It’s like a trip back in time. Not long after you leave the gleaming skyscrapers of Cape Town, you’re passing neat little wooden houses lining the side of the street. And suddenly the names are all in French. There is a “Place Vendome” and “L’Ermitage.” The Franschhoek Valley wine route passes through one of South Africa’s largest wine growing regions once founded by French immigrants.
“Cheap and cheerful” — for a long time that was the image of South African wines.