| Wine & Wineland | ||
| Wine Tourism | ||
| Wineland Holidays | ||
| Spectacular natural beauty, world renowned wines, and the proximity to Cape Town and the warm Indian ocean make the Winelands an ideal holiday destination. The towns Stellenbosch, Paarl, Wellington, Franschhoek and Somerset West are home to finest restaurants and most beautiful historic buildings and museums that showcase the history of the area and many more attractions. All of this contributes to a thriving wine tourism industry offering an amazing range of unique arrangements for visitors. Numerous official Wine Routes invite tourists to travel the scenic regions and visit world-renowned vineyards for tastings and cellar tours. Some of the most beautiful, historic Wine Estates in outstanding settings, offer guided vineyard walks, horse ridings with picnics, grape harvesting, classic concerts, jazz brunches, delicious lunches, sumptuous dinners and often gracious accommodation on their premises. Wine lover or not: the Winelands picture-postcard serenity, heritage and country hospitality will enchant you as well. |
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| Must-visit Wineries | ||
| The different wine districts and routes total hundreds of properties. As a normal wine lover you will not be able to visit them all during your holidays, so this list is a compilation of the most rewarding visits, whether for the quality of the wine or the tour, or for the setting and architecture of the vineyard. Every estate offers tastings and sales and most also have restaurants, tea gardens or picnic baskets. We recommend in alphabetical order: Avontuur, Backsberg, Boschendal, Chamonix, Fairview, L´Ormarins, La Motte, Lourensford, Neethingshof, Spier, Wilderer´s Distillery. More tips: At a tasting, you may be offered up to a dozen different wines. Start with the dry whites and work through to the heavier reds, leaving fortified wines and spirits till last. Sniff the bouquet, take a small mouthful, swill it round your mouth and - if you are strong willed - spit it out, before you rinse your glass and mouth with water between each wine. If you prefer to drink the wine, appoint a non-drinking driver, as you will be seriously light-headed by the end of the tasting or tour. | ||
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| Best of SA Wineries | ||
| Countless international competitions as Veritas or the annual John Platter Guide´s five-star ratings have, over the past years, built up considerable international reputation for South African Wine. Influencial American publications such as Wine Spectator, Robert Parker or Wine Enthusiast and reputable UK magazines such as Decanter and Wine regularly nominate some Cape´s wines to be on their favourite list of best wines worldwide. Now, a survey of local wine writers and judges by South African´s independent Grape magazine published their consensus of the consistently best performing South African wines and wine producers. The top 20 chosen, in order, were Kanonkop Estate, Vergelegen, Neil Ellis Wines, Hamilton-Russell Vineyards, Rustenberg Wines, Glen Carlou Vineyards, Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Jordan Vineyards, Veenwouden, Klein Constantia, Grangehurst, Boekenhoutskloof, Villiera Wines, Saxenburg, Spice Route Wine Company, Bouchard Finlayson, De Trafford Wines, Buitenverwachting Estate, Fairview and Graham Beck Wineries. | ||
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