Brookdale Estate

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Klein Drakenstein mountains in Paarl, Brookdale Estate is as unexpected as she is enchanting. Hugged by the tranquil valley and surrounded by natural beauty, Brookdale Estate offers some of the region’s most innovative wine creations. At once a sprawling country estate with a Manor House overlooking manicured indigenous gardens, wild fynbos, dipping valleys and towering hills, Brookdale is also a working wine farm where imagination meets skill.

A true Cinderella story, Brookdale was once overgrown and underused. The Rudd family saw the enormous potential of the property and acquired the estate ​with a clear vision in mind – to create a world-class country estate producing fine wines and interesting blends created from unusual varietals for South Africa. Before the vines could be planted, alien vegetation needed to be cleared and the balance of nature restored. The Rudd family successfully cleared the 80 hectares of land, saved a block of Chenin Blanc that would become its maiden release, and planted the remaining 53 hectares with indigenous vegetation and gardens for guests of the Manor House to explore.

Ardent wine connoisseurs, Brookdale Estate is the pinnacle of the Rudd family’s passion. Here, Mediterranean varietals, a unique Paarl terroir and unusual winemaking techniques are brought together under the visionary hand of Tim Rudd, the owner, and winemaker Kiara Scott.

Brookdale Estate is also home to an elegant Manor House with sprawling gardens, a soon-to-be established restaurant and tasting lounge, and a natural paradise of indigenous vegetation. Since the Rudd family began their stewardship of Brookdale Estate, the valleys have been re-planted with 3600 indigenous trees, and mountain slopes have been re-seeded with wild Cape fynbos and flowers. With a small, well-trained team and a careful approach to land use and sustainability, bird and animal life remain rich and abundant. Every season brings different moods, different hues and different creatures.

About Paarl

A mere hour’s drive from Cape Town brings one to a giant granite outcrop with three rounded domes, the prominent one of which was initially called Peerleberg or Pearl Mountain by Abraham Gabemma. Abraham stumbled on the rock in 1657 en route to find meat for the Cape of Good Hope settlement. This solid rock was to become the name of a town, which today is renowned for its very beautiful countryside, excellent wines and some incredible architecture.

The town of Paarl has a unique character, not least because vineyards still grow in between residential neighbourhoods maintaining a country feel to a town virtually the size of a small city, but also because it is here that the struggle to gain recognition for Afrikaans as a written language was achieved. Today the Afrikaans Language Museum bears testament to this accomplishment and there is a monument to this unique language on the slopes of Paarl Mountain.

Main Street Paarl is a colourful collection of beautifully restored Cape Dutch, Georgian and Victorian buildings and includes the oldest Dutch Reformed Church in the country – the Strooidak Church - and the Paarl Museum, housed in a u-shaped Cape Dutch house and home to an in-depth look at the town’s history, starting with early man and dealing with European colonisation and slavery.