| Summary: | South Africa's wine making legacy dates back over 300 years and today Cape Winelands is the largest wine producing region in the Western Cape of the country. Our tour of this spectacular area begins at the historic Grande Roche Hotel, which was founded in 1717, and after fastidious restoration in 1993 was declared a national monument. We visit one of the largest wine makers in the world, KWV, an acronym for a name in Dutch, which means 'Co-operative Winemakers' Society of South Africa Ltd.' Then we meet winemakers at the Kanonkop Wine Estate, located on the lower slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain. Next we meet a former rugby star, Jannie Engelbrecht, who acquired the Rust en Vrede Wine Estate, which became the first private winery in the country to specialize in the exclusive production of red wines. At the Van Loveren Estate, which has been in the Retief family since 1937, matriarch Oma Retief guides us through her beautiful garden; also we visit De Wetshof Estate, one of South Africa's premier chardonnay houses, tour the KWV Cathedral Cellar, and end our visit in the Paarl region at the Backsberg Estate.
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