How we check the facts

Winetrip lists the wine estates and restaurants of the Western Cape that you can visit, with what a tasting costs, when they're open and how to book. This page explains where those facts come from and how we keep them right.

Opening hours and whether a place is open

Each estate and restaurant is matched to its Google listing. Every day we refresh the listings checked longest ago, so each one is checked about once a month. Opening hours, the Google rating and whether a place is open come from there. A place Google marks as permanently closed leaves the site. One that is temporarily closed says so on its page and is left out of journey planning.

Tasting prices

Prices are read from each estate's own website, or the booking page it links to. A price is kept only when the page states it word for word, and each estate's page shows the month it was last checked. Prices change during the year, so confirm with the estate when you book.

Facilities

Whether an estate suits children, has a play area, welcomes dogs, has a fireplace or serves breakfast comes from its own website where it says so, kept with its own words and the date we read them, and otherwise from its Google listing. Where the two disagree, the estate's own words count: an estate that says “no dogs” isn't listed as dog-friendly.

Records that can't be right

Every Monday, automated checks look at every estate and restaurant for details that belong to somewhere else:

• a Google listing under another name, or far from the estate's pin
• a website or phone number from another country
• a listing, website or phone number shared with another estate

A person reviews each one and either corrects the record or notes why it's fine. Estates that don't receive visitors, or have no address to visit, aren't listed.

Photos and ratings

Photos come from the estate's Google listing or its own website, and name the photographer when we know them. Google and Vivino ratings are shown as those services report them. Winetrip ratings come from reviews by people signed in to Winetrip.

Confirmed by the estate

We invite each estate to check its own page: tasting hours, whether visitors can walk in, tasting prices, facilities and contact details. An estate that finds everything right is marked confirmed at once, and its page says Confirmed by the estate with the month. Changes an estate sends are checked by a person before they appear. Opening hours still come from the estate's Google listing, so we ask estates to correct them there too.

When something is out of date

Every estate page has a Something out of date? link under “At a glance”. What you write goes to the person who checks the records, and the page is corrected once it's confirmed. You don't need an account.

Who runs Winetrip

Winetrip is independent: no estate or tour operator pays to be listed. See the privacy policy for how your information is handled.