The hook
A region of vineyards cradled by dramatic mountains just inland of Cape Town, dotted with gabled white Cape Dutch estates, some of the oldest in the Southern Hemisphere, pouring world-class wine over long lunches.
01Why it's worth it
An hour from Cape Town, the land folds into a series of green valleys ringed by jagged peaks, and this is South Africa's historic wine country, dating to the 17th-century Dutch and French Huguenot settlers whose whitewashed, gabled Cape Dutch homesteads still front many of the estates. The towns are the anchors: oak-lined, university-town Stellenbosch, and the foodie enclave of Franschhoek, the "French corner," with its wine tram trundling between cellars. The wines are excellent and varied, the settings, tasting on a terrace with the mountains behind and the vines below, are gorgeous, and the estates increasingly match the wine with serious restaurants, farm shops, and art. Prices are gentle by international standards. It makes an easy, indulgent day or two from the city, and pairs the pleasures of the glass with genuinely beautiful scenery and gracious old architecture.
02How to experience it
Base in or day-trip to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and tour a handful of estates rather than rushing many; the Franschhoek wine tram lets you taste without driving. Combine tastings with a long estate lunch and the Cape Dutch architecture. Autumn harvest and spring are the loveliest times.