Delaire Graff Estate is The Jewel of Stellenbosch

Delaire Graff Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa /

Sometimes lunch is lunch. And sometimes lunch is a destination. A place where you want to settle in and make yourself comfy. That was definitely the case when arriving at Delaire Graff Estate in the Stellenbosch Winelands of South Africa. It was clear that this was one of those places that you wanted to linger, take your time with, and fully absorb.

Delaire Graff Views

It was the kind of winter’s day where you could happily sit outside, a light breeze in the air that made you think spring was on its way. We walked through the estate doors and past enormous pieces of contemporary art on our way to the Delaire Graff restaurant.

Coming in, all of the doors were wide open to highlight the terraced vineyard view and we settled into a circular banquet facing the majestic mountains. Not a bad place to spend the next few hours eating and drinking, I thought. At noon we were the first to arrive, but within twenty minutes, the outdoor patio was bustling. Like us, I’m sure many were tourists who had spent the morning exploring the wine country, a little buzzy from sipping cabernet and chardonnay.

Wining and Dining at Delaire Graff Estate

We had just been to the Ernie Els Winery nearby. Awe inspiring mountains and rows of meandering vines rise in every direction. We tasted about six wines while we sat leisurely on the garden patio and watched the kids try to get a hole-in-one on the small green that was set up front and center.

Rumor has it that a hole-in-one gets you a free bottle of wine. Needless to say, we went home empty-handed. But thankfully lunch was up next as we were in need of some sustenance after a morning of wine tasting.

Getting Exotic at Delaire Graff Estate

Maybe it was the clean fresh air or the overall convivial setting, but we all got a bit adventurous at lunch that day. We feasted on springbok, (a medium-sized antelope that is typical in this part of the world), kingklip (a firm white delicate rockfish), and ostrich. In fact, in South Africa, you may often see ‘Venison of the Day’ on the menu, much in the way we would see ‘Soup of the Day’ at home.

Today’s venison was zebra, but it could just have easily been kudu or impala. It was artfully presented to us by a kind and engaging team of servers. The kids ordered mocktails while we continued with the Delaire Graff wines and before we knew it, almost two hours had mysteriously slipped by.

A multi-course lunch, hedonistic desserts, and a few bottles of wine later, we wandered the property a bit and soon found ourselves in front of the famous Graff diamonds boutique. Sadly for me, but luckily for my husband, the boutique was closed that day. We moved on, instead looking at the museum-quality art, sculptures, and wine cellars, and eventually back outside to take in the mountains. Who needs diamonds when you have a setting like this anyway?

It was a day where lunch took the front, left, right, and center stage. We slowly ventured back towards Cape Town, about an hour or so drive. Some of us watched the rolling hills, some of us napped, but all of us agreed that we couldn’t imagine ever eating again.