Vines were planted at the Cape in 1655, three years after the first Dutch settlement, and the first wine was pressed in 1659. Constantia dessert wine was drunk by Napoleon in exile and mentioned by Jane Austen. The industry then spent two centuries producing quantity over quality and has spent the last thirty years reversing that. The result is one of the best value fine wine regions in the world.
Stellenbosch
Forty-five minutes from Cape Town, Stellenbosch is a university town of oak-lined streets and Cape Dutch gables with more than 150 wine estates in the surrounding valleys. Ward names worth knowing are Simonsberg, Helderberg and Jonkershoek. Tasting fees run from around 80 to 250 rand and are often waived on purchase. Many estates have restaurants; some of the best food in the country is served on farms rather than in cities.
Franschhoek
The valley was settled by French Huguenots from 1688 and their surnames survive on the estates: Rochelle, Roubaix, Provence. The single main street holds a concentration of restaurants unmatched anywhere else in Africa. The Franschhoek Wine Tram, an open tram and bus combination on hop-on hop-off lines, lets a group taste without anyone driving — book ahead, it sells out.
Paarl and beyond
Paarl sits under a huge granite dome and has the largest wine cooperative in the country. Beyond it, Wellington, Tulbagh and the Swartland are less polished and increasingly where the interesting winemakers have gone: old-vine chenin blanc and syrah on granite and schist. Constantia, inside Cape Town itself, is the oldest wine region and produces excellent sauvignon blanc twenty minutes from the city centre.
What to drink
Chenin blanc, locally called steen, is the signature white and the country has the largest plantings in the world. Pinotage, a 1925 cross of pinot noir and cinsaut created at Stellenbosch University, is the local red and divides opinion; the modern style is far better than its reputation. Cape blends, sauvignon blanc from cool Elgin and Cap Classique sparkling made by the traditional method are all worth seeking out.
Getting there and around
All three main towns are 45 to 75 minutes from Cape Town by car on good roads. Drink-driving limits are low and enforcement is real: use a driver, a tour, or the wine tram. Day tours from Cape Town cost around 1200 to 1800 rand including tastings.
Beyond wine
Babylonstoren and Boschendal run large working farms open to visitors, with gardens, farm shops and accommodation. The Cape Dutch architecture, with its whitewashed walls, thatched roofs and curved gables, is at its best at Vergelegen and Groot Constantia, both of which open their historic houses.