Catherine Marshall Wines

Catherine Marshall Wines: Elgin fruit, Stellenbosch tasting room

Catherine Marshall Wines—the Barefoot Wine Company trading name—is a Pinot Noir–focused producer whose grapes are drawn largely from cool-climate Elgin and Hemel-en-Aarde, but whose public tasting room is not in Elgin. Official contact details place tastings at Lavinia, 1377 Polkadraai Road (M12 / Stellenbosch Arterial), Stellenbosch, 7600. Gate entry is framed as pressing for CM Wines on Lavinia Farm.

Critical trip-planning fact: do not fold Catherine Marshall into an Elgin / Grabouw day-trip cellar-door loop. Older directory pins at Valley Green Farm, 41 Viljoenshoop Road, Elgin are obsolete relative to the live official tasting address. Taste here on a Stellenbosch / Polkadraai itinerary; keep Elgin for the vineyards and other open valley farms.

Official site: cmwines.co.za (also reachable as cmwines.co.za without www).

From beach foot-stomp to Pinot specialist

The estate’s own story starts with a festive three-barrel foot-stomp on a south peninsula beach in 1996 that produced a palatable Syrah and led, in 1997, to what the winery describes as the Western Cape’s first true micro-winery with Pinot Noir as the focus. After scouring vineyards across the Cape, the decision in 2007 was to source grapes mostly from cool-climate Elgin and Hemel-en-Aarde for Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Chenin Blanc, with warmer sites for some reds.

That dual identity—Elgin (and Hemel-en-Aarde) in the bottle, Polkadraai in the glass for visitors—is the honest SEO and travel framing. You are tasting a maker’s portfolio shaped by Overberg and Walker Bay cool sites, poured at a Stellenbosch-arterial cellar door.

What the Pinot range is about

Catherine Marshall is widely known as a Pinot specialist, with soil- and concept-driven cuvées (for example sandstone versus clay expressions and Finite Elements releases discussed across the producer’s communications and wine press). Whites and other reds round out the list; master notes also flag Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and Grenache among notable wines. Named flight lists and tasting fees are not published on the live contact HTML at research time—ask when you book rather than quoting tertiary rand figures.

A Wine Club offers four curated seasonal boxes a year, access to exclusive and limited releases, library vintages, a stated online discount, and first access to announcements. Club copy also references member tasting benefits—confirm current member tasting rules with the tasting room.

Official tasting-room hours

Published on the official site:

• Monday–Friday: 10:00–16:00
• Saturday: closed
• Sunday: closed
• Festive closures listed include 25 December, 26 December, and 1 January

Contact: +27 78 442 2929 / tastingroom@cmwines.co.za (additional numbers and Cathy’s email appear across official contact copy—use the tasting-room line for visits). Directions summarised by the producer: roughly 45 minutes from Cape Town via N2 / Baden Powell / Vlaeberg / Polkadraai routes.

Because Saturday is closed on the official board, this is a weekday tasting destination—plan accordingly if your only free day is a weekend.

How to use this page if you care about Elgin

Searchers often land here looking for “Catherine Marshall Elgin tasting.” The useful answer is:

1. Fruit: yes—cool-climate Elgin (and Hemel-en-Aarde) sourcing is central to the Pinot and white programme since 2007. 2. Cellar door: no—not in the Elgin ward; go to Lavinia on Polkadraai Road, Stellenbosch. 3. Elgin day alternative: visit open Elgin farms (for example Viljoenshoop producers with published hours) and book Catherine Marshall separately when you are on the Stellenbosch side.

That honesty prevents wasted drives over Sir Lowry’s Pass looking for a Valley Green tasting room that is no longer the visitor address.

Practical advice

Email or call the tasting room before you go—fees and which Pinots are open change, and this is a maker-scale room rather than a high-volume showroom. Pair the visit with other Polkadraai / Stellenbosch Arterial stops the same weekday. If you are collecting library Pinot or clay-versus-sandstone comparisons, say so when booking so staff can shape the pour. Online shopping and the wine club cover guests who cannot visit midweek.

Do not invent weekend hours from old reviews that claimed Friday–Sunday openings; prefer the Mon–Fri 10–16 board on the official site unless the estate tells you otherwise for a special event.

Why Catherine Marshall still belongs in an Elgin content set

Elgin’s reputation for Pinot and tense whites is incomplete without naming the specialists who bottle the valley’s fruit—even when their tasting rooms sit elsewhere. Catherine Marshall is one of those makers: Elgin in the vineyard story, Stellenbosch in the visitor logistics. Keep both facts visible and travellers get better trips.

FAQ

Is there a tasting room in Elgin? No—official tasting is at Lavinia, Polkadraai Road, Stellenbosch. Are the wines from Elgin? Official story: mostly cool-climate Elgin and Hemel-en-Aarde for key varieties since 2007. Weekend tasting? Official board: Saturday and Sunday closed. Old Valley Green address? Treat as obsolete for cellar-door navigation.

Contact: tastingroom@cmwines.co.za · +27 78 442 2929 · https://www.cmwines.co.za/