15 unique wine pairing experiences that will blow your mind – and taste buds.

Are you ready for next-level wine tasting in one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world?

If I have learned one thing from visiting wine regions around the world, then it is that people who love wine also love great food. Which is not surprising because food and wine simply belong together. A great glass of wine can go a long way completely on its own, but when paired with the right food it can be elevated to an entirely new level.

Enter the South African Cape Winelands and you are spoiled for choice. This beautiful region has not only risen to one of the most exciting, high-quality winemaking regions in the world over the past decade. It is without doubt one of the most innovative and dynamic when it comes to wine tourism.

There are certainly not many regions that boast so many beautiful wineries welcoming guests into their own on-site guestrooms, guest cottages and full-scale hotels, offer on-site restaurants, and off course wine tasting facilities and wine shops.

I am certainly not exaggerating when I tell you, you will have a hard time to find a winery that will not welcome guests at regular opening hours, often seven days a week.

15 outstanding wine pairing experiences in the Cape Winelands to put on your bucket list

So, where to start if you are looking for wine pairing experiences beyond the classics? There are so many excellent wineries across the Cape Winelands that not only offer regular wine tastings but also unique wine pairing experiences.

Below, I have rounded 15 wineries to visit for the most unique tasting options on your next trip to the Cape Winelands.

Blaauwklippen Wine Estate – Wine and Arancini

After the devastating fire in spring 2024, the estate’s beautiful historic buildings have been carefully restored and returned to their previous splendour. For this reason alone, it’s almost a must to stop at Blauuwklippen Wine Estate and pay tribute to the huge effort and dedication to bring the beautiful estate back to life.

The other most exiting reason remains the winery’s impressive range of innovative tasting options.

Particularly famous for its iconic wine and macaron tasting – the estate was the first in the Cape Winelands to offer this delicious option – there is much more to choose from. The wine pairing list includes a wine and chocolate pairing, a wine and cheesecake pairing, a wine and pizza pairing, a wine and mezze pairing and finally the wine and arancini pairing. Plus, there is also a kids pizza pairing available.

Bringing together the excellent estate wines with the hugely popular Sicilian street foot, this pairing doubles as a perfect light lunch alternative. It consists of four wines and four truly unique mouthwatering styles of arancini.

  • Chenin Blanc – Scampi Arancini Topped with Lemon Butter Sauce
  • Chardonnay – Mushroom, Creamy Truffle Oil and Parmesan Arancini
  • Rosé – Butternut Arancini Topped with Creamy Napolitana Sauce
  • De Blaauwe Klip – Oxtail Arancini Topped with Oxtail Jus

The food is freshly prepared at the on-site De Blaauwe Kitchen restaurant and can chance based on seasonal availability.

Where: R44 Strand Road, Stellenbosch

When: Daily from 10am to 5pm. Reservations for wine pairing experiences are recommended.

Clos Malverne – Wine and Ice Cream

The iconic wine and ice cream pairing at Clos Malverne predates the recent TicTok hype by more than a decade. In fact, with nearly three decades of wine tasting in various wine regions around the world under my belt, I never came across a wine and ice cream pairing prior to visiting Clos Malverne for the first time in 2018. Thus, I’m pretty sure the winery was one of the first (if not the first) to offer the rather unusual pairing.

Plus, the ice cream flavours paired to the wines are themselves unusual too.

The winery is nestled at the end at a small country road in the lovely Devon Valley away from the hustle and bustle of the main Stellenbosch area. That said, the on-site restaurant is hugely popular, so if you plan to stop for a regular lunch, reservations are highly recommended.

However, you might be pleased to hear that wine pairings, including the iconic ice cream pairing are available on a walk-in basis. The latter consists of four wines and four different ice cream flavours.

  • Clos Malverne Sauvignon Blanc Brut Paired with Cookie Monster & popping candy ice cream
  • Clos Malverne Chenin Blanc Paired with Lemon Infused Olive Oil & Thyme ice cream
  • Clos Malverne Flagship Auret Paired with Biltong & Blue Cheese ice cream
  • Clos Malverne Pinotage LeCafe coffee edition paired with Apple Crumble & cinnamon ice cream

Where: Devon Valley Road, Stellenbosch

When: Wednesday to Saturday, 10.30 am to 4pm for wine tasting.

