Groot Constantia-Trust — Attraction in Cape Town Ward 62

on the 24 December 2016, I took my guests from Mauritius to this venue, from the time we arrived the experience was awful-there was a lady dressed in a Christmas costume who was continuously telling her colleague "we closing in 30 minutes - its cut off "- repeatedly..I left it I didn't say anything, until she did it again and again, right there in front of the patrons, then the same lady starts talking to the lady who was pouring our wine about how rude another patron was to her they were having their own conversation while pouring our wine ..so unprofessional the place was packed. Needless to say I tld her that her behaviour was unprofessional and that repeatedly telling her colleague that we closing using her voice and her hands gesturing "cut off" was really distasteful..she responded with an attitude telling me that she was not rude .. her whole demeanour was unprofessional and disappointing.. Then myself and my husband decides to move away from that counter and to go to the other side where Xoliswa was working.. WOW, were we in for a shocker, this guy was so rude shouting "we closing everyone get done with the tasting WE CLOSING at the top of his voice filled with aggression, when we asked to taste the wine we were given a huge attitude at the top of his voice, "wheres your paper, no tasting without paper", I responded what paper - he says "no paper no tasting, I said the other lady never asked us for the paper, we didn't know what he was talking about - we received glasses with a pack of biscuits in it, no paper. He refused to help us.. I told him I thought he was rude and out of line and he just laughed at me..he behaved like he was intoxicated, minutes later, from a distance I see two "white ladies" going to the counter - he poured their wine, no questions asked, with a big smile..my guests also witnessed this as they were sitting on the bench next to the counter...they were horrified and asked if we could just leave. I was on my way out when 3 gentleman came up to me and mentioned that they heard me confronting Xoliswa and thanked me because they too were treated badly and shouted at that they were also just leaving.

This experience was bad and embarrassing, Xoliswa eventually came to apologise, which was a little too late - one of my guests who was an elderly woman was so shocked at his behaviour that she gave him a mouthful-which was well deserved.

There were other staff standing around, they said nothing..I am an Indian woman, my guests are Indian from Mauritius, the 3 gentleman that came up to me were men of colour... I am not a racist, but I sure as hell felt discriminated upon at this venue-I am in the tourism industry and I tell you, I was horrified. NEVER WILL I RECOMMEND OR RETURN...

The oldest wine farm in South Africa, add this to your to-do list if you like any of the following: wine, history and chocolate.

You can easily purchase a ticket on webtickets, which you will be directed to on the wine farms site. I suggest doing the visitors tour (museum) and the wine and chocolate tasting, which is R200 pp. You can even keep your glass!

If warm, wear scant clothing and apply ample amounts of sunscreen.

If taking an Uber, do not get dropped off at the constantia trust but rather up by one of the restaurants. I made this mistake and took a beautiful (but uphill) hike up to the actual wine farm. Luckily I was wearing comfortable clothes and shoes.

Museum: One of the best examples of Cape Dutch architecture, a tour of the house is fully recommended. You will be placed into the 17th century. You can admire antique furniture, paintings and glance back into time to see how people actually lived in those days. It is highly informative although I must say their numbered exhibits are a bit confusing and do not match the guide sheet.

After the museum tour, you will be directed to one of two wine tasting sites. Either inside or outside. I chose the inside site as it was devilishly warm outside. The inside wine tasting site contains a variety of old wine making tools as well as a memorial to the enslaved people who were forced to work at Groot Constantia.

I had the wine and chocolate pairing, and my guide was very informative. I learnt that Napoleon used to drink a bottle of constantia wine a day. The wine was even mentioned in sense and sensibility! As a Jane Austen fan who has devoured her work, this took me by surprise! And I looked it up and indeed it was!

The wine and chocolate pairing was amazing. First take a sip of the wine, and then take a bite of the chocolate. Then do both together and your mouth will alight with flavour!

My favourite of the white wines was the Chardonnay. Of the red it was the Governors reserve, which was voted best wine in the world in 2019.

I ordered three bottles of wine, copious amounts of chocolate and a bottle of very special brandy. While my wine was being packed, I wandered the grounds with my wineglass. Enjoying the birds and the sun and the views as I joyfully sipped on the most delicious wine.

There is a pond with ducks, which are very tame. Don’t feed them bread or let your children terrorise them.

A few dining places on site. Simons restaurant offers more European wares while Jonkershuis offers more traditional options.

I left Groot Constantia considerably lighter in pocket, but heavier in knowledge....

We went to Simon’s today and took our three very well behaved dogs with us and even ordered off the dog friendly menu. After spending R1500 for the two of us, we decided to take our dogs for a little stroll. We went to the duck pond and let them off the lead where they greeted many people and children whilst playing. We then had a very nice lady who came to us and explained we needed to put our dogs on a lead around the duck pond as we would get a fine. To which we gladly agreed. She then told us that dogs can run freely away from the pond and in the vineyards. To which we carried on walking away to the vineyards and took the dogs off their leads. We were then attacked by an elderly lady who was VERY rude saying how dare we take our dogs off a lead. We then told her that an employee of Groot Constantia told us we could let them off in this area. This old lady was not in any uniform whatsoever but explained she was part of the board and that she would get management to “sort us out” and “fine us heavily”. And told us that we would be the reason why dogs would no longer be welcome. She proceeded to RUN behind me on the hill RECORDING me and saying she needs to record me for management. I then proceeded to tell her the employee who was UNIFORMED said it’s okay. She then said the employee is lying and that we were being stupid. I then told her how dare she record me when that is against the POPIA act. I explained to her that I am in law and that she can get into a lot of trouble. I then walked away and she walked behind me very closely and proceeded to threaten me. I told her I would go to management to complain about her attacking us and recording me. She then followed me and swore at us and proceeded to walk to management. It’s SO sad that there is so few pet friendly places and you have these illiterate people ruining it!! All three of our dogs have been sent to behaviour school in order for us to take them to public places. And then they get treated like this....