Unwind at the foot of an ancient mountain pass in the Western Cape

The Oudekloof Pass near Tulbagh may be one of the oldest and steepest mountain passes in South Africa, but thanks to a new road, reaching the peak is easy. Oudekloof Wine Estate & Luxury Guest Farm at the base of the pass offers visitors a fine wine experience and comfy accommodation, writes Brian Berkman.

- Brian Berkman

Oudekloof Wine Estate & Luxury Guest Farm can be found at the foot of the Oudekloof Pass, which was the main route over the Obiqua Mountains into the Tulbagh valley in the 18th century when the region was opened for settlement by Free Burghers from the Cape. It offers visitors a chance to pause and take in the same view of this fertile terrain that must have convinced the early settlers to build their lives here.

These days, however, the route is much easier to travel. A section of the original historic route still forms part of the pass, which is now a modern, well-constructed, and maintained road thanks to the telecoms companies that have built cell phone masts on the top of the mountain.

On the journey up the mountain, you’ll come across a freshwater spring and an old signal cannon. Oudekloof Wine Estate has also provided straw bales as seating for their ‘wine experience with a view’ at the peak.

ACCESSIBLE QUALITY

The current owners of the estate, Andrew and Christine Jaeger, have only been here for six years but, in that short time, they have established the wines produced on Oudekloof as favourites and Veritas Wine Awards winners.

Following very different careers in Saudi Arabia (Andrew in finance and Christine as a clinical technologist), the couple returned to South Africa to open a guest house and farm cherries in Ladybrand, which they did for 11 years. After that, they settled in Tulbagh which, they say, is close enough to good schools and theatres, but also sufficiently far away from the urban crowds.

‘WE LOVE THAT WE LIVE HERE WITH NATURE, AND OFTEN SEE RED DUIKER GRAZING IN THE VINEYARDS’