Constantia Wine Route, Cape Town

To view the individual wine estates on the Constantia Valley Wine Route, see Constantia Valley Wine Estates.

One of the very few appellations in the world just minutes outside of a city, the Constantia wine route has swelled from its original 5 wine estates to 8. The estates have a rich history of winemaking that dates back to the late 1600s.

The original Constantia farm was cultivated by Simon van der Stel and today the smaller farms, into which the original was divided, produce unique, award winning wines that benefit from the cool sea breezes blowing across False Bay just a few kilometres away.

The Constantia valley, just twenty minutes' outside of Cape Town’s city bowl, is breathtakingly beautiful, with vineyard rows that stretch up the eastern slopes of the Constantiaberg mountainside. The route is an easy morning or day trip and the farms provide quality restaurants for lunches and tea. Rich in heritage and beauty, Constantia Wine Route includes Groot Constantia Estate, the oldest wine producing farm in the country that lays claim to the roots of the South African wine industry.

Groot Constantia is one of the first and finest examples of Cape Dutch architecture. The homestead is exquisitely furnished with antiques. The Wine Museum has a number of interesting exhibits, including stoneware dating from 500 BC to the present day. Wine can be sampled and purchased on the estate. There are two restaurants on the estate and daily wine tours.

The other wine estates include Buitenverwachting, Constantia Glen, Constantia Uitsig, Eagles Nest, High Constantia, Klein Constantia and Steenberg. Buitenverwachting is famed for its fine wines and an elegant restaurant, Constantia Glen produces only two select wines – a Sauvignon Blanc and a 5-varietal Bordeaux style blend, released at the end of 2009 -, Constantia Uitsig produces a range of wines all of which received at least 4 stars in the 2011 John Platter Wine Guide, Eagles Nest, originally a section of Groot Constantia, produces red wines on some of the steepest commercially farmed land in the Cape, High Constantia is a small and unpretentious farm that lies on a section of land that borders Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia also has an old Cape Dutch homestead, open to the public for wine tasting and sales, whilst Steenberg not only is a large wine producing farm but boasts a Country Hotel and 18-hold golf course. For additional information about Constantia, attractions, things to do and events and festivals see Constantia Information & Attractions.