Other South African wine regions
STELLENBOSCH South Africa’s most famous wine region is based around the historic town of the same name. It has more than 150 wineries surrounded by rippling mountain ranges, with Cabernet Sauvignon the most planted grape variety. It’s only 40 minutes from Cape Town, so easy to do in a day with a designated driver or guide.
wineroute.co.za
FRANSCHHOEK The neighbouring wine valley to Stellenbosch is equally popular. It’s smaller, with about 45 wineries open to visitation, and known for Cap Classique sparkling wine. The hop-on, hop-off Wine Tram trundles between wineries on fives lines, each with seven or eight stops. The little town itself is a great place to eat, home to some of the country’s best fine-dining restaurants.
winetram.co.za
Swartland’s wine scene in the early 2000s. And there’s MC Stander’s L’Equinox wines, identifiable by their fun illustrated labels: a llama at the beach for the Low Drama rosé, or an astronaut flicking a ‘rock on’ hand gesture for the light, red Find Your Happy Place. Prisca explains that the winemakers round
here share cellars, help each other with grape harvests, sell each other’s wines at trade shows — and generally don’t behave like competitors. “I don’t know where else you see that,” she says. “They’ve really got each other’s backs.” A tour with Prisca — during which guests
might visit two to four winemakers depending on their time — is more like visiting friends. Swerwer Wines, owned by Jasper Wickens, is a case in point. At his winemaking cellar — a barn full of tanks and stacked barrels — Jasper grabs some glasses, a bottle of sparkling wine and a packet of springbok droëwors (dried sausage) and leads Prisca and her guests up to a dam with a view of the valley. Sipping a glass of bubbles in the sunshine,
he talks about the Swartland wine scene — to get a real sense of how tight the community is, he says, visitors should join the regular Thursday pizza nights at AA Badenhorst’s
Kalmoesfontein Farm, at which local winemakers and farmers gather. “In the middle of harvest, there are 150 to 200 people there. It’s really pumping,” he enthuses. A similar experience can be had at the
summer ‘5am wine braais’ at one of the Swartland’s farms. Winemakers get together to toast the sunrise, compare notes on each other’s wines and grill some wors (sausages), and then head to work. A bonus if you’re here on your travels is that you get to enjoy all that and then slide back into bed afterwards. Leaving Jasper, Prisca drives her guests
to her husband Jurgen’s Intellego wine cellar, located next to the 200-year-old farmhouse that the couple rent. After introducing his wines and taking samples from some of the barrels, Jurgen cracks open a bottle of Intellego ‘Hey Mila!’ Mourvèdre Pét-Nat — a light red wine with an aroma of plums — and everyone sits on the sun-splashed steps outside. “People overuse the word community,” he says. “But the Swartland,” he promises, “is a real community.” HR
HOW TO DO IT: Kokos Huis has rooms from 1,995 ZAR (£84) and visits to local wineries.
kokoshuis.com
MARCH 2024 75
CONSTANTIA This wine valley is home to 10 farms and is the oldest in the country, producing wine since 1685. It’s particularly recognised for its Sauvignon Blancs. Only 20 minutes south of Cape Town city centre, it’s easy to reach by taxi, meaning everyone can partake in a glass or two with views of the vines and Table Mountain beyond.
constantiawineroute.com
HEMEL-EN-AARDE Meaning ‘heaven and earth’ in Afrikaans, this wine valley is near the whale-watching town of Hermanus, about 90 minutes south from Cape Town. There are 15 wineries scattered on either side of the Hemel-en-Aarde Road, known for cool-climate wines like Pinot Noir.
hemelenaardewines.com
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