Raka Wine

Seventeen kilometres from the village of Stanford, tucked into a glen in the Kleinrivier Mountains where the Klein River cuts through ancient shale, Raka is one of the most unlikely wine estates in the Cape. Its founder, Piet Dreyer, spent more than three decades as a commercial deep-sea fisherman, plying the southern oceans aboard his black vessel named Raka. He and his wife bought the farm Remhoogte in the Akkedisberg area south-east of Hermanus in 1982, running livestock and later planting citrus while Piet was at sea.

The pivot to wine came in 1999, when the Dreyers planted their first ten hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. The maritime influence of the nearby Walker Bay coast, combined with clay-rich soils and the cooling effect of the Klein River valley, proved ideal for red varieties. Each year a few more hectares were added, and today the farm carries 68 hectares under vine, including plantings of Pinotage, Sangiovese, Viognier, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc.

Piet's son Josef Dreyer took charge of winemaking, and together they built a modern gravity-flow cellar designed to handle fruit as gently as possible. The results came quickly. Raka's Bordeaux-style blends — Quinary, Five Maidens and Spliced — earned consistent acclaim, while the Biography Shiraz and single-varietal Cabernet Franc became cult favourites among collectors. At the top of the range, the Erica Shiraz and Erica Cabernet Sauvignon are produced in tiny quantities of around 1,250 bottles each, matured for 36 months in new French oak.

The estate name and its nautical labels pay homage to Piet's fishing heritage: Figurehead (the carved bow ornament of a sailing ship), Spliced (a rope-joining technique), and Biography (Piet's philosophy that rather than writing his life story, he would produce it in wine). The tasting room and deli sit on a terrace overlooking the vineyards toward the Kleinrivier Mountains and the distant ocean. Food and wine pairings draw on local produce, and a children's jungle gym and dog-friendly policy make Raka a relaxed family destination. The estate is open Tuesday to Thursday from 09:00 to 17:00 and on Mondays and Saturdays from 10:00 to 15:00, offering tasting flights that range from the accessible varietal wines to the full premium experience including the Erica collection.

Raka holds IPW and WIETA sustainability accreditations and has earned multiple Veritas Double Gold medals. The Quinary — a five-way Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec — has become the estate's calling card, while the Five Maidens, matured for 24 months in new French oak, is its most ambitious red blend. The estate remains entirely family-owned — a fisherman's dream that found its truest expression not on the ocean, but in the vineyard.