The sunshine and heat of summer can make sitting at a formal dining table, complete with white linen and silverware, a stuffy and uncomfortable affair. But you don’t necessarily have to compromise on great-quality restaurant food in the warmer months. Many restaurants offer picnic options, allowing you to take their gourmet food and wine outside to enjoy on a blanket under the trees and in the sunshine. This gives you the opportunity to see more of their premises, and the casual nature of a picnic makes it a perfect family-friendly alternative.

Book a gourmet picnic basket at one of our favourite venues and enjoy a luxurious al fresco lunch.

Allée Bleu (Franschhoek)
A gourmet picnic under the trees is an elegant way to enjoy the grounds of this estate. The standard basket includes pâté, a Cape cheese platter, paprika cream cheese, a cold meat platter with pickles, smoked chicken mayonnaise ciabatta, prawn cocktail, French baguettes and vanilla cheesecake. The vegetarian option includes a meze platter, coriander-and-peach salsa, avocado cocktail, brie, tomato and herb salad ciabatta, Cape cheese platter and vanilla cheesecake. Kiddies can enjoy finger sandwiches, meatballs, sausage rolls, yoghurt, sweets, chocolate and fruit juice.

Boschendal (Franschhoek)
Famous for its French-style Le Pique-Nique, Boschendal’s picnics are enjoyed under the pine trees on their lawns. The standard picnic basket includes a trio of cold meats, pâté, breads, cheeses, salads, biscuits and chocolate brownies for dessert. Vegetarians can feast on a variety of dips, a tomato-and-basil quiche, cheeses, salads, biscuits and chocolate brownies. Children can enjoy a chicken kebab, fresh fruit, yoghurt, sweets and an ice lolly.

Buitenverwachting (Constantia)
Guests visiting this Constantia-based wine estate can look forward to a picnic under the ancient trees on this historic farm. Vegetarian quiche, snoek pâté, ham, bobotie bites and chicken rolls are included, as well as cheddar, brie with sweet chilli sauce and ricotta cheese rolled in pecan nuts. Fresh fruit kebabs, koeksisters and chocolate brandy truffles await you for dessert.

Hartenberg Wine Estate (Stellenbosch)
Hartenberg, one of the oldest Shiraz producers in the country, offers guests country fare in a picnic setting. Enjoy country cheeses, Eleanor Finlayson’s famous snoek pâté, a selection of cold meats and chicken, homemade country terrine, roasted vegetables, crudités and country pickles, a selection of seasonal fruit and dessert. Each picnic basket includes Hartenberg wine.

Klein River Cheese (Stanford)
Visitors to this quaint cheesemaking farm can enjoy a delicious picnic basket along the banks of the Klein River or in the garden. The baskets are packed with homemade breads, crackers, pates, pickles, cold meats, salads and a selection of Klein River cheeses. Children can play in the exciting playground and enjoy feeding the many farm animals.

Nitida (Durbanville)
Enjoy a relaxing afternoon alongside the picturesque dam on one of Durbanville’s much-loved wine estates. Its picnic basket offers smoked chicken, tomato, olive and cucumber salad, a selection of cold meats, roast chicken pieces, pickles, mustards, onion relish, harissa-marinated lamb and tzatziki wraps, cheese, preserves, fruit skewers and homemade brownies. A bottle of the estate’s Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon or Chardonnay is also included.

The Roundhouse & Rumbullion Restaurant (Camps Bay)
The Roundhouse Rumbuliion offers picnic-style tapas lunches, where guests are seated comfortably at picnic tables on the green lawns overlooking Camps Bay. The menu offers a choice of light lunch tapas, such as spicy olive mix, feta stuffed pepperdews. caramelised onion pate, oysters, assorted cold meats, cajun chicken salad, assorted cheeses, cheese burgers, fish and chips, roasted bone marrow with oxtail marmalade, chocolate mousse and yoghurt panna cotta.

Simon’s at Groot Constantia (now closed)
Enjoy a pre-packed picnic basket on the rolling green lawns of the Groot Constantia wine estate. The Terrace Picnic includes pâtés, pasta salads, cold meats, potato salad, cheese and dessert, whereas the Vegetarian Picnic includes dips, roasted vegetable wraps, potato salad, pasta salad, cheeses and dessert. The little ones can snack on cheese rolls, sweets, chocolate brownies, fruit and juice.

Solms Delta (Franschhoek)
The popular winefarm picnics at the Solms Delta estate are brimming with traditional South African fare, such as sage and boegoe flavoured feta cheese, spicy biltong, basil pesto farm veggies, fried bacon, onion and potato mayo salad, local cheese and homemade chutney, chicken tandoori, lamb kofta, smoked Franschhoek trout and smoked snoek pate, homemade Cape breads, fresh fruit salad and apple tart with fresh cream. The picnics can be enjoyed along the banks of the Dwars river.

Spier (Stellenbosch)
The options here are endless: either order a pre-packed picnic basket, or pack your own from the selection in the deli before settling down alongside the dam or the Eerste River to enjoy your choice. Fresh breads, cold meats, cheeses, pickles, salad, desserts and more are on offer.

Vergelegen (Somerset West)
Picnics at the Vergelegen estate in Somerset West embody the true meaning of the word – “pic” meaning to pick at food and “nic” referring to something small. The baskets offer a wide selection of small treats to be enjoyed in the ancient Camphor forest. You can look forward to smoked salmon parfait with watercress relish, herb-crusted beef fillet, traditional pork pie, coronation chicken, roasted garlic mustard, broccoli, pepperdew and corn salad, green bean, baby potato, cherry tomato, olive and quail egg salad, chiffonnade of spinach, buttered almonds, toasted seeds and cranberries, Persian love cake, cheeses, preserves and coffee.

Viljoensdrift Wines (Robertson)
Visit this wine estate on the banks of the Breede River and fill your picnic basket with wine from the cellar and delicious treats from the deli. Choose from garlic, bay and oregano olives, Shiraz conserve, basil pesto, ostrich carpaccio, apple wood-smoked chicken, smoked salmon trout, chocolate salami, homemade nougat and koeksisters, among other delights. For an even more languid lunch, enjoy your picnic aboard the 40-seater river boat.

Warwick Wine Estate (between Stellenbosch and Klapmuts)
Warwick offers gourmet picnic fare to be enjoyed on the lawns at their wine estate. Full gourmet, vegetarian and kids’ picnic options are available for order. The full gourmet basket includes sliced charcuterie, homemade rooibos- and oak-smoked Norwegian salmon, selected cheeses and an apple, pear and pecan chutney. The vegetarian basket includes a roasted spring vegetable salad, crudités, a pasta salad and a variety of dips. Kids can look forward to boerewors rolls, fruit sticks, juice and chocolates.

Zevenwacht (Kuilsriver)
Picnic-goers at the Zevenwacht wine estate have the option of ordering a pre-packed basket, complete with bread, biscuits, cold meats, cheese and salads, or opting for the braai basket, where you can cook your meats over the vine-wood fires. Both can be enjoyed on the sloping lawns overlooking the lake.

Know of another wine estate or restaurant that offers great picnics? Let us know.