The wine region of Stellenbosch lies to the west of Cape Town and is curled neatly around the cooling False Bay headed by the beautiful town of Somerset West, with the verdant vineyards stretching inland and bordered and serrated by the jagged peaks of the Helderberg, Simonsberg and Drakensteinberg mountain ranges that form an almost impenetrable barrier to the east, with the River Erste forming a sort-of perimeter to the West - between these 2 geographical features lie the bulk of the Stellenbosch vineyards.
However, due to the heat summation now becoming a regular feature, it is the high mountains where quality-seeking vignerons are now planting grapes as much as 500m above the warm valley floor in a push to find freshness, acidity and bright elegant fruit. The soils in Stellenbosch are a mixture of red sand, granite and clay to the east near the mountains - this is where historically red grapes are favoured, whilst the sandy, lighter and more broken limestone soils to the west favour white wines. The climate is almost Mediterranean, with relatively scarce rainfall and year round sunshine. For red wines the favoured grape is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz and Pinotage, whilst white grapes equally international with Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc all planted widely, along with some Chenin Blanc and a little Riesling.
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