Neethlingshof Wine Estate – Flash Food and Slow Wine

Nestled in the heart of Stellenbosch, Neethlingshof Wine Estate is one of the Cape’s oldest wineries, established in 1692.

Today, the winery is particularly proud to belong to the First 14 estates recognized under South Africa’s Wine of Origin scheme; and it is also dedicating a large part of its land to conservation.

What sounds a bit mysterious at first glance turns out to be an awesome food and wine pairing including five different finger-foods paired with five wines.

The delicious, flavour-packed dishes are basically covering a full 5-course menu of bite-sized plates, professionally matched with five corresponding wines, two white and three red.

The food is freshly prepared on-site and will vary seasonally with the most recent options ranging from tomato soup to vegetable samosas with zesty mango atchar, BBQ chicken kebabs, beef sliders topped with cranberry jam and dark chocolate shavings, and a traditional mini malva pudding with a hint of liquorice.

Additional wine paring options include chocolate and wine pairing, and a kids’ pairing.

Where: Polkadraai Road, Stellenbosch

When: Open daily from 10am to 4pm but reservations are recommended for the pairing experiences.

Fairview – Wine and Cheese

OK, I hear you. The classic wine and cheese pairing certainly looks out of place in a post about unusual wine pairings. But this stunning Paarl wine estate is such a fantastic experience, and the wine and cheese pairing is truly outstanding.

Fairview is famous for its resident goats, or perhaps it’s the combination of the goats and the iconic goat tower. But the goats you see roaming in the dedicated area around the goat tower are only a fraction of Fairview’s livestock including goat and cows for the estate’s own cheese production.

Fairview Cheesery produced more than 50 different cheeses, ranging from traditional to highly innovative styles.

Head to the beautiful tasting room to enjoy a selection of six different wines with six expectedly paired cow and goats milk cheeses from the farm. Or you can go one level further and join a master tasting, a tutored tasting experience of carefully selected wines combined with Fairview cheeses, freshly baked bread and olive oil.

Where: Suid-Agter Paarl Road, Paarl

When: Daily, 9am – 5pm

Eikendal – Wine and Cheescake

Conveniently located on the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West, Eikendal boasts a wealth of experiences from various wine tasting opportunities to vineyard tours, fly fishing and the excellent on-site restaurant.

The winery offers a wide selection of wine tasting experiences, including the iconic wine and cheesecake pairing along with a delicious wine and pizza pairing, and a milk and pizza pairing for kids.

The wine and cheesecake pairing features three different wines paired with three different cheesecake variations.

  • Sauvignon Blanc and lemon cheesecake
  • Rosé and berry cheesecake
  • Unwooded Chardonnay and salted caramel cheesecake

Where: R44, Raithby

When: Tue to Sun, 11am to 5pm

Canto Wines – MCC and Macaron Tasting

Nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of the Durbanville, Canto Wines is one of the more recent additions to the thriving South African wine landscape. The small boutique winery makes most of its small-batch wines from old vines, including some excellent sparkling wines.

The MCC (short for Methode Cap Classique) and macaron tasting could almost be called a classic in the Cape Winelands. But the great thing about this combo clearly is – it never gets old!

Canto’s MCC and macaron tasting includes four different sparkling wines with four expertly chosen matching macaron flavours.

  • Chardonnay MCC Brut with hazelnut macaroon
  • Shiraz Rose MCC Brut with red velvet macaroon
  • Pinot Noir MCC Brut with Turkish delight macaroon
  • Canto Pinot Noir/Chardonnay MCC Brut with salted caramel macaroon

Where: Vissershok Rd, Durbanville

When: Wed, Tue and Sun: 11am – 5pm; Fri and Sat: 10am – 6pm

D’Aria Winery – Wine and Waffels

The beautiful winery sits within the rolling hills of Durbanville and too far from the stunning Bloubergstrand. The winery goes back to two of the Cape’s most historic estates, Doordekraal and Springfield, established in 1698.

D’Aria Winery itself was founded in 2008 and quickly became one of the areas most popular spot for outstanding wines and wine-themed experiences.

The winery offers a MCC and Oyster pairing running year-round while the more exotic wine and waffles pairing is currently available only during the local winter months.

Where: Tygerberg Valley Road, Durbanville

When: daily 10am – 5pm

Delheim Wines – Wine and Fynbos infused cupcakes

The wine and cupcake tasting is a long-time classic at Delheim Wines. This historic winery nestled in a quiet corner of the stunning Simonsberg Mountain slopes

A few years ago, Delheim has upped the game with the introduction of fynbos infused cupcakes. The twist is an homage to the local fynbos vegetation which is exclusively found in a small belt within the Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa.

The wine and cupcake tasting consists of four wines and four different cupcakes perfectly complementing each other.

  • Chardonnay and Honeybush cupcake
  • Gewürztraminer and Buchu cupcake
  • Merlot and Fynbos honey cupcake
  • Pinotage and Rooibos cupcake

Where: Knorhoek Rd, Stellenbosch

When: daily 9am – 5pm

Imbuko Wines – Wine and Gourmet Pie

A beautiful boutique winery in the Boland Winelands area near Wellington, Imbuko means ‘admiration for …’ in Xhosa, one of South Africa’s eleven official languages.

Grapes for the excellent wines are sourced from various areas including Stellenbosch, Paarl, Worchester and Robertson.

Imbuko Wines offers a wonderful wine and gourmet pie pairing that easily doubles as a light lunch alternative. It consists of four wines and four bite-sized delicious gourmet pies boasting traditional South African flavours.

  • Van Zijl Bushvine Chenin Blanc and Free Range Chicken Pie
  • Van Zijl Sauvignon Blanc  and Melanzane Pie
  • Van Zijl Shiraz / Mourvèdre and Lamb Pie
  • Van Zijl Coffee Pinotage and Traditional Bobotie Pie

Other interesting pairing options include the  Pomüla (craft spritzers) and macaron pairing and the The Elizabeth Francoisnette MCC pairing which features three sparkling wines with Balsamic vinegar macerated strawberries, a mini doughnut, and a strawberry and vanilla pavlova.

Bookings for the pairing options are essential.

Where: Uitkyk Farm, Bo-Dal Road, Wellington

When: Mon to Sat, 10am – 5pm

JC Le Roux – MCC and Nougat / Cheesecake

Known as the leading home of South African sparkling wine, JC Le Roux is unquestionably one of the best MCC dedicated wine estates across the Cape Winelands.

The beautiful tasting room offers a wide range of different tastings, including several unique pairing options. Including both sweet and savoury pairings, it will get difficult to pin down the preferred pairing. Yet, bubbles are always great with something sweet, so my recommendation would be either the MCC and nougat pairing (five sparkling wines paired with a selection of nougat) or the MCC and cheesecake pairing (three sparkling wines and three styles of cheesecake).

The other sweet pairing option features artisan chocolate. Should you like something heartier, swap the sweets for pizza or biltong.

By the way, each of the above tastings is also available as a non-alcohol pairing featuring the estates non alcoholic sparkling wines.

Where: Devon Valley Road, Stellenboch

When:  Mon to Thu 10am – 4pm and Fri to Sun 10am – 5pm

Villiera Wines – Nougat and MCC

Villiera Wines, located at the outskirts of Stellenbosch is special not just because of its excellent wine pairing experience. The winery, founded in the early 1980s, is one of South Africa’s Cap Classique pioneers while producing a range of award-winning still wines as well.

The other reason to visit is the estate’s pledge to conservation, beautifully demonstrated at the adjacent Wildlife Sanctuary. Commonly operated with two of Villiera’s neighbours, it is home to a wide range of mammals including giraffe, springbuck, kudu, eland, gemsbok, black wildebeest, bush pig, zebra, waterbuck and grysbok.

Meanwhile, the selection of wine tastings options covers the full range of still and sparkling wines. Though, especially if you come for an early-morning game drive over the summer months, you will end up with a wine tasting fairly early in the day. So, if you are anything like me and do not want to call it a day afterwards, go for the excellent bubbles. There are two options at Villiera tasting the MCC wines, one is the excellent yet more classic wine and chocolate tasting, the other the MCC and nougat tasting.

This heavenly pairing includes four sparkling wines paired with four different styles of nougat from Rose’s.

  • Villiera Tradition Brut and Rose’s Macadamia Nougat
  • Villiera Tradition Brut Rosé and Rose’s Goji Berry, Almond and Rooibos Tea Nougat
  • Domaine Grier Brut and Rose’s Berry and Cherry Nougat
  • Monro Brut and Rose’s Almond Nougat

Where: Cnr R101 & R304, Koelenhof,  Stellenbosch

When: Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm and Sat 9am – 3pm

Perdeberg Cellar – Wine and Marshmallows

Located at the foothills of the Paardeberg Mountains in Paarl, and part of the official Paarl Wine Route, Perdeberg Winery is well-known as the Home of Chenin Blanc but honestly offers so much more.

The winery’s unique wine pairing options range from the savoury biltong pairing to a cotton candy pairing and the iconic wine and marshmallow pairing. Plus, a hot chocolate and cupcake kids pairing.

Don’t be fuelled, we are not talking about your usual (though still delicious) marshmallows. What you get are artisanal handmade, gourmet marshmallows featuring different flavours.

  • Lighthearted sparkling white and raspberry marshmallow
  • Liehthearted sparkling rosé and rosewater marshmallow
  • Grenache Blanc and Cinsault and lime and cherry marshmallow
  • Sweet Chenin and marmalade and honeycomb marshmallow

Where: Vryguns Farm, Windmeul, Paarl

When: daily, 10am – 5pm

Cavalli Estate – Wine and Oyster

This stunningly beautiful estate, located in the Helderberg area just outside Stellenbosch, is a must-visit location. In addition to a large vineyard area, Cavalli Estate is home to a large 10 hectares fynbos garden, an art gallery, luxury boutique, restaurant and the beautiful tasting facility.

This beautiful setting along with the estate’s high-quality wines clearly call for something special and the iconic wine and oyster tasting truly delivers. It featured four wines with four different styles of oysters, freshly prepared in the on-site restaurant.

  • MCC and tempura and mebos oyster
  • Reserve Chenin and litchi and cucumber oyster
  • Reserve White and fynbos mignonette oyster
  • Chardonnay and pineapple and citrus oyster

Where: R44 Highway (Strand Road), Stellenbosch

When: Wed to Sun, 11am to 3pm

Bacco Estate – Wine and Cannoli

This still young wine estate was born out of the passion for Super Tuscans, and Bacco Estate now makes a range of premium quality wines that truly echo the iconic Tuscan style with a South African edge.

Located in the beautiful Paar backdrop, offering stunning views over the surrounding area, Bacco Estate also picks on the Tuscan feeling with its modern, Italian-style design.

The wine tasting options offered at Bacco’s lovely tasting room include an optional pairing of freshly made savoury cannoli added to the Vertical Prelude Red Blend tasing of three wines or the Baccō Estate Full Flight Tasting of six wines.

The exact choice of wines paired with three or six cannoli offering a range of savoury flavours can change based on availability of wines and seasonal food. But you can bet it will be delicious.

Where: Simonsvlei Road, Paarl

When: daily 11am to 4.30pm

Bergsig Wine Estate – Delight Pairing

Established nearly 200 years ago, the historic Bergsig Wine Estate still belongs to the founding family. Bergsig, meaning mountain view in Afrikaans, is located in the Breedeklof Valley, one of the still lesser-known areas of the Cape Winelands, around one and a half hours from Cape Town.

The winery produces a range of outstanding wines and in addition to the traditional wine tasting offers the unique Delight Pairing option. It features four different wines expertly matched with four different savoury small bits.

  • Weisser Riesling and spinach and cream cheese mini quiche
  • Chardonnay and arancini ball
  • Cabernet Sauvignon and Bobotie springroll
  • Gewürztraminer Noble Late Harvest and Turkish delight.

Where: Route 43, P.O. Box 15, Breeriver

When: Mon to Fri 8am – 5pm, Sat. 9am – 4pm

So, are you ready to book your ticket to South Africa to explore the stunning local wineries and have your own unique wine pairing experience? These examples include some of the longer-running iconic pairing options offered across the area, and some of the latest additions. However, they are really the tip of the iceberg.