Bellevue Wine Estate - Bottelary Rd, Koelenhof, Stellenbosch

Bellevue is on the Bottelary Road, Koelenhof just outside Stellenbosch. We did not know it at the time but Bellevue’s vineyard produced the world’s first commercially bottled Pinotage…

Our Adventure

Under the oak trees, on the Restaurant stoep, or at the Beer Garden, you are spoilt for choice when it comes to where you want to sit. Got kids? (The two-legged furry kind), you have a big jungle gym in front of the Restaurant under the oak trees and another one by the Beer-garden so yes you are spoilt for choice on where to sit.

After another miserable rainy week, we asked some friends to join us on Saturday for lunch at Bellvue. I arrived first with Captain Morgan and Cobalt, with our friends arriving around 10 min later after their morning run.  We were amazed at the beauty of the farm having a walk around, dogs sniffing the canon and then playing on the jungle gym.  There was a family with a little Jack Russel sitting under the oak trees, the family’s kids were having a great time running and playing with their dog. There is nothing more beautiful than the sound of children laughing which just added to the atmosphere, and as everyone knows finding a place where adults can relax while their kids and dogs are having fun at the same time is definitely a place that will be back to visit again.

We chose to sit on the “stoep” as the sun was out, and we needed to defrost after a chilly morning. We were immediately told about the amazing soup and wine special (Three soups and three wines, perfect for winter) or if you do not want to have wine you can order a single bowl of soup as well. We ordered a bottle of Bellevue MCC Brut Rosé 2020 to start as we decided what we wanted to eat.

Two of us decided to go for the soup and wine, while our 1 friend said the pizza was calling his name. The waitress gave us an in-depth description of each soup and the reason it was paired with that particular wine, very informative, and the taste of the 2 together was amazing, complementing one another and bringing out all the flavours and aromas. We started with a Bellevue Estate Collection Chenin Blanc 2022 Paired with butternut soup with cinnamon & nutmeg, a Bellevue Estate Collection Cinsaut 2020 Paired with tomato soup with a hint of chili, and a Bellevue Estate Collection Pinotage 2019 Paired with hearty beef shin soup. The one lady that ordered this with me is a vegetarian and they swapped the hearty beef shin soup for a creamy mushroom Soup. On the menu, the Pizza also had a “Recommended Pairing” which was quite nice so you did not have to think for too long about which wine would go best with your meal.

While we all had a great time enjoying the sun, meal, and wine the two dogs took a nap under our table just happy to be outside and get over the cabin fever from the last few days of rain.

After our meal, we decided to have a look around and walked to the beer garden. What a lovely surprise, Pizza’s (more options than the restaurant) looked amazing. We could not stop looking at the beautiful décor which had been done very stylishly for a beer garden. Once again you have the option to sit inside (with a big tv screen for the sport) or outside in the garden with a big play area for the children. We will most definitely be back to try the beer garden, for the dogs of course, well maybe for the beer and pizza.

With so many places to eat out in the Western Cape, it is always great to find one that ticks all the boxes, for dogs, kids, and adults, and with an in or out-door option.