I recently enjoyed a night’s stay at one of the refurbished Werf Cottages at Boschendal, situated between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The seven Werf cottages have recently been awarded five-star accreditation by the Tourism Grading Council.
To achieve five-stars in the country house category, accommodation needs to be located in peaceful, natural surrounds, with public areas reserved for guests’ exclusive use.The award is well deserved and the cottages are perfect for a quick winter escape from urban living. Flanked by the Simonsberg and Drakenstein Mountain the accommodation is beautifully back dropped and includes a bedroom, kitchen area, living space and fireplace. The fireplace alone is a strong enough draw card for me, as snuggling around a small heater with a lit candle is the closest we get to recreate a fiery glow and warmth at home. In fact, as soon as we checked in the first thing we did was get the fireplace “lit af”, literally, this, plus a bottle of the complimentary Boschendal Cab Sav helped us defrost from the finger numbing wintery conditions.
Founded in 1685 the historical Boschendal is a working wine and agriculture farm, housing picturesque accommodation, three restaurants and many activity options.
We dined at the acclaimed Werf Restaurant originally the cellar of the Manor House. It runs on a farm to table ethos and with the substantial vegetable and herb garden residing just behind the restaurant, those ingredients really do not have far to travel. The menu from Chef Christiaan Campbell champions locally sourced ingredients and changes frequently according to what’s in season in the garden.
Chef Christiaan is currently showcasing hearty farm style dishes to warm the belly and soul yet still plated in an artful style.
We sampled the lamb broth with pulled lamb belly and gnocchi and the butter poached chicken with oyster mushrooms and poached egg for starters. I think the lamb broth may have been my favourite dish of the night, intensely meaty and comforting. The chicken was equally intense in flavour and richness.
This was followed by the 16-hour hot smoked Angus beef brisket with organic polenta, oyster mushrooms and weed salad and the 250 grass-fed Angus beef rump which was accompanied by crispy potatoes, bone marrow, chimichurri and chargrilled radishes and onions.
We also added a side of Jerusalem artichokes served three ways, as a sauce, caramelised and crisped (so yum). The theme of richness continued with these dishes, so much so that we couldn’t finish it all and had to doggy bag some of our brisket. This was arguably even better the next day.
All the heavy dining plus a bottle of the excellent Boschendal 2015 Merlot had us ambling back to our cottage and straight into the king-sized bed before the clock even struck 9pm. We awoke understandably well-rested, to a gloomy sky and intermittent rain the following morning. This, unfortunately, put a hold on are planned activity of horse riding – an activity that is offered to all guests, as well as trout fishing, mountain biking, cellar and vineyard tours and wine tasting. For more info on the activities click here
Instead, we were happy enough to enjoy our delicious breakfast burgers under toasty heaters in the Bedouin tent outside the Farmshop and Deli followed by a stroll of the estate under umbrellas as the rain poured down.
Boschendal is currently running a winter special till the 30 September 2017 for its Werf and Orchard Cottages. If you book early online, you’ll not only receive 30% off for the accommodation, but for the activities you select as well.
For more info go to www.boschendal.com.
*Ruth Cooper was a guest of Boschendal.
