Bonnievale Wine Region is a beautiful community that is perfectly suited for relaxation and comfort.

The small farming town is tucked between two mountain ranges, the Riviersonderend and the Langeberg mountains, and the lush green fields are fed by the Breede River and a series of canals.

The land is fertile and soft, producing beautiful fruit, wines, and dairy.

This peaceful area calls back to a simpler time and is a perfect getaway destination for anyone who needs a break from busy city life.

Just 180 kilometers from Cape Town you can take a quick, relaxing weekend break to prepare you and restore you for the week ahead.

The well-known Robertson Wine Route includes Bonnievale so you can stop in if you’re following that route.

We hope that you might choose to stay a little longer to fully take in all that Bonnievale has to offer as you stay in some charming, special Bonnievale accommodation.

It’s also located right off of Route 62 if you’re headed in from another direction.

This charming oasis is a little less known than other tourist hot-spots so you’ll get a more down-home, quaint feel and get more personal attention with the locals.

You can’t beat the superior customer service and charm that Bonnievale has, especially compared to some other overcrowded sites and stays.

The Wines of the Bonnievale Wine District.

Bonnievale is a very small wine district with not that many wine farms.

However, varietals that excel in this area is Chardonnay, Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

This relatively new district has cool, high vineyards in apple-orchard country east of Cape Town

Winemakers are slowly but surely making a huge name for themselves and wines from Bonnievale is now available everywhere on South African tables (also found international).

Things to do in the Bonnievale Wine District.

Although a very small village, Bonnievale punches way above its weight in terms of activities.

Besides wine tasting you can also go game viewing, go on a 4×4 trail, hiking and boking trails, canoeing, angling in the rivers and even play golf on a 9-hole golf course.

The annual Bonnievale Festival is also a good time to visit.

A Short History on Bonnievale.

Bonnievale is a small village with a lot of history.

Unlike many other towns the history is derived from families, relationships, and real people rather than industry, disasters, and wars.

It’s a quaint area that continues to live up to the integrity and family-oriented traits of its founders.

Christopher Forrest Rigg immigrated with his family to South Africa and lived an interesting life as a traveler and dynamite blaster for mines.

After two marriages and the birth of several children he settled into the Bonnievale area.

His youngest daughter, Mary Myrtle, was a pretty child and was adored by many.

Sadly, she died of meningitis at seven years of age.

Her dying wish to her father was that he would build her a small church and so he did.

The young girl was buried in the field where she loved to play as a child and over the years it became the family grave site.

The church that he built in her memory is a Norman-style church built in 1921 with marble floors imported from Italy and stained-glass windows from England.

Little nuances in the design commemorate her life and it is the only church in the world that is known to have been built at the request of a child.

The area was continually developed and a large canal project by Rigg brought water to the area to support farmers.

Today the canal serves the east side of Bonnievale and many areas across the west side.

Rigg officially purchased all of the land that makes up present day Bonnievale around 1900 and its presence grew until it became a city in 1953.
The name of the town was chosen to honor Rigg’s grandfather’s home back in Scotland and the Rigg legacy remains today with a tombstone erected in his honor though he died and was buried at sea.

We look forward to your visit in Bonnievale.