A tour of the estate, situated fifteen kilometers south of Stellenbosch, reveals its graceful manor house, classical wine cellar, rose gardens, family cemetery, dovecote and bird sanctuary.
The first owner of the property, a German immigrant named Henning Huising, recognized the beauty and potential of the farm and settled here in 1693. He named his new-found home "Meerlust", meaning "pleasure of the sea", as the manor house sits on a granite outcrop only 5 km from False Bay, and in the warm summer months the vineyards are refreshed by ocean breezes and evening mists which roll in from the coast.
Visitors to the Estate - a National Monument - have for centuries anticipated seeing the cool, white façade of the Manor House as they passed through the gates and along the palm and oak tree-lined drive. Not much has changed. Today, that sense of having arrived at a most treasured home and estate is enhanced by the knowledge - on seeing the sweep of vineyards that flank the drive - that here grow the grapes of the prized Meerlust wines.
Contemporary Meerlust is an exciting fusion of the refreshingly modern and the tirelessly classical.