Wine Tasting in Dekkersvlei: White Pinotage & Vineyard Walk

Taste White Pinotage straight from the cellar, then walk the vines with your glass

Wine tasting at Dekkersvlei, a boutique winery established in 1693 near Stellenbosch, where you taste three wines over an hour, beginning with a chilled White Pinotage welcome drink, descending into the stainless-steel cellar to learn how red grapes become white wine, and finishing with a vineyard walk. Minimum age is 18. The experience involves walking terrain and is not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries or pregnant travelers.

Step-by-step itinerary

Wine tasting and vineyard tour

• Greet guests near tasting room
• Serve chilled White Pinotage welcome drink
• Introduce estate and tasting experience
• Present history of Dekkersvlei and Paarl
• Explain boutique winery identity
• Visit cellar and give red grape
• Explain White Pinotage winemaking
• Highlight grape structure and innovation
• Walk through vineyards with wine

The experience

Dekkersvlei greets you at the top of the walkway under a large oak tree with a chilled White Pinotage in hand, served before the tasting room even comes into view. The host introduces the estate's history (founded in 1693, part of Paarl, South Africa's third oldest town), and frames the day around the blanc de noir style that defines the winery's approach: white wine made from red-skinned grapes by removing the skins early. This is not a standard tasting. It is built around understanding how that single decision changes everything.

You descend into the stainless-steel cellar where the winemaking actually happens. The host hands you a single red grape and walks you through its structure, showing you the skin, the flesh, the seeds: the physical reason why removing one layer shifts the wine from red to white. Three wines total make up the tasting, each one a step through the estate's small-batch approach. The cellar visit is hands-on: you hold the grape, you see the equipment, you understand the process before the glass reaches your lips.

The vineyard walk follows, glass in hand, moving through the rows where the grapes themselves grow. The walk is educational but unhurried. You are moving through the landscape that produced what you just tasted, connecting the vine to the cellar to the glass. The whole experience runs about an hour from arrival to finish.

What’s included

• Three wines tasted over the course of the experience.
• a chilled White Pinotage welcome drink served under the oak tree.
• a guided cellar visit with hands-on exploration of the winemaking process.
• a vineyard walk with your glass.
• and a charcuterie snack.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day7 departure times: the first at 11:00, the last at 17:00

AgesAdult (18 and older) · Under 18: can't be booked

GroupUp to 20

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 5 days ago

Good to know

Moderate physical effortPublic transport nearbyNot recommended during pregnancyNot recommended with back problems

Operated by Aquila Private Game Reserve - Day Trip Safari

Is this one for you?This is a shared, guided tasting built around learning the winemaking process itself rather than sampling a wide range of wines, so it suits anyone who wants to understand why a wine tastes the way it does. The cellar visit and vineyard walk mean you are moving through the estate and its landscape, not sitting in one room, which works well if you prefer an active experience over a stationary one.

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Top questions

What exactly is White Pinotage and why does Dekkersvlei make it from red grapes?

White Pinotage is a blanc de noir style wine: white wine made from red-skinned grapes by removing the skins early in the winemaking process. Dekkersvlei uses this innovative approach as part of its identity as a boutique producer, and the tasting is built around understanding how that single step transforms the grape into the final wine.

Do I taste the wine in the cellar or in the tasting room?

You start with a welcome glass of chilled White Pinotage under the oak tree near the tasting room, then move into the cellar for the educational portion with the grape and the winemaking explanation. The three-wine tasting itself happens during and after the cellar visit, with the final part of the experience taking place during the vineyard walk.

How much walking is involved in the vineyard walk?

The vineyard walk is part of the overall hour-long experience and is educational in pace, moving through the rows with your glass. The experience requires at least a moderate level of physical fitness and involves walking terrain. It is not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries or pregnant travelers.

Is food included, or just wine?

A charcuterie snack is included alongside the three-wine tasting, served during the experience at Dekkersvlei.

What is the minimum age for this tasting?

Guests must be at least 18 years old to participate in the wine tasting at Dekkersvlei.