Le Bonheur Estate

Old school farm with some charm. 4 wines to taste and all reasonably priced.

Old school rules here! And it works. Classic elegance in the venue and the wines.

Liked all the wines. Tasting attendant friendly and informative.

Wines are OK, very nice function venue, been to a wedding here before and it was really good. Back to the wines…mm..not better than average, but some do show potential

We enjoyed a vertical tasting here the other day. What a great experience. Truly amazing to see how one vintage differs from the other. The 2001 really rocked my world! Soft, elegant and oh so tasty.

Sakkie Kotze, the winemaker is just such a friendly man with a big heart, I just want to give him a hug every time I see him! And his wife makes the best cooksisters in the whole wide world!

The tasting room is Cape Dutch classic. We had a friendly, cheerful assistant who knew her stuff. Tasting fee waived on purchase. I liked that it is possible to buy magnums of older red wines (2000 vintage) for very reasonable prices.

It was hot on Saturday ! … Cool in the tasting room – I am talking about the temperatures . The tasting room assistant hardly knew the difference between white and red wine. Not a very good welcome (mind the step!) – 4 wines were poured with not much detail or information given. Very disappointing.

So the winemaker invited me and my partner back after reading about my “not so nice” experience the previous time. What a big difference it made! Sakkie Kotze has been at Le Boneur since the early 90′s and his winemaking portfolio is quite impressive.

He took us for a tour through the cellar where he explain the processes of winemaking. Sakkie’s passion for the industry is clearly visible and it comes through when you taste the wines. We tasted some tank samples and afterwards Sakkie took us back to the tasting room where he introduced us to the Le Bonheur range.

We started of with Sauvignon Blanc and moved onto the Chardonnay. Both went down well. He then introduced us to the Cabernet Sauvignon of which we tasted the 2006, 2007 and 2008. The 2008 is yet to be released and Sakkie said that it might still have some bottle shock, but it tasted perfectly fine. The wine show great potential and I’ll definitely invest in that vintage once released.

After the tasting Sakkie excused himself and we stayed for the Le Bonheur Friday Night Film. We had such a good time and it just proves that personal attention makes a big difference to a tasting experience. Thanks Sakkie and the Le Bonheur team. You guys rock!

Oegh! Do I even have to review this one … it was like visiting a family member from the far north, I just wanted to get out. I was screaming inside … a Grade 7 project on corks resting on the fireplace … a lonely speaker hanging from the corner of the ceiling … cheap (so it seemed) artworks …a big dog and a lazy cat … BORING!!

The host who “did not work here often”, HOVERED after introducing our wines and poured the next before we even finished!! Not cool. You had to pull the information from this armadillo. This farm from the outside however is such a delight and could be one of those who rides the Cape-Dutch-Classic-Charm coattails but instead decides to circle the drain of despair. With such a name … this could be such a great farm.

Kate Moss Wines: Light & Easy. Kate Moss farm: beautiful on the outside, but needs some serious work on the inside. I’m torn between nostalgia and prejudice …

Nooit – I translated the name: The Happiness … !!!

Background
This 163-hectare estate with the optimistic name of Le Bonheur (“Happiness”) is situated along the slopes of the Klapmuts Hill of the Simonsberg Mountain, in the Stellenbosch Wine of Origin district. Klapmuts is the old Dutch word for the 18th century cocked hat that folded away into the saddle back pocket, and indeed, when observed from a distance, the hill resembles such a hat.

Le Bonheur was an important venue for travellers in the Cape, offering fresh spring water and an outspan area at the major junction of Cape Town, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Malmesbury. Today Le Bonheur draws winelovers who are content to sip fine quality wines and enjoy the seemingly timeless atmosphere of the estate.

Le Bonheur has enviable terroir. Most of the vineyards face north, while a few face east and southeast. The vineyards are situated at different altitudes from 200m to 350m above sea level, and each has its own, unique soil characteristics. There are four basic soil types at Le Bonheur: decomposed granite, red loam, sand, and sand over pot clay.

The vineyards
The grapes, planted between 1977 and 1996, were sourced from trellised vineyards on the estate located 220m to 350m above seal level which grow in decomposed granite and lime soils with clay substructures. The vines are all grafted onto nematode resistant Richter 110 rootstock.
viticulturist: Eben Archer
Please join us for a Le Bonheur (Happy) experience
Mo-Fri 09h00-1700
Sat 10h00-16h00

Very morbid indeed. It reminded me of my Grandma’s house, just emptier and boring-er. The wines were not my style and the host was friendly, but had nothing must to say about the wines or the estate. The outside is pretty, but the inside is VERY dull.

Very morbid centre. Old building and wines are ok. it seems like everyone there was in slow motion