Having visited a couple of wine farms in the Western Cape recently, I thought it might be fun to visualize how many there were.

The Interactive Looker Studio Dashboard

So I asked ChatGPT to generate a list of wine farms in the Western Cape, along with descriptions of the farms and data around what they offered (restaurants, wine tasting (all of them apparently), types of wines)

Where are the Wine Farms in the WC?

As we can see from the map below the vast majority of wine farms are clustered around Stellenbosch and surrounding areas. But there are some that are quite far flung.

One of the furthest from the Stellenbosch cluster is Fryer’s Cove out in the amusingly named “