Capelands
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The giraffe sculpture silhouetted at sunrise, with the city and False Bay beyond

Somerset West · Stellenbosch Wine Region

Stay. Taste. Dine.

Wine estate & self-catering suites above False Bay, Somerset West

Check availabilityWine tasting

Where you’ll stay

Five suites, no two the same

Each one self-contained with its own kitchen and its own outlook over the vines, the mountain or the bay. Two of them are named after the wine: Redstone, after the vineyard below the house, and Whitestone, after the whites and sparklings.

Redstone Suite

Self-catering suite

Redstone Suite

Pine beams, a deep red floor and its own shaded deck.

Take a lookSleeps 2 · 1 bed
Whitestone Suite

Self-catering suite

Whitestone Suite

Bright, quiet and set apart, with the mountain filling the window.

Take a lookSleeps 2 · 1 bed
Garden Cottage

Self-catering cottage

Garden Cottage

Two bedrooms, a raised deck and the garden all around — the one for families.

Take a lookSleeps 4 · 2 beds
Ocean View Condo

Self-catering condo

Ocean View Condo

Open-plan, floor-to-ceiling light, and the whole valley out front.

Take a lookSleeps 2 · 1 bed
Farm Apartment

Self-catering apartment

Farm Apartment

Two bedrooms with ocean views, a full kitchen and a 45m² private outdoor area.

Take a lookSleeps 4 · 2 beds

The farm

Room to wander

Twelve hectares on the Helderberg slopes, three of them under vine. There are rows to walk before dinner, a pool to swim, and a terrace to watch False Bay change colour from — and the only thing left to decide is which bottle to open.

  • Wine made on the estate
  • Tastings & cellar door
  • Italian restaurant
  • Mountain & ocean views
  • Private pools
  • Vineyard walks
  • Free WiFi
  • Gated & guarded
The pool beneath the milkwood tree, with the bay beyond
The Capelands name on the white entrance wall
Sunset over the pool and the loungers beneath the milkwood
A whitewashed farmhouse with its timber deck, palms and a stone table
Harvest in the vineyard under a rainbow
The estate drive at golden hour, with the mountains behind
Oak barrels and steel tanks in the cellar
Sunset over the estate buildings, with the mountains and False Bay beyond
Signs on the lawn at golden hour, bearing the Capelands flower: Reception, follow the road, and parking for guesthouse guests only
Johann Innerhofer and Laura Mauri raising a glass at Capelands

Johann Innerhofer & Laura MauriJohann: Co-Founder and Honorary President, Merano Wine Festival

How Capelands began

Forty-two years in wine, and one thing missing

The wine came first — more than four decades of it. Johann Innerhofer spent years choosing which producers, from which regions, would stand as the flagships of a festival in Italy. Tasting at that level does something to you: you stop being impressed by sheer weight, and start looking for the wines that are delicate, balanced, and good company both young and twenty years on.

What was missing was a vineyard of his own — somewhere beautiful, with the ocean close enough to change the fruit. He and Laura found it on a hillside above Somerset West, in the Stellenbosch wine region, where the Helderberg falls away towards False Bay.

“Wine, for me, is not for tasting. It is for enjoying with food. That is why I look for elegance, power and balance — and some mystery.”
In his own words

The cellar

Wine made where it grows

Three hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, thirty years old, dry-farmed and facing the ocean. It gives just three tons a hectare — very little, and the reason the fruit is so concentrated. We pick in early February, early rather than late, and that is what keeps the natural acidity: the reason the wines carry real weight without ever drinking heavy.

For years the fruit left the farm to be made elsewhere. Our own cellar is finished now, and the first Pinot Noir grapes are in it — with a hand along the way from a friend in Barolo, Giuseppe Rinaldi, who is no longer with us and is missed. Nothing is hurried: Redstone is released after four or five years of maturation, and even then it is usually still young.

“Nature gives us what we get, and we deal with it as well as we can, without changing or manipulating it. I always say it is God-given. You do not change that; you will not make it better.”
Johann Innerhofer raising a glass and a bottle of Redstone in front of barrels stencilled Redstone
The tasting bar in the cellar: a long wooden counter against a brick wall, lit by hanging bulbs, with wine racks to one side
Wooden racks of wine bottles in the cellar, with Sassicaia cases stacked below against a brick wall
A bottle of 2014 Redstone Cabernet Sauvignon next to a glass of red
Johann Innerhofer choosing a bottle from the racks in the Capelands cellar
A bottle of CR1 Redstone Reserve 2015 in its wooden case

Tastings

Wine and cheese, both made within sight of the table

Tastings run on the estate, pouring our own wine alongside cheese Davide makes next door — the same hands behind Adriatico. A short table, a long afternoon, and nothing on it has travelled far.

  • Our own wineRedstone and Whitestone, poured in the cellar where they're made.
  • Davide's cheeseMade next door, by the same hands behind Adriatico.
  • A case to take homeAnything you liked can be bought straight from the racks.

Available to guests and by arrangement.

Enquire about a tasting

Dinner on the farm

Adriatico

Davide's Italian fish restaurant on the estate. Coastal cooking, an unhurried wine list, and produce that travels metres rather than miles.

  • Roast octopus at Adriatico
  • Clams with a parmesan tuile
  • Handmade caramelle pasta

Next door

Puglia Cheese

Davide and Ursula Ostini brought burrata to South Africa in 2010, and still make it by hand a few metres from the restaurant — which is why a tasting here can pair wine and cheese that were both made within sight of the table.

  • SA Dairy Championships 2026 — Product of the Year
  • SA Dairy Championships 2026 — SA Champion
  • SA Dairy Championships 2026 — Qualité
  • World Cheese Awards 2011 — Bronze

Puglia Cheese's own awards — their burrata was South Africa's Dairy Product of the Year in 2026.

A board of burrata and fior di latte from Puglia Cheese

Come and find us

Forty minutes from Cape Town

3 Old Sir Lowry's Pass Road, Somerset West, 7130, Western Cape, South Africa

Capelands

You are here

Twelve and a half hectares of vineyard, olive grove and mountainside on the old pass road above Somerset West. The Helderberg stands behind the house, the vines run down towards False Bay, and the cellar, the tasting room and all five suites sit within the same few hundred metres. Everything below is what you can reach from the front gate.

Directions to the farm
Driving times are approximate.
Check availabilityAsk us on WhatsApp

Or call +27 71 400 2073