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The Afrikaans Language Monument on the southern slopes of Paarl Mountain was unveiled in 1975 to commemorate the birth and development of the Afrikaans language in Paarl a century earlier. To appreciate Paarl’s wealth of historic buildings, take a walk down Main Road. Starting at the Strooidak Kerk (Thatched Roof Church), dating back to 1805, the walk takes visitors past Zeederberg Square (surrounded by several historic buildings) to the Afrikaans Language Museum. The only language museum in the world, it focuses on the history of Afrikaans. The walk ends at the Oude Pastorie Museum, built as a parsonage in 1786. The graceful U-shaped manor house, with its pedimented gable, contains a fine collection of antique Cape furniture, silverware and copper. |
LABORIESet among vineyards on the lower slopes of Paarl Mountain, historic Laborie estate dates back to 1691. The focal point of the estate is the H-shaped manor house 3, which was built in the late 1700s. The estate was bought by the KWV in 1972, and has since been redeveloped into one of the country’s leading wine estates. Its first wines were introduced to the public in 1982, and today its celebrated range includes two white, one blanc de noir, four red and one fortified wine, as well as a sparkling wine made in the tradition of the Champagne region of France. |
 Laborie launched its first brandy, the Laborie Estate Alembic Brandy, in late 1997. It is made from sauvignon blanc grapes and double-distilled in an 18th-century copper pot still. Visitors can explore the lower slopes of Paarl Mountain by following a one-hour walking trail through the vineyards. The Laborie Restaurant is well known for its excellent traditional dishes. |
PAARL ROCK BRANDY CELLAROverlooked by the natural landmark for which it is named, this cellar dates back to 1856, when it was established by the De Villiers brothers. This is the only cellar in South Africa where brandy is still made by hand according to the De Villiers family tradition. The cellar uses wines mainly from the Paarl region, and its brandies undergo a double distillation process in traditional Woudberg copper pot stills before maturation in imported French oak vats. After maturation, the brandy is blended in accordance with the brothers’ original recipe. |
WELLINGTON…lies in a picturesque valley originally known as Limiet Valley, regarded by the early Dutch settlers as the boundary or limit of the settlement at the Cape. The town was once famous for its wagon-making industry and became known as Wagenmakersvallei (wagon makers’ valley) before it was renamed Wellington in 1840. It is the centre of the country’s dried fruit industry and one of the most important centres for growing grafted vines. The twelve cellars on the Wellington Wine Route include Bovlei, Wamakersvallei, Wellington, Jacaranda, Welvanpas, Cape Wine Cellars and Hildenbrand Wine and Olive Estate, and produce a wide variety of white and red wines. Wellington is also well known for its educational institutions, among them Huguenot College and Boland College. Noteworthy buildings include the Dutch Reformed Church (1840), and the various buildings of the old Huguenot Seminary. Just north of the town is a blockhouse, built to guard the railway bridge over the Kromme River, a tributary of the Breede, against Boer guerrilla attacks during the South African War. |
BAIN’S KLOOF…is named after master road builder, Andrew Geddes Bain, who began building the pass in 1849 with convict labour and completed it four years later. The vantage point just below the summit affords motorists spectacular views of the Berg River valley; a little further on, just south of Bain’s Kloof village, lie the graves of 11 convicts who died during the construction of the pass. From here the scenic pass follows the winding course of the valley carved by the Wit River between the Limietberg and the Slanghoek mountains. Large sections of the road had to be blasted out of solid rock; one large outcrop, Dacres Pulpit, was left hanging over the road. In some places the road had to be supported by 12-m-high dry-stone retaining walls. |
WORCESTERSituated amid rugged mountain scenery on the banks of the Breede River, Worcester is the ‘Capital of the Breede River Valley’. About 25 per cent of the area under vineyards in the country lies in the Worcester region, making it one of South Africa’s most important wine-producing areas. It is especially noted for its dry and semi-sweet white wines, dessert wines and brandy. The Kleinplasie Open-Air Museum depicts the lifestyles of the early Cape pioneer farmers. The museum comprises 26 buildings and structures representative of agricultural industries in the Western Cape between 1690 and 1900. Daily demonstrations of traditional home industries and activities (witblits distilling, candle making and tobacco rolling) are given. The town of Worcester is also a well-known education centre, and the Nuwe Hoop Centre for the Hearing Impaired, the Institute for the Blind and the Institute for the Deaf are located here. |
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