Picnic on the Werf at Spier

Every time I visit Spier I’m reminded what a well-oiled machine the farm is. I mean, they have great wine, amazing tasting rooms, a hotel, various restaurants, lots of activities and a seemingly endless calendar of events. So it’s easy to overlook the fact that they work super hard at being sustainable, looking after their environment and constantly reinventing the wheel.

I recently went for a visit to see what their newly refurbished Werf has to offer. First of all, the new bio-dynamic veggie garden just next to the Werf is worth a visit. Farmer John (that is literally his name – and the cattle farmer is called Farmer Angus, which is obviously perfect) loving tends to his heirloom varieties of fruit and veggies, without the use of any chemicals at all.

Then there’s the art gallery, which I have to say was a bit over my cultural head. I’m pretty basic when it comes to art, but the current exhibition is beautiful to look at, even if you don’t quite understand it. I love the fact that the artist, Liza Grobler and her friends have used the space, which is quite homey, to create a body of work around the ideas we have of home and decor.

Then there’s the Werf itself, where you can taste wine or enjoy a picnic under the trees. The picnic baskets are incredibly generous and I ate until I needed to lie down. One of the things I wish more people knew about Spier is that they are really big on farm to table eating. Everything they serve is either grown on the farm, or sourced from within 30 kms.