After nearly a decade of meticulous heritage restoration and revitalisation, Vergenoegd Löw The Wine Estate in Stellenbosch has brought to life the vision of imaginative investor, Prof Dr Dr Peter Löw.
A German entrepreneur, philanthropist, specialist historian and heritage advocate, he acquired the property in 2015, immediately recognising its cultural and heritage value as one of South Africa’s oldest working farms with a history dating back to 1696. He is also the founder and chief curator of the European Heritage Project (EHP), a portfolio of privately-owned luxury hospitality properties in Germany, Austria, Italy and Malta.
As the newest member of the prestige EHP collection, Vergenoegd Löw has been transformed into a quiet cosmos, a world away from daily pressures. Rich in natural beauty, the setting offers visitors the opportunity and space to relax, refresh and reset in luxury and privacy with a range of fine boutique hospitality, wine, culinary and spa experiences.
Past and present collide
The property now operates as an intimate wine tourist destination in an authentic, self-sustaining farm environment that honours the past but presents its rich Cape Dutch heritage in a contemporary way.
Its selection of accommodation options focuses on detailed comfort and knowledgeable but unobtrusive service.
The intimate-scale luxury boutique hotel has been designed and appointed to inspire a sense of contentment and replenishment. The focus in these varied rooms, suites and cottages is on comfort, ease and privacy, whether catering to couples or families.
For those looking to unwind an exclusive spa, housed in what was once the dairy on the farm, offers a range of wellness treatments, including the hallmark milk bath experience.
A culinary celebration
Bertus Basson, who celebrates local culinary heritage and produce, has conceived two restaurants on the farm Geuwels and Clara’s Barn. Each quite different, they both re-interpret local taste traditions, source from the farm itself or from nearby small-scale suppliers.
Geuwels is a casual eatery serving breakfast and lunch daily and featuring heritage items and local ingredients such as roosterkoek, (griddle cake) sour-fig jam, traditional stews and chutneys, bokkoms (salt-cured dried fish) and local tarts, cakes and confection, not to mention duck eggs. These are familiar, well-loved tastes amongst most South Africans, but they have been reimagined in fresh and original new ways.
Clara’s Barn is named after Prof Dr Dr Löw’s wife, Clara. It is housed in what in all probability is the oldest building on the farm and is thought to pre-date the 1773 manor house. The restaurant has a daily five-course menu. Here the focus is on nose-to-tail dishes, foraged herbs and mushrooms, vegetables and fruit grown on the farm or by small-scale farmers in the area. The food is also based on inventive re-interpretations of local heritage dishes. All courses can be paired with wines from the farm.
Cellar-door tastings at the Homestead Wine Lounge
The Vergenoegd Löw collection of wines reflect a balanced, mouth-filling flavour of fruit and an echo of the sea that’s satisfyingly refreshing.
The wines are made by Elsenberg-trained Vusi (Mvuselelo) Dalicuba, assisted by Tamsin Valentine, under the leadership of veteran vineyard specialist Corius Visser, managing director of the estate Their way of winemaking is to “follow the grapes”. The grapes themselves determine the vinification. That’s how the team creates wines of freshness, perfume and graceful elegance, but also fine-structured longevity.
The full range of Vergenoegd Löw wines can be sampled in the 1773 Homestead on the estate. One unique and very popular option is an indigenous tasting intended to showcase the wines in a whole new light.
Wines from the range are offered with local heritage flavours like bokkoms (salt-cured dried fish), biltong (spice-cured meat), amasi (fermented milk, similar to buttermilk) herbs, spices and homemade onion marmalade.
Vergenoegd Löw is centrally located and within such easy access of the wealth of local attractions and amenities yet, so deeply nestled in a tranquil, spacious enclave, suffused with the fragrance of fynbos and other indigenous flora, salty notes from the nearby ocean and the sound of birdsong.
It’s just 22km from Cape Town International Airport; under 40km from the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, and less than 90km from the celebrated seaside town of Hermanus.
