Koelenhof Winery — Attraction in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

Four stars not five even though they would deserve five just for service and vibes. The fifth one? It would certainly be granted through implementation of some upgrades within their tasting room and better performance for some labels.

Actually we heard of some improvement planned for the next season speaking of, we’re keen to discover soon. Other than that, families speak volume for the children playground and facility features, bonus point just for families and just during the festive season though. Adults would appreciate more comfortable seats on a larger sofa area, less “industrial” interiors overall.

Genuinely curious to check the new promised land. Speaking of wines, we do believe Koelenhof would deserve more attention. When it comes to labels can’t say it’s all good, flawless, impeccable. Nonetheless, their reds - product range mostly bodied, full of character sometimes too much - still, hold back a potential.

We’ve been around a few times over the past winter having the opportunity to go through broad tastings, always took some boxes away, in particular their blend. Not pretentious, it’s a great table wine to pair meaty recipes in cold misty evenings beaten or not by rain.

Other labels such us Merlot, Shiraz and their Pinotage incl. the ‘reserve’ line, reveal some complexity although their nuances come without definition, finishing. Other side of the medallion these varieties all come with either excess of tannins or pepper(ish) / smokey aftertaste ie. need a maturity which clients won’t ever be able to appreciate along a wine tasting. White labels? Mmmh yes but no. Work in progress, give it time.

Besides, lovely food pairing and service attention. Highly recommended for those who like sneaking in with...

Having never visited them before I did not know what to expect, however I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised. Arriving at the gate I was surprised by how busy it was, but then quickly realized that they have a wine tasting center as well as a restaurant, and it was over lunch time so both were very busy. As we were visiting for a wine tasting we went straight to the wine tasting center - at first we stood around a bit with no one helping us, however after I reached out to someone it only got better from there. The tasting center was very full, but we managed to get a table for our group of eight and started to deliberate on which of their tasting options to go for. They have a nice selection, but in the end some of our group decided to do the standard tasting and some did the sorbet and wine pairing. The sorbet and wine pairing comes with 6 pre-selected wines - those who did the pairing said that 90% of the pairings worked quite well. The pairing also looked very impressive. I was one of those who opted for the standard tasting that allows you to select a couple of their wines from their big selection. And when I say big selection, I mean it! There is definitely a wine for everyone here from sparkling wines, whites and roses, to reds, port style wines and even late harvest options. Their wines also fit into different price groups ranging from budget to premium. I was very impressed with their wines and the lady that did our tasting was friendly and welcoming. Good to note is they have a juice pairing to keep the kids entertained as well. As they are located close to the N1 on the way to Stellenbosch, they're easily accessible so give...

I went there on woman's day 2025, myself and 2 friends, we were asked if we made a booking and we did not and we said no, then the lady told us, oh it's full and we saw open tables and bare in mind we only 3 ladies. She the proceeded to tell us oh we fully book and its highly unlikely that anyone will be getting up soon. So we ubered there and while we waiting for our Uber she closed the sliding door in our faces and also while we still waited a table of 8 to 10 people got up and left and another table with 4 people got up and left, she just looked at us through the sliding door and didn't even ask if we would like to come in as there is place now. We literally wasted money on Uber to get there just to be turned away, I've supported you over the years and never have a experienced such embarrassment in my life, I will never set foot in that place again. One of the other workers came outside and asked why we leaving and we told them, and they said oh wow there is empty tables, so that said a lot, but I'm not even going that route. I'm terribly disappointed as she didn't even treat the whole situation properly also, she was so rude and...