Meerendal Wine Academy

Meerendal Wine Academy offers volunteers the opportunity to experience all aspects of wine making from the vineyard to the cellar, official wine tasting courses and working on a top class wine estate.

Only 20 minutes from Cape Town, it is the perfect location to learn about wine, live on a historic wine estate and enjoy excursions to Table Mountain and visit the white sandy beaches of Cape Town.

Enjoy the annual harvest with Cellar Master Liza Goodwin and Cape Wine Master Bennie Howard and share their passion on a journey through the romantic world of wine, make your own wine and receive your personal bottle one year later.

Practical concepts in the wine production process include early morning picking of grapes in the vineyards and transporting them to the cellar. Berry selection and crushing, prepping for fermentation, manual punch downs and daily monitoring of the fermentation process are done in the cellar. Basic laboratory work, wine tastings and Sommelier training forms part of the practical experience.

Wine making techniques are further enhanced with lectures in “South African Wine” and “Wines of the World” wine tasting courses.