Wine tasting and a picnic at Spier
Stellenbosch
A large Stellenbosch wine farm with a daily tasting room, pre-booked picnic baskets and a farm restaurant; book ahead and plan the drive home.
- Best monthsAny monthSpier lists the tasting room as open daily from 09:00 to 17:00. Its summer picnic menu is on the picnic page, but the page gives no dates for the picnic season.
- How longHalf a day
- WhereStellenbosch
Spier is a wine farm beside the Eerste River in Stellenbosch. Its own website says wine has been made there since 1692 and that its cellar is the oldest dated cellar still in use in South Africa.
The tasting room is open daily from 09:00 to 17:00, with tastings starting at 09:30 and the last tasting at 16:00. The estate lists several tastings, from "A Taste of Spier" to a Cellar Collection tasting served in Riedel glasses, and sharing platters to go with them. Its Picnickery sells pre-booked baskets that can be collected from 12:00 to 14:00, or you can build your own from the deli. Spier asks for baskets to be requested at least 24 hours ahead, offers classic, vegetarian, vegan and children's baskets, and says picnic spots are public lawns where visitors may not bring their own food or drink onto the farm. It lists bookings as essential for tastings and picnics as well as for the restaurants.
For a sit-down meal, Vadas Smokehouse and Bakery serves breakfast from 09:00 to 11:00 and lunch from 12:00 to 16:00 daily, and the Garden Room at Spier Hotel serves lunch from 12:00 to 15:30; Spier lists bookings as essential for both. If you are tasting, read the safety note below before you decide who drives.
What it costs
Prices read on spier.co.za on 12 October 2026: A Taste of Spier R105 per person, Winemaker Selection R150, Master Chenin R150 and Cellar Collection R220. Picnic baskets cost R425 per person and R200 per child under 12. Sharing platters cost R160 to R280. The pages list no restaurant prices. Prices may change, so check before you go.
Getting there
Spier gives its address as R310 Baden Powell Drive, Stellenbosch, 7603, and describes the farm as 40 minutes from Cape Town. The contact page also lists a separate winery entrance on Annandale Road. Use a guided tour or a nominated driver rather than driving after a tasting.
Visiting safely
- According to SAnews on 15 January 2026 and eNCA on 30 January 2026, the legal limit for most drivers is 0.05 g of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, or 0.24 mg per 1,000 ml of breath, and exceeding it is a criminal offence.
- The Department of Transport has announced that it plans to scrap the permitted limit, and Time Out reported on 14 September 2026 that the amendment was still awaiting approvals and was not yet law, so check the current rule before you travel.
- The simplest plan for a day of tastings is to nominate a designated driver, or to book a guided tour or a hop-on, hop-off minibus.
Where this comes from
- Wine tasting at Spier · Spier Wine Farm
- Picnics at Spier · Spier Wine Farm
- Opening times, contact and address · Spier Wine Farm
- Welcome to Spier Wine Farm · Spier Wine Farm
- Government plans to amend legislation on driving and drinking policy (15 January 2026) · SAnews, South African Government News Agency
- Parly's Transport Committee supports zero-alcohol law for drivers (30 January 2026) · eNCA
- South Africa's roads are getting stricter with a zero alcohol driving policy planned (14 September 2026) · Time Out
