If you love wine, Cape Town, South Africa is a great place to be! But with over 460 wine farms in the Western Cape alone, knowing where to go and how to avoid the typical tourist experience can be a challenge.
In this episode, Jack and Niki share the experience they cultivated in over five-and-a-half months living in Cape Town and visiting dozens of wine farms, from the more commercially successful to those that some South Africans don't even know about.
Listening for something specific? Here is a guide to the conversation:
00:00 Intro
04:25 Overview of South Africa Wine Growers (Jack's Classification)
06:36 History of Wine Growing in South Africa
08:26 Wine Regions Visited
12:00 Stellenbosch and Franschhoek Comparison
15:47 Stellenbosh Wine Farms Visited
16:17 Villiera (wine farm with a game drive)
16:55 Babylonstoren (family wine farm experience)
19:15 Rupert & Rothschild (two famous families combine forces)
22:56 Vrede en Lust (great wine with epic mountain views)
26:00 Hartenberg (great lunch in Stellenbosch)
28:29 Swartland Region: Org de Rac (organic wine farm)
31:09 Cederberg (mountain wine growing)
34:30 Other Highly Rated SA Wines (saved for another trip)
35:15 Relatively Low-Cost Way to Import SA Wine into the US
36:00 Constantia Wine Farms Visited
37:23 Silvermist
40:00 Eagle's Nest (great Shiraz)
43:45 Constantia Glen (best views in Constantia)
46:41 Beau Constantia (with a "loo with a view")
49:40 Groot Constantia (most historic, famous wine)
55:56 Klein Constantia (smaller competitive version of Groot Constantia)
58:49 Steenberg (2-page tasting menu!)
For details and links, visit www.worldschoolforfour.com/podcasts.
Editorial Note: We misspoke about two important details in the podcast.
First, the famous wine at Groot Constantia historically called "Constantia Wyn" is now called "Grand Constance." The competitive version produced by Klein Constantia is called "Vin de Constance."
Second, the Rothschild family originated in Germany, not France.