The first farms established at the Cape in the 17th century had to be diverse to survive. The archives show that most farms produced their own wine, planted fruit trees, sowed grains and kept sheep, cattle and chickens. While much of it was for their own subsistence, the unpredictability of the weather, and isolation from the rest of the world, meant that they could spread their risk, and so always had something available when a ship docked in the harbour looking to replenish supplies.
Groot Phesantekraal was first granted in 1698 to Olof Bergh, a colourful character who, despite spectacular brushes with the law which resulted in him being imprisoned on Robben Island for some years, managed to regain his stature and accumulate great wealth, including numerous farms.
The farm was passed from the Bergh family to the Louw family who lived there for several generations before it was eventually acquired by Arend Brink in 1897. While the Brink family originated in the Cape, Arend was a transport rider between the diamond and gold fields up north before settling on this farm on the outskirts of Durbanville.
While vines were always cultivated here over the centuries, Groot Phesantekraal was known as a successful cattle, sheep and grain farm until the present fourth generation owner, Andre Brink and his wife Ronelle planted 50ha of vineyards in the late 1990s. Their boutique winery soon established a name for itself in the Durbanville Wine Valley as a friendly, beautiful destination to buy wines, enjoy a quick coffee or pair wines with a meal in their spectacular restaurant cunningly created in the expertly restored stables.
