A couple of months ago my social media channels were inundated by videos of the duck parade at Vergenoegd Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. I thought it was such a great Unique Selling Point, that I immediately started planning my visit there.
On the second last day of our most recent visit to Cape Town, we visited Vergenoegd Wine Estate for a late lunch and in time for the 15:30 duck parade.
A little bit of history
A richly fertile piece of land beside the Eerste River was the ideal farm for Pieter de Vos when it was granted to him by Simon van der Stel in 1696. It’s no wonder he called it Vergenoegd, meaning “satisfaction has been achieved”.
Learn more about the history of the farm and the homestead (which is a National Monument) here.
A Taste of Vergenoegd Wine Estate
We arrived for a late lunch and sat on the veranda under an umbrella – the kids could barely sit still as they were excited to see the ducks. The restaurant offers a children’s playing area inside, which kept my boys busy until the food came.
This family-friendly establishment offers individual kids offerings as well and I ordered the fish & chips for them. What arrived was their meal, plus yoghurt, biscuits, an apple and a juice. We were all pleasantly surprised. The actual fish and chips were amazing. Fresh and tasty!
I ordered a tasting platter that had bread, cheese, preserves, nuts, spreads, and olives. The restaurant also offers breakfast, artisanal picnics and a 3 course set menu.
Runner Ducks at Vergenoegd Wine Estate
So why ducks? The ducks are essential to the wine farms pest control by consuming a large amount of snails and bugs that could ruin their next vintage. Their pest control workforce consists of 1070 runner ducks. How cute is that?
Autumn in the vineyard
Autumn + Vineyards = stunning photos. I love autumn and here are some of my favourite photos of Vergenoegd’s vineyards:
Vergenoegd Wine Estate
Open Monday – Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00
Address: Baden Powell Drive, Faure, Stellenbosch, 7131
Tel: + 27 (0) 21 843 3248 / +27 (0) 76 259 0017
Email: reservations@vergenoegd.co.za
Duck Parade – no charge
Mon – Fri: 09:45, 12:30 & 15:30
Sat – Sun: 10:00 & 12:30 & 15:30
Public Holidays: 10:00 & 12:30 & 15:30
Duck Tours (R20 per adult and R10 for kids under 12)
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