A single-centre wine tour to South Africa’s beautiful Western Cape, where we stay in Stellenbosch, not only the centre of the Cape wine country, but an historic and interesting town in its own right. From here we will visit a wide range of producers, from the national showpiece of Groot Constantia to the newer registered areas on the west coast near Darling, not forgetting the Hemel-en-Aarde vineyards close to the most southerly point of the African continent. The scenery everywhere is magnificent – lush, fertile valleys with ever-present ridges of blue mountains filling the horizon, an important combination for the quality of the wines, which are emerging as some of the most exciting of the current decade.
The growers are also paying close attention to the importance of the natural vegetation, the fynbos. The Cape Floral Zone contains around 8500 species of plants, and ranks as one of the world’s six major botanical divisions – well worth a visit! And those exotic blooms attract a grand array of equally colourful birds, resplendent in glossy, technicolour plumage. In addition to tasting the wines, the schedule includes visits to several sites of natural history interest, including the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, whale-watching at Hermanus, and the proteas of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. A region with a wealth of natural history combined with fine wines on its doorstep.