Wine, brandy & liqueur tasting · Upington

Sit down.
We'll pour.

Four pours in the Green Kalahari Sensorium, a cellar built from ancient river-valley granite, and someone behind the counter who knows every barrel by name. From ten rand a glass. No booking needed, but book ahead and we'll have someone free to pour for you.

  • Wine
  • Fortified
  • Brandy
  • Liqueur
Begin the flightPlan your visit
Four ranges, by the glass

Four ranges.
Start wherever you like.

We suggest the order the estate makes them: first what the vines give us, then what the copper still makes of the rest. Every glass is priced on its own, R10 for a wine and R15 for the port, a brandy or a liqueur, so start wherever you like and stay with what you enjoy.

  1. Pour I The Cellar Range The season's wines, off Green Kalahari vinesR10 a glass
  2. Pour II The Fortified Cape Ruby Port, dark and unhurriedR15 a glass
  3. Pour III The Brandies Copper potstill, six to eight yearsR15 a glass
  4. Pour IV The Liqueurs Espresso, date, strawberry, lemonR15 a glass

No booking needed. Book ahead and we'll have someone free to pour for you. Most people stay about an hour; for groups of eight or more, write first so we can set the long table.

A glass of Bezalel estate wine poured at the tasting room counter
Poured at the long table
Pour I · The Cellar Range

What the vines
manage out here.

Green Kalahari summers run past forty degrees and the nights fall away to almost nothing. Vines resent it for a few seasons and then, eventually, stop resenting it. The fruit comes in small, dark and concentrated, because it has had to work for every bit of it.

Our wines come off that fruit, and the range changes with the season. Every label is hand-painted by the fourth generation, who trained in fine art, not winemaking.

Tasting glass

Served Whites 8 – 10 °C · Reds 16 – 18 °C

R10per glass
What we open All our wines
The open bung hole on an oak cask of Cape Ruby Port in the Bezalel Estate cellar
The bung, on a cask of Ruby Port
Pour II · The Fortified

The one we
never hurry.

A Cape Ruby Port is what happens when you stop the ferment early and add brandy while the wine is still sweet, an old, stubborn way of making something keep. Ours then sits in wood until it stops arguing with itself.

One bottle, poured small, and sold only here at the cellar door or by phone. It is the glass people come back for in winter, and the one they ring to have posted to them in July.

Port glass
On the nose, on the tongue
  • Black cherry
  • Raisin
  • Cocoa
  • Long warm finish

Served 14 – 16 °C · Poured small

R15per glass
The copper potstill inside the Bezalel Estate distillery

The copper still, mid-run

Between the second and third pour

Everything after this
goes through copper.

This cellar was built from the ancient granite blasted off the flood plain to make room for vines, and became the first private distillery on the Orange River. Our first two stills, the Twins, are still here: identical 680-litre copper pot stills with hand-hammered onion heads, sharing one condenser, and they still run a large share of our distillations. Every batch is distilled twice and bottled from a single barrel.

A column still would be very much faster. It would also make something else.

Still
Copper potstills, distilled twice
One batch at a time
Cask
French oak, 300 litres
Patience
Six to eight years
VSOP · 750 ml · 38% ABV
A first
South Africa's first rooibos-wooded potstill brandy
500 ml · 38% ABV · 5 yrs French Oak
The room
Keimoes granite, 1.1 billion years old, laid by hand when the cellar was built
The first private cellar and distillery on the Orange River

You cannot hurry a barrel. You can only decide, every year, not to open it.

The distiller
Meet the brandies
A hand resting on a row of French oak casks in the Bezalel Estate ageing cellar
The ageing cellar, six years in
Pour III · The Brandies

Six to eight years,
and then a glass.

The VSOP goes into French oak and is left alone for the better part of a decade. The Rooibos was the first of its kind in South Africa, wooded with rooibos, which nobody had done, largely because nobody had tried.

Poured neat and cellar-cool, in a glass we are always happy to argue about.

Snifter
On the nose, on the tongue
  • Vanilla
  • Orange peel
  • Toffee
  • Roasted peach
  • Dried apricot

Served 16 – 18 °C · Neat

R15per glass
What we open The distillery range
Four Bezalel liqueurs, espresso, date, strawberry and lemon, poured into handled tot glasses on the tasting room counter
Espresso, date, strawberry, lemon
Pour IV · The Liqueurs

The last pour
is the sweet one.

Espresso, date, strawberry and a zesty lemon, as the season allows. Cold-settled and racked, never mechanically filtered, which is why they carry a little cloud.

They are the least serious thing we make, and most afternoons they are the first to run out. Have them cold, at the end of everything, while somebody clears the glasses.

Tot glass
On the nose, on the tongue
  • Espresso
  • Medjool date
  • Strawberry
  • Lemon peel

Served Straight from the fridge · 6 – 8 °C

R15per glass
What we open All our liqueurs
Why It Tastes Like That

Two ways to make
the same bottle.

None of this is a secret. It is simply the slower option, taken at every fork, on purpose, for four generations.

At Bezalel At industrial scale

The still

Copper potstills, double-distilled one batch at a time.

Continuous column stills, running without stopping.

The fruit

Grown here, on our own vines, on the banks of the Orange River.

Bought in from several regions and blended to a house standard.

The years

Six to eight years for the VSOP, in 300 litre French oak casks.

Three years is the legal minimum, and usually the plan.

The batch

Small enough that the distiller tastes every one of them.

Large enough that consistency has to be engineered.

The cut

Heads and tails judged by nose, by a person, on the day.

Cut to a target set in advance and held by sensor.

The colour

Whatever the barrel decided to give it.

Adjusted with permitted caramel so each bottle matches the last.

The room

A metre of billion-year-old granite, holding its own temperature.

A climate-controlled warehouse doing it with machinery.

You can taste a shortcut. That is the entire reason we don't take them.

See what patience makes
Bezalel potstill brandy served alongside chocolate truffles at the tasting room
Stay A Little Longer

Brandy and chocolate,
sitting down.

A guided pairing at the table: our brandies set against chocolate truffles, in an order that makes both of them taste like more than they did alone. It runs about an hour, and it is the best money on this page.

R180per person

Poured daily, no booking needed

The other pairings
  • Two days' notice

    Wine & Canapé

    A sit-down flight of our wines against canapés out of the Farm Kitchen. Everything is made for your table on the day, which is why we ask for two days.

    By arrangement Request a date
  • Changes with the kitchen

    Whatever the kitchen is doing

    The Farm Kitchen runs its own pairings against our bottles. They change with the season and the cook's mood, and there is usually something for the children too.

    See what's on
Also at the table
Guest stories

What visitors
have to say

4.95 from 150 reviews
  • We stayed one night in the fantastic house on the farm and had a wine tasting experience which which was great. The staff were very friendly and told us all about Upington. We bought a couple of bottles of wine to take home with us. Now sitting at home in Roodepoort sipping on the wine brings back memories of our…
    Glen HillOctober 2026
  • On our way to Augrabies, my wife and I stopped to drink something nice but ended up eating pizza also. Why? Because the place is a vibe. The food and milkshake were made of high quality ingredients - for example, my blueberry milkshake was made with real blueberries (don't see often.) Everything to the cleaniness,…
    ChaldinSeptember 2026
  • Did the Brandy Tour with Miss Annie. It was the best Brandy tasting we have ever had! Luved the Hanepoot and Rooibos Brandy
    Helen de JagerJuly 2026
  • Beautiful farm just off the N14, the tasting room was stunning, the lady helping with the tastings and orders was super friendly and knowledgeable. We had a very tasty charcuterie board and ended up leaving with a couple bottles of wine. Definitely worth a visit!
    James JonesJanuary 2026
  • Excellent accommodation. Good restaurant. Wine tasting and brandy tasting. Friendly and helpful staff.
    Jurie VenterSeptember 2025
  • We bought the best Tomato Chilli Jam at Bezalel. Everything in the shop looked fresh and inviting.
    Madelé Du ToitOctober 2026
  • A great little place for an overnight stop. The rooms were spacious and clean and the free wine and brandy tasting was a bonus, which we enjoyed on the lawn with a cheese and meat platter. The little gift shop was lovely too and the staff made the visit even more special. Well worth the stop.
    Kirsty HuntAugust 2026
  • I chose Bezalel to spend the night as a wine tasting thrown in with accommodation sounded like a fun idea. I ended up being completely blown away. The quirky garden, the beautiful setting and the warm hospitality made this a wonderful experience. I would definitely visit again if I had the chance!
    Wendy GreeffApril 2026
  • A wonderful family run business. We were treated with a knowledgeable winemaker at the tasting area where we enjoyed a selection of wines and brandys. We have a really taste lunch. This all while they were experiencing a power outage.
    Pranay DevchandDecember 2025
  • Did brandy and wine tasting. Wow! Enjoyed every moment. Beautiful gem and friendly staff.
    Soekie SwanepoelAugust 2025
  • We stopped for lunch at Bezalel. It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert! The staff are super friendly, including the doggies and the setting is so refreshing after a long drive. The food was freshly prepared, with good quality ingredients, and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. My husband had the bobotie, which…
    Valerie KneppertSeptember 2026
  • Located just a kilometer off the main road, this hidden gem features a beautifully laid-out cellar, curio shop, and tasting room. Their brandy—crafted with Cognac-level excellence—is exceptionally tasty. The host guiding the tasting was both knowledgeable and highly entertaining, making the whole visit a fun,…
    Timothy Van der westhuizenAugust 2026
  • the estate is pretty, the parking has shade, and the people are friendly. A wonderful way to spend a little time on a long trip
    AnonymousMarch 2026
  • About a km off the main road, a really well laid out cellar, curio shop and tasting room. The brandy that cant be called Cognac is exceptionally tasty and the young lady conducting the tastings is knowledgable and very entertaining. All in all a fun worthwhile experience.
    Tim AndersonNovember 2025
  • Wine tasting and cheese platter. They make everything in house and the wine is amazing. My favorite is the Coffee infused brandy. The tasting area is so beautiful and elegant.
    Franco KoenJuly 2025
Tell us about your visit

Opens Judge.me in a new tab

Coming To See Us

On the N14, between
Upington and Keimoes.

Hours

Mon – Sat
08:00 – 17:00

Sunday
09:00 – 17:00

Public holidays
08:00 – 17:00

Closed Good Friday & Christmas Day

Finding us

N14, Plot 10, Dyasonsklip, Northern Cape 8805 — about twenty minutes of straight road out of Upington, on the Keimoes side.

054 491 1325

Directions

Before you come

No booking needed, and there is no minimum.

Book ahead and we'll have someone free to pour for you, with the table yours.

Groups of eight or more, please write first so we can set the long table.

Send a booking request and we'll confirm by email or WhatsApp, usually within a couple of hours.

Book a tasting

Family & parking

Ample free parking, a short stroll from the cellar door.

Children of all ages are welcome throughout while adults taste. We pour only for guests aged 18 and over.

Open every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day. If the gate is open, come as you are.

Before You Go

Come and sit down.
The glasses are clean.

It reads better in the room, with someone pouring, and a metre of ancient granite keeping the Kalahari outside.

Book a tastingHow to find us
No booking needed. Walk in any time we're open.Mon – Sat 08:00 – 17:00 · Sun 09:00 – 17:00 · Closed Good Friday & Christmas Day