Cellar Audio Guide: From Berry to Barrel to Bottle

(97 reviews)

Cape Town audio tour: Cellar Audio Guide: From Berry to Barrel to Bottle

This is an indoor tour

Cape Town

South Africa

Free

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About the Tour

Follow Groot Constantia’s grapes on their journey through the cellar, where they get destemmed, pressed, pumped over, and left at the mercy of yeast, to emerge as some of the world's finest wines.

You’ll set sail on global trade routes, meet Boela Gerber, the head winemaker here, and finish the tour thirsty, with a much keener appreciation for the flavours in your glass.

Credits:

Adrian Galley - Narrator

Excerpt from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - read by Karen Savage

Music:

Doug Maxwell - Baroque Coffee House
Gary Reuben Morris - Uganda 2

Tour Producer

Groot Constantia

3 tours

We are the oldest wine estate in South Africa, established in 1685 by Simon van der Stel. We continue the tradition of making world-class wines on our beautiful estate, which is also a national heritage site. We provide tastings as well as cellar tours.

Preview Location

Location 4

The Alchemist’s Laboratory

NARRATOR: Welcome to the alchemist’s laboratory, where Groot Constantia’s chief winemaker, Boela Gerber, crafts liquid gold.

Let’s not hang around here, at the top of the stairs. Follow the arrow to your right and carry on all the way over to the farthest corner of the cell... NARRATOR: Welcome to the alchemist’s laboratory, where Groot Constantia’s chief winemaker, Boela Gerber, crafts liquid gold.

Let’s not hang around here, at the top of the stairs. Follow the arrow to your right and carry on all the way over to the farthest corner of the cellar. You’ll know you’re there when you see the sign for location five.

This might be where the magic happens, but Boela Gerber doesn’t like to think of himself as an alchemist.

BOELA: The whole thing about winemaking being an art…I think that whole mindset’s changed. Today, the artform of wine is not really expressing the winemaker’s philosophy. It’s more expressing the vineyard into the wine. So it’s more [sort of] myself working with our vineyard manager Flo, and optimising the quality in the vineyard.

NARRATOR: Flo is Floricious Beukes, Groot Constantia’s viticulturist. Here he is describing his role.

FLORICIOUS: …The vineyards, the soil, the base where the plant is standing in… that is the viticulturalist’s department. To get healthy, beautiful grapes, taking it into the cellar; that’s my job. From there on, Boela will take over.

BOELA: We’re trying to maximise the quality in the vineyard. And from there, y’know, once it’s in the vineyard we translate it into the cellar. Look after the vines and you’ll make magic wines.

NARRATOR: Boela describes himself as a minimalist winemaker. He strives to express the character of the grapes that grow here, on the estate, and through them, the ways in which Groot Constantia’s environment makes its wine unique.

This minimalist approach might sound easy, but to make wine that is full of natural subtleties, Boela actually has to keep a closer eye on how his wine develops. He also has to take a few more risks.

BOELA: The problem with wine is… [it’s] there’s a lot of things you can’t actually control… like maleolactic fermentation… people still don’t really know what exactly makes it work and what doesn’t… It can really affect the quality and the style of your wine, so we need try and keep tabs on the micro and chemistry side of the wine.

NARRATOR: Winemaking here is a process of constant measuring, testing and tasting. Boela keeps tabs on the wine through repeated chemical and micro analyses, to ensure that it doesn’t spoil, and only interferes if it’s absolutely necessary.

Have you found location five yet? It’s long, with a row of illustrations on it. When you’re ready, select it from the list on your screen. We’re going to see what happens when grapes are brought into the cellar. Read More

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Getting There

Route Overview

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Start location
Constantia, Cape Town, 7848, South Africa
Total distance

224m
Final location
Constantia, Cape Town, 7848, South Africa
Distance back to start location

22.83m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts at the cellar's reception area, just inside the entrance.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Best time of day

The cellar is open to visitors from 9:00 to 18:00 every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Precautions

Please stay within the designated areas for your own safety and don't lean over the balustrades on the elevated walkway. Groot Constantia is not responsible for any accidents that might occur while using the Cellar Audio Guide.

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