Gary Barlow’s South African Wine Adventure: A Tour of Vines, Views, and Fine Dining
Gary Barlow is back on tour — but not with Take That. He’s indulging his passion for wine on a trip to South Africa’s finest vineyards.
Introducing his new TV series, Gary Barlow announces: “I’m ambitious with a pair of undies, apparently.” He’s talking about his holiday wardrobe, it turns out (“My wife reckons I underpack”), but in fact the Take That frontman has ambitions in all sorts of directions. Not content with having singer, songwriter, record producer and OBE on his CV, Barlow is now also a “wine entrepreneur” and has sold the equivalent of ten million glasses of the stuff since he started his label in 2021.
He was a natural choice, then, to guide viewers around the wineries (and eateries) of one of the world’s leading producers, in the ITV series Gary Barlow’s Wine Tour: South Africa (now available to watch on catch-up service ITVX). But you don’t need any great expertise – or an OBE – to enjoy a plonk-powered trip round the Rainbow Nation. Wine country starts in Constantia, which is just the other side of Table Mountain from Cape Town (a no-jetlag direct flight from London). Heading the other way, but still just a 40-minute drive (on the left!) up the N1 or N2 motorways, are the big-hitters of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, with other, more under-the-radar regions dotted prettily around the country, too.
The views are as good as the booze: bottle-green vineyarded hills roll away into the distance in all directions, punctuated by cute Cape Dutch villages, with the dramatic Hottentots Holland Mountains in the background. For foodies, there are seafood feasts and plentiful farm-to-table outfits, and the Winelands are easily combinable with a safari, or the forest-fringed, beach-bordered whale playground of the Garden Route. Here are four of our favourite wine regions for you to sample…
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CONSTANTIA
SERVE WITH… A SLICE OF HISTORY
This is the oldest wine-making region in South Africa – its Vin de Constance was Napoleon’s daily comfort when he was exiled to St Helena – and it’s particularly famous for its sweet wines. A 30-minute drive south from Cape Town, it’s highly day-trippable for those who want only a taste of the Winelands. And for those who want to sample the wares without worrying about legal limits there are plenty of sightseeing buses that cover the route. If you decide to linger, there are lovely places to stay: Steenberg (steenbergfarm.com), for instance, was the Cape’s first farm (in 1682), but now offers the full golf-spa-great restaurant-lovely hotel deal alongside its sauvignon blanc, which is some of the country’s very best.
FRANSCHHOEK SERVE WITH… FINE DINING
Peckish? Franschhoek is the foodie capital round these parts (and you’ll eat extremely well anywhere in the Winelands, so that’s quite a compliment). Chefs, cheese-makers and chocolatiers flock here, and the town’s villagey main street is thronged with fantastic restaurants at low prices.
The wines to try here include Method Cap Classique – sparkling stuff with a flavour that’s richer than actual champagne, and a price tag that’s considerably smaller. La Motte (la-motte.com) is a big draw, and deservedly so, but some complain that the wineries are a bit twee (there are a lot of rosebushes around).
If you prefer something a bit funkier, Black Elephant Vintners runs tastings that pair wine and rock music (bevintners.co.za). And if you need to sleep off your hangover Franschhoek Country House & Villas hotel (fch.co.za) is a gorgeous place to stay.
HEMEL-EN-AARDE, OVERBERG SERVE WITH… SEA AIR
Who says you can’t have a winery by the beach? An hour and a half south-east of Cape Town, you can stay in surfy Hermanus and, from June to October, watch southern right whales calving in Walker Bay. Then, once you’ve pottered yourself up a nice thirst, tuck into the chardonnays, sauvignon blancs, pinot noirs and bargain sparkling wines from the vineyards behind. Hamilton Russell Vineyards (hamiltonrussellvineyards.com) is all old-school elegance with some classic chardonnays and pinots; La Vierge is newer, cooler, has a great restaurant and offers some less common varietals (lavierge.co.za). The Marine Hotel has high-end rooms overlooking the ocean (themarinehotel.co.za).
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STELLENBOSCH SERVE WITH… A BIT OF BUZZ
It’s all relative, isn’t it? Anywhere else, Stellenbosch would be described as “sleepy”, but compared with laidback Winelands, this small city (complete with university) is a throbbing metropolis. That means you don’t even have to leave town to sample the good stuff: on Dorp Street, antique shops alternate with bars and cafés stocked with produce from the 130-odd local wineries. It’s worth venturing out, however: not only are the swankiest estates found round here, but also the grandest wines. Delaire Graff combines both, with its vast gardens, sculpture-stuffed hotel, restaurant and spa alongside silky syrahs and zingy chardonnays (delaire.co.za). Try one of the many multi-vineyard tours that are available around Stellenbosch via anything from horseback to hiking to tuk-tuk.
