Morgenster (“Morning Star”), founded in 1711, is a thriving wine and olive estate in Somerset West outside Cape Town. An outstanding terroir, input from the best expertise in the world and painstaking attention to detail from visionary Italian owner Giulio Bertrand have produced wines and olive products of exceptional quality and enjoyment.

Morgenster’s Bordeaux styled red blends under the Morgenster Reserve and Morgenster Lourens River Valley labels are crafted to age well by the local winemaking team and consultant winemaker, Pierre Lurton of Chateau Cheval Blanc. The Estate is also famous for its Italian styled wines grown from imported Italian cultivars and marketed under the Italian Collection label.

Visitors to the stylish tasting room on the banks of a tranquil reed lined dam overlooking the Helderberg can taste vertical collections of red Bordeaux vintages from 2001, a white Bordeaux, and vintages of three Italian Collection wines – a sangiovese rosé, a super Tuscan blend and a nebbiolo. These can be tasted alone or paired with specially selected chocolates to enhance the flavours of the Italian grapes.

Tastings of the NU (pronounced “new”) range of single cultivar wines give insights into the components of the famous Morgenster blends.

The soils of Morgenster also produce extra virgin olive oil that for over 10 years has been rated among the best in the world. Visitors can enjoy an intriguing extra virgin olive oi and olivel tasting, truly a treat for nose and taste buds.

Next to the tasting room is 95 At Morgenster, a sophisticated partnership between chef Giorgio Nava and Morgenster. The menu is a mix of the successful dishes of Nava’s other restaurants 95 Keerom and Carne, and presents authentic Milanese cuisine.