Blaauwklippen Wine Estate has been named the most visible online brand among Stellenbosch’s wineries in the inaugural Stellenbosch Wine Estates Rankings by the TourismX Media Index.

During the monitoring period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, Blaauwklippen recorded 110 online media mentions, the highest of any wine estate in the region.

The TourismX Media Index rankings provide an independent measure of each estate’s media visibility and reputation.

They recognise wine estates that consistently attract quality editorial media coverage while providing the tourism and wine industries with a fair and reliable benchmark for comparing media performance.

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Purely positive

The index excludes social media mentions and, to ensure a fair reflection of positive reputation, includes only articles with neutral or favourable sentiment. All negatively classified articles are excluded across every entity, preventing brands with extensive but predominantly negative media coverage from topping the Index based solely on visibility.

Estates do not enter the rankings, they are independently assessed based on the volume and quality of their online editorial media coverage.

According to the Top 20 rankings, only one wine estate achieved Platinum status, while two attained Gold, two earned Silver and the remaining 15 secured Bronze recognition, highlighting the highly competitive nature of media visibility within South Africa’s premier wine region.

“Editorial media coverage remains one of the strongest indicators of destination and brand visibility,” said Gerrit Davids, lead advisor at TaranisCo Advisory, the agency that compiled the rankings.

“These rankings celebrate Stellenbosch wine estates that continue to capture the attention of journalists, travellers and wine enthusiasts through compelling stories, exceptional experiences and sustained media presence. Ranked wine estates may display their official ranking certificates in recognition of their achievement and media standing.”

Top 20 rankings

• Platinum winner (more than 100 mentions): Blaauwklippen Wine Estate (110)
• Gold winners (80 to 100 mentions): Tokara Wine Estate (87); Delaire Graff Estate (84)
• Silver winners (60 to 80 mentions): Spier Wine Farm (75); Hazendal Wine Estate (64)
• Bronze winners (below 60 mentions): Delheim Wine Estate (59); Lanzerac Wine Estate (59); Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate (57); Muratie Wine Estate (55); Simonsig Family Vineyards (52); Kleine Zalze (52); Jordan Wine Estate (46); Quoin Rock Wine Estate (32); Remhoogte Wine Estate (28); Hoopenburg Wine Estate (28); Zevenwacht Wine Estate (24); Le Pommier Wine Estate (24); Warwick Wine Estate (23); Beyerskloof (21); Alto Wine Estate (21)

Close to 35 other Stellenbosch estates are highly recommended and well positioned to challenge for honours in future.

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