Rawsonville and Breedekloof

Just before eight on a weekday, on the R101 near the N1. At Du Toitskloof Wines someone unlocks the tasting room, and the smell of bread drifts across from the Ou Meul Bakery on the same property. Six farmers founded the cooperative in 1962; today 13 members deliver from 22 farms with 985 hectares, Fairtrade certified. Rawsonville itself is small: 3,099 residents at the 2011 census, on the eastern flank of the Du Toitskloof Mountains, 15 kilometres west of Worcester.

Chenin Blanc, the largest area in the country (SAWIS 2025)

2,739 ha

from central Cape Town via the N1 and R101

93 km

members of the Breedekloof Wine Route, as of September 2026

15

table grape farms in the Hex River Valley

200+

The village grew out of the farm Aan-de-Smalblaar, where 57 plots were auctioned on 11 June 1859. It is named after Colonial Secretary Sir Rawson William Rawson. Around it lies the Breedekloof wine district with the wards of Goudini and Slanghoek, alluvial soils on river stones. With 2,739 hectares of Chenin Blanc, Breedekloof has the largest Chenin plantings in South Africa, out of 12,679 hectares in total (SAWIS, as of the end of 2025). How many estates you can visit depends on who you ask. The Breedekloof Wine Route lists 15 members (as of September 2026), Wines of South Africa says around 20, and English Wikipedia still gives 22 or 28. Since 2014, 13 producers have worked together as the Breedekloof Makers with a focus on Chenin. Opstal in the Slanghoek valley, where the seventh generation runs the cellar, puts Chenin first too.

North-east of Worcester the N1 climbs into the Hex River Valley. Around De Doorns, a town of 11,278 people some 33 kilometres beyond Worcester, lie more than 200 table grape farms, the heart of the export trade; the first export grapes left in 1875. Harvest runs from December to April, which English Wikipedia calls the longest harvest season in the world. The Hex River Mountains behind get the heaviest snowfalls in the province. How exposed this route is became clear on 13 May 2026: after the storms the N1 was closed at several points between Worcester and De Doorns, and it has since reopened.

Time needed

a day for two or three cellars, as a detour on the way to Worcester or Robertson

When

February to April for the harvest, March for the Hanepoot Festival

From Cape Town

93 km, 70 minutes

Our tipBreedekloof is the place for tastings without fuss: Du Toitskloof Wines pours four wines with bread and olive oil for R80, as of September 2026, open daily with shorter hours at weekends. The next Hanepoot Festival is announced for 7 March 2027 at Huis te Merwede.

Wine estates in and around Rawsonville and Breedekloof

• BreedekloofDu Toitskloof

  A 13-member cooperative right off the N1, with a bakery, a playground and early opening hours.

• BreedekloofOpstal

  Seven generations of one family, a focus on Chenin Blanc and a restaurant that stays open all day.