The undisputed capital of South African fine wine, Stellenbosch is home to more world-class estates than anywhere else in the country. The diversity of altitude, aspect and soil type across the Simonsberg, Helderberg and Bottelary Hills produces wines of extraordinary range — from the powerful Pinotages of Beyerskloof and Kanonkop to the elegant Bordeaux blends of Warwick and Meerlust, and the boutique precision of Raats and Kleinood.

Named 'French Corner' by the Huguenot refugees who arrived from France in 1688 bearing vines and centuries of winemaking knowledge, Franschhoek remains the most romantically beautiful wine valley in South Africa. It is home to some of the country's most storied estates, including the 1685 Boschendal, the Rupert family's prestige houses, and the extraordinary cross-continental partnership of Rupert & Rothschild.

The Paarl valley, with its distinctive granite boulders and warm, generous climate, produces some of South Africa's most characterful wines. It is also the home of KWV — the co-operative that shaped an entire century of South African winemaking — and Babylonstoren, one of the oldest surviving Cape Dutch farms anywhere in the country, alongside charming Laborie and the Italian-inspired Vignamaggio.

High in the mountains east of Stellenbosch, the Elgin Valley was transformed from an apple-growing district into one of the world's most exciting cool-climate wine regions over the last three decades. Altitude, Atlantic influence and a remarkably long growing season produce wines of crystalline purity — particularly Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Paul Cluver pioneered the region; Iona and Thelema's Sutherland farm have since cemented its international reputation.

The Hemel-en-Aarde ('Heaven and Earth') valley above the coastal town of Hermanus is South Africa's answer to Burgundy — a cool, windswept, ocean-influenced zone producing Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that have surprised and delighted the world's most sceptical tasters. Bouchard Finlayson pioneered the valley in 1989; Ataraxia has since added its own remarkable chapter.

The Robertson Wine Valley, inland along the Breede River, is South Africa's most under-rated wine region. Its unique limestone-rich soils — unusual in the Cape — produce whites of exceptional mineral vitality, and Springfield Estate has used those soils to create wines with genuine international cult followings.

The windswept hills north of Cape Town are South Africa's most exciting frontier for artisan and natural winemaking. Darling Cellars represents the region's bold, terroir-driven character — rich Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon carrying the distinctive mineral signature of ancient West Coast soils, cooled by the icy Benguela Current flowing from the Antarctic.

Not every great South African wine belongs to a single ward. JC Le Roux in Devon Valley is South Africa's most dedicated sparkling wine house, while Tassenberg — first made in the 1930s — is a beloved piece of living South African heritage. Together they represent the breadth of what the Cape produces, from affordable classics to specialist craft.