) outside Stellenbosch is the former home of rugby and winemaking legend, Jan ‘Boland’ Coetzee. Until he retired last year, Vriesenhof wasn’t open to the public at all. Now the homestead has been sensitively converted to a tasting room and a restaurant, Die Stoep – where wide stoeps soak up views over oak trees, vineyards and mountains. It’s a place for relaxed lunches and convivial gatherings, shared plates cooked over open flames paired with the estate wines in time-honoured Vriesenhof tradition.
The stories of a lifetime
Restaurateur Marc Botes has taken great care to preserve the heritage and the storytelling ambience of the legacy entrusted to him. A cosy lounge with Oregon-pine floors and a fireplace displays photos, memorabilia and tells the stories of a lifetime. The low-ceilinged underground cellar remains as it was in Coetzee’s day, lined with dust-covered bottles, and is one of the few places where you can find Vriesenhof vintages from decades back…. genuinely interested wine-lovers can get talking to Vriesenhof CEO Eddie Smit and discover treasures and stories not on any wine list.
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