Marianne Wine Estate is located in Stellenbosch and was started by a French family. They fell in love with South Africa and the rest is history. This is probably why it’s named after a kickass French Goddess.

“Marianne has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty”

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne

The outside

The grounds are splendid. And later when I had my picnic I could stroll along the grass and look at the lemon trees. For some reason all the other visitors sat inside and my family and I had the outside space all to ourselves.

The wine tasting paired with biltong

We enjoyed a unique wine tasting paired with different kinds of biltong. The biltong flavours matched well with the different kinds of wine. I highly recommend you try this.

After the tasting we had a picnic. We also ended up buying a few bottles to take back home with us.

Activities

A vineyard tour lasts for 1.5 hours you will learn a bit about wine, more about the estate, the production process of the wine and see the cellar. There’s also a wine tasting session at the end. Please note that you have to book 24 hours in advance.

Experience a private chauffeur driven half day /full day tour of the winelands. You can tour around Stellenbosch, Franschoek or Helshoogte.

Take a guided e-bike ride through 3 wine estates. You will leave from Marianne and visit Backberg, Glen Carlou and Anura.

Book a private 3 course lunch. You could also book this private lunch for yourself and friends as it’s great socially distanced dining out option.

Marianne offers a wine blending lesson. This is something I haven’t done yet. I really want to try it. It lasts about 2 hours and you get to take your blend home with you afterwards .

*Please note that it’s essential that you prebook.

http://www.mariannewines.com/activities

Extra information

The Student Wine Club is free for all students with a valid student card. All members get a discount on wine tastings, 15% discount on wine purchases as well as a vineyard tour with Marianne’s viticulturist, Ernest Manual.

Marianne hosts virtual tastings. These are a collection of YouTube videos conducted the estate’s Sommelier, Brian Braite. He discusses wines on offer and you can ask questions in the Youtube comment section of each video.

The estate is also hosts “corporate meetings with business equipment to romantic weddings in the middle of vines” It is the perfect place to have and event at.

There’s also a four star hotel. You do have to prebook. All SADC nationals pay 30% less for accommodation right now

Contact Marianne Wine Estate here:

http://www.mariannewines.com/contact-us

Thank you so much for reading. Please feel free to comment.