Constantia Winelands

Constantia is the oldest wine-producing region in South Africa — a valley on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain where Simon van der Stel, the first governor of the Cape Colony, established Groot Constantia estate in 1685. The estate's dessert wine, Vin de Constance, was so famous in the 18th and 19th centuries that Napoleon had it shipped to his exile on St Helena, Jane Austen mentioned it in 'Sense and Sensibility,' and the estate's cellar — a Cape Dutch building with a gable designed by Anton Anreith — is one of the finest examples of Cape colonial architecture.

The Constantia valley now contains several wine estates — Groot Constantia (the historic original), Klein Constantia (which revived the Vin de Constance in 1986), Buitenverwachting, and Steenberg — all within a few kilometres of each other and all offering tastings, cellar tours, and restaurants with views across the vineyards to the mountain. The wines are primarily Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Bordeaux-style reds, and the quality is consistently high — Constantia's cool climate (moderated by the mountain and the nearby ocean) produces wines with an elegance that the hotter Stellenbosch and Franschhoek regions can't always match.

The valley is a 20-minute drive from the city centre, making it the most accessible wine region in the world for a major city. Combining wine tasting at Groot Constantia (the history), Klein Constantia (the Vin de Constance), and lunch at Buitenverwachting (the restaurant) creates a half-day excursion that covers 350 years of South African wine history without leaving the Cape Town metropolitan area.