Stellenbosch Vintages

Stellenbosch is the heartland of South African wine, home to many of the country’s top wineries. And while it is best known for its red wines, with Cabernet Sauvignon blends particularly prevalent, other red varieties also thrive, with Syrah, Cabernet Franc and the Cape’s signature variety Pinotage all capable of yielding fine wines. Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc too is a large part of the reason why South Africa is second only to the Loire Valley in its affinity with the variety. As a result of such diversity, making generalisations about the strength of individual vintages across the region is difficult, though equally, producers here are blessed with a relatively consistent, Mediterranean-type climate that affords them fairly reliable conditions. Within that, years such as 2017 and 2021 have been highly lauded, while 2025 looks set to join them.