We have reached the final major world wine region today: South Africa! (Certainly, there are other wine regions, smaller ones, that I’m not going to touch on just because they’re not places we go to for wine. We go there for other reasons.) But, anyway, we are talking today about South African wine! Did you know that Dutch settlers planted the first grapes in the 17th century? This means that South Africa had some of the oldest vineyards outside of Europe! Crazy, right?
South African wine
While it’s very true that early grapes were planted in the 1600s by Dutch settlers, it’s also true that some of those vineyards and estates fell into disrepair when the original owners died. Grapes grew quite well here – Southern Africa has a lovely climate – but many settlers turned their attention to orchards and alfalfa fields. The vineyards that remained continued to plant grapes, but received little recognition on the international wine stage until the 1990s.
South Africa regularly makes the top ten list for highest producing wine countries. It is 17th overall in terms of hectares planted. The majority of grapes in South Africa grow around Cape Town. There are three historical regions – Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Constantia – and several newer ones on the western cape. Every varietal grows well down here, where the cool Atlantic winds merge with the tropical Indian Ocean winds. Among the well-known South African wine varietals are Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Pinotage.
Luxury among the South African vineyards
Some of the exciting things you could do at the South African vineyards include private tastings, dinner in a wine cellar, tours with the winemakers, or exploring the vineyards. If there’s something else that strikes your fancy, let me know!
With safaris long on the list of luxury travel, and experiential travel in today’s top ten reasons to go abroad, my telling you that there’s plenty of luxury in South Africa shouldn’t be any surprise. Since most of the vineyards are in the Cape Town area, choosing one of the many (there are 12) Virtuoso hotels in the Western Cape means you can explore the region at your leisure. The hotels in Cape Town proper are also ideally situated for yachting, hiking, shopping, or spa indulgence.
Prefer to luxuriate among nature? Cape Town is PERFECT for wildlife watching, like these African penguins. And South Africa is a great place to go on safari, so expanding your trip to include a few days in the northern reaches of the country is a good itinerary addition.
Experience the memories – go to the end of the road – explore the unknown – South Africa is one of the best places to do all of the above!
