Goedvertrouw Wine Estate is no ordinary home. It is a place of handcrafted wines, homemade meals, an enchanted country garden and abundant birdlife. Full of life, yet peaceful and soulful, it takes on the character of its owner. A real working farm, Elrieda Pillman continues to live out the dream her and late husband, Arthur shared.
The house in which Elrieda now resides at Goedvertrouw, was originally built in 1820, making it one of the oldest houses in the area. The old bell in front of their home was used to summons the slaves on the farm in the first half of the 19th century and to signal the arrival of the train from Cape Town, which would transport vegetables grown in the area to Cape Town. The Goedvertrouw property also has an old graveyard of early settlers to this part of the Cape. What Elrieda today uses as a wine cellar still has the original ‘skietgatte‘ used during World War II. Elrieda lovingly handcrafts four cultivars from the skilfully fashioned Pinot Noir to the wildly experimental Pardoemps – a blend of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage.Situated on the Van der Stel Pass between Botriver and Villiersdorp, this magical world of flowers and birds surrounds the old homestead and affords a view down the valley gazing over the geese in the pond, the hand-reared lambs, piglets and cattle.
Make sure you stay for one of Elrieda’s homemade meals whether it is for breakfast, lunch or dinner. In summer you will be served on the stoep and after hours of eating, drinking and being mesmerised you’ll struggle to leave, which is okay as there are three double-bed en-suite rooms in the house. In winter you will be seated cosily in the tasting room or in the homestead’s lounge alongside the fireplace.Full of grace and wisdom, underneath is a hard-working woman who is always ready to jump in and milk the cows or drive the tractor herself when need be.
