The restoration of a large private working wine estate an hour from Cape Town has been completed and is available for exclusive holiday rental from December. Brookdale Estate, which sleeps ten, is located in the Paarl Valley under the Klein Drakenstein Mountains. The historic estate has been restored with a completely rebuilt manor house and rejuvenated vineyards. Unusually for the region, the vineyard is not open to the public so guests will have the 27 hectares of vines all to themselves.
The estate was bought in 2015 by the Rudd family from the UK, who have a passion for South Africa and wine. They found pictures and drawings of the original Cape Manor house, which had been pulled down in the 50s and set about rebuilding it as faithfully as possible to the original design, whilst creating a huge 20,000 square foot interior, which would lend itself to modern, high quality living. All five bedrooms are a spacious 10m by 5m and there is a sixth courtyard suite for a nanny or other staff member. The interiors are light and contemporary in design with local yellow wood and stinkwood furniture, modern art by local artists and pieces made by local cabinet maker Bennie Botha and Pierre Cronje, who designs modern interpretations of traditional Cape style furniture.
The estate’s chef will design menus to suit each group of guests, using seasonal local ingredients and vegetables and fruit from the estate’s kitchen garden. Meals can be taken in various settings: fine dining in a formal dining room, lunch outdoors, by the pool, on one of the terraces or picnics in the vineyard and in remote spots around the estate. Or they can dine in the cellar surrounded by barrels of wine produced on the estate. All wine is included in the price.
Brookdale Estate has over 80 hectares with 27 hectares planted to vine and the remainder left to revert to its natural habitat. The family carried out extensive soil testing and examination of weather records before buying the estate to ensure that it would be able to produce world class quality wines. There are several blocks of old vines of Chenin Blanc, which are now in its first vintage. Newly planted red vines include Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache Noir. White wine varietals include Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Picpoul Blanc. Guests will be taken on a private tour of the working vineyard.
Since the Rudd family began their stewardship of Brookdale, all alien vegetation has been cleared, valleys have been re-planted with 3600 indigenous trees and mountain slopes re-seeded with wild Cape fynbos and flowers. They are focussing on training local people to work on the estate and are aiming to be fully self-sustainable for everything except meat.
Brookdale Estate can be taken exclusively from around £850 per person per night based on ten people sharing. The price includes all food and wine and the services of a chef, housekeeper, maid and evening butler. The estate is 20 minutes from Franschhoek, 25 minutes from Stellenbosch and an hour from Cape Town.
Ends
For further information and images please contact Emma Hill or Tiggy Dean on 020 8875 9923