Calitzdorp Wine Cellar

Founded in February 1928 by local farmers as the Calitzdorp Vrugte Uitvoerders Kooperatiewe Vereeniging Beperk, this cooperative winery began by exporting soft fruit — grapes, peaches and apricots — before turning fully to winemaking, for decades supplying bulk wine and brandy base to a distillery in nearby Oudtshoorn. Located along Route 62, the world's longest wine route, in the town of Calitzdorp — widely known as South Africa's 'Port Capital' — the cellar today draws fruit from around 40 member farms spread over roughly 300 hectares in the Gamka Valley, a semi-arid pocket of the Klein Karoo whose climate has often been compared to Portugal's Douro Valley. A dedicated tasting room opened in 1978 to meet growing visitor interest. The cellar has twice been named Champion Co-operative Winery of the Klein Karoo and has won multiple awards at the SA Young Wine Show, Veritas and Michelangelo International Wine Awards, particularly for its fortified wines. Its historic flagship bottlings, Sweet Muscadel and Hanepoot, have been produced continuously since 1928, alongside Cape Ruby and Cape Vintage-style ports made from classic Douro varieties such as Tinta Barocca and Touriga Nacional. The range has since expanded to dry red wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinotage) and white wines (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc) planted from the early 1990s, alongside dessert and semi-sweet styles.