Plaisir Wine Estate — Attraction in Drakenstein Local Municipality

We ate at the outdoor tables, and the burgers and views were outstanding.

However, the service staff need to receive more training: the place was not especially busy but we had to walk around to request menus multiple times, request to order multiple times, and request the bill multiple times, dragging what should have been a 45 minute lunch into 2 hours of mainly waiting for someone to help as each stage.

The cocktails were unfortunately also undrinkable: a raw assembly of strong gin, cap classique, and what seemed to be store-bought cordial - took a few sips, felt woozy, and could not continue. Perhaps the staff were improvising. Some creativity could be put into redesigning the cocktails and giving the cocktails more elegance and flair: fresh fruit (lemon, passion fruit), perhaps fresh herbs or better yet fynbos, ice, better gin, and better glasses, and maybe not mixing the estate's wonderful cap classique in with not-very-nice gin. (The estate wines are generally excellent.)

The service staff, though painfully slow to attend to anything, were friendly, so it's probably just a matter of better training and having a headwaiter check in regularly to see service is proceeding smoothly. Also, the point-of-sale system does not provide an easy way to leave a tip, and providing straightforward tipping would allow customers to reward good service...

Was quite disappointed… visited first some time in 2019 and then again in March 2021 for a tasting and it was absolutely breathtaking - the views, the wine, the platters. 5 stars back then. I genuinely considered it to be a place to tell people to look at as a potential venue for their weddings. Having been there twice before, we decided to go again today (Jan 2022) and make a day of the 113km journey from Kleinmond.

Was disappointed to find that they’ve moved the tasting to an entirely unremarkable place that is, at best, neighbouring a lawn I would happily walk my dogs on. The new ‘view’ cannot compete with what’s on offer at the rest of Franschhoek’s other pristine wine farms, and is several leagues below the quality of the beauty we experienced at the old venue.

Additionally, the service was slow (not of major concern) and they ran out of wine glasses… at a tasting venue… having recently finished peak season (not really sure how this happened - unless Jan is busier than Dec for some reason).

Just a poor experience now compared to the initial two - having been really excited to visit at the start of the day, we left not expecting to go back in future. I really love this farm, but hope they revert to the old tasting venue.

Still an alright place for a visit and a tasting, but not a place to visit for the sole purpose of the experience of...

Plaisir wine farm is nestled in Franschhoek and it's a lovely venue for lunch as well as wine tasting, of course.

The grounds are immaculately maintained even though the parking is dirt which makes walking through in the rainy winter season not especially pleasant.

The restaurant has a neat open plan design that can somehow feel large and intimate at the same time, and it flows to the bar and gift shop. One must add that the gift shop prices did not come across as exploitative, as is sometimes the case.

In the restaurant, Fezi delivered excellent service and produced a well-rehearsed presentation of the wins for a tasting. They are open every day, except Christmas and New Year so I imagine she does this several times a day.

The food was well-prepared, substantial and tasty: None of those gourmet portions that leave you feeling hungry afterward. It seems they want you to know you've had a decent meal if you've been here.

Conveniently, this wine farm is on the Franschhoek wine route so can also visit via the tram service.

For wheelchair users, you can navigate this venue, but summer is perhaps more ideal that the wet winter months.

The bathrooms were neat and...