Stellenbosch
The Cape's grand cru of red
- Soil
- Decomposed granite and sandstone on mountain-foothill slopes.
- Style
- Bordeaux-style Cabernet and blends; serious Pinotage; some fine Chenin/Chardonnay.
- Top sites
- Sub-wards like Simonsberg, Helderberg, Bottelary; SA's wine-tourism heart.
- Vintages
- 2009, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
- Producers
- Thelema
Tip · Stellenbosch is South Africa's most prestigious red-wine region — the Cape's answer to the Médoc, with mountain slopes and a wine-school pedigree.
Value pick
Kanonkop 'Kadette' (Cape Blend) · ~$18
From SA's 'first growth' estate: a Pinotage-led blend that over-delivers wildly — a perennial global value pick.
Collector pick
Kanonkop 'Paul Sauer' · ~$70 · 2018
A Bordeaux-style blend regarded as one of the Cape's greatest, age-worthy reds — a blue-chip SA collectible.