VTT Postcard - Cape Town - Constantia Valley Wines

And now we come to the one thing that I thoroughly enjoyed whilst in Cape Town.

One of the attractions in this area is the Cape Winelands. In 2009, South Africa is listed as the 8th largest wine-producing country in the world. Basically, if not almost all South African wines are produced in the Cape Winelands area. The Cape Winelands is divided into six main areas - Constantia, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl, Robertson and Wellington. And although I don't exactly know how many vineyards there are in the area, to say that there are hundreds of them would not be a total lie.

I chose something easy and near the vicinity and landed up in the Constantia Valley area. Some of the oldest wine estates are actually around Constantia.

It was already late in the day and we arrived at the winery at around 3pm. I chose Groot Constantia, which meant Great or Big Constantia (sorry, my Afrikaans is a bit rusty here). So with a name like that, it was really hard to miss.

Yep! It does say 1685 on the building!

The big plus that I found while researching our planned visit a few months back was that on top of the wine tasting and sales, Groot Constantia also offered a wine tour of its premises. The tour guide narrated the history of Groot Constantia, as well as the mechanics of wine production. We also got to see the tanks where they produced different wines. At the end of the tour, we did wine tasting.

We were presented with 5 different kinds of wines and if you liked any of them, you are allowed to buy.

 I don't normally drink at all as I have some sort of love-hate relationship with alcohol. I just can't seem to stand my ground after just a few drinks. Literally. Remember the Rhine Valley? Anyway, I managed to down some wines but felt a bit tipsy after the 5th glass. Really now....Lucky, hubby and kids were all with me this time so if I do pass out, there'll be somebody to catch me. 

 But like I said, I really enjoyed this part of the Cape Town visit. It was enlightening to say the least. And much like the wines I drank at the Rhine Valley, they leave the best for last. I loved the sweet port and so we bought 2 bottles of it.

After it had all ended, hubby declared that I was not fit for sightseeing anymore and that we should leave the rest for the next day.

For information, see Constantia Valley and Groot Constantia.