This much-loved stop on our farm has been transformed, not simply redesigned, but reimagined from the ground up.
The creative force behind it is Jacques Erasmus, celebrated interior designer and decorator, accomplished chef and restaurateur, and a man who understands instinctively how a space should feel as much as how it should look. Working closely with Spier’s own kitchen team, led by chef Hennie Nel, he has shaped something that sits beautifully between a working farm kitchen, a well-stocked grocer and a destination in its own right.
For Hennie Nel, the Picnickery is a natural extension of everything he already does at Spier. The chef behind the farm’s werf food experiences and the intimate Manor House dinners cooks with the same ethos that shapes the new space. Honest, seasonal, unpretentious, and deeply connected to place.
The most immediate shift is this: the new Picnickery is not a passive space. Step inside to collect your picnic basket, and you might find roosterbrood blistering on an open fire in the kitchen zone, jars of fresh jam being sealed at the prep counter, or the pantry shelf being restocked with that morning’s food garden harvest. There is always something happening, and that sense of a kitchen and shop working in real time is central to what Jacques and Hennie’s teams have created together.
The layout divides naturally into zones. The picnic collection area is where most guests begin. Pre-book a curated basket to carry out to the lawns, or build your own from the deli counter, choosing from artisan cheeses, charcuterie, house-made dips and spreads, grain salads, seasonal fruit, and the famous Vadas sourdough, baked daily.
Alongside small-batch pantry provisions, pickles, preserves, honey and crackers, you’ll find fresh produce grown on the farm, Vadas Bakery’s slow-fermented breads, and pasture-reared meat and eggs from Farmer Angus. This is food chosen as much for its nourishment as its flavour, nutrient-dense, gut-friendly, and rooted in Spier’s regenerative approach to farming. Good food, grown in good soil. A dedicated wine fridge completes the picture.
In winter, the fire zone becomes the beating heart of the space. Picture a dover stove with brass pots hanging above it, roosterkoek and warming soups ready to carry out to a stoep, and a kitchen that is visibly, actively cooking. In summer, the dynamic shifts: coffee and ice cream move outside onto the stoep, and the wine bar activates in the open air. The Picnickery is designed to move with the seasons, and every element of the space accommodates that flexibility without losing its warmth or character.
A new afternoon food offering adds another layer. Imagine a selection of open-faced bites topped with cured meats, smoked fish, or roasted and pickled vegetables, paired informally with a favourite glass of Spier wine. It’s the kind of feasting that doesn’t require a booking or a plan, just an appetite and somewhere comfortable to sit.
Jacques Erasmus’s signature is restrained yet warm, and it finds its footing naturally in a historic building that carries real weight. Part of Spier’s original slave quarters, this Cape Dutch structure with its gabled facade, whitewashed walls and thatched roof intact, is a quietly powerful reminder that Spier is one of South Africa’s oldest wine farms. Working respectfully within its heritage constraints, Erasmus has drawn out the building’s character. Terracotta floor tiles, exposed timber beams, deep green cabinetry, wicker baskets hung from rails, and open shelving stacked with farm-fresh provisions. Nothing is decorative for its own sake. Even the packaging tells the story: reworked kraft paper labels, clean Spier branding, the kind of thing you’d keep on your kitchen shelf long after the contents are gone.
And then there is what the team is calling, with some justification, the world’s prettiest ice cream stand. It’s worth coming to see for yourself.
Whether you’re building a picnic for the lawns, stocking up for a nourishing dinner at home, or simply curious to see what Jacques Erasmus and Hennie Nel have built together, it’s worth the drive out to Stellenbosch. We look forward to showing you around.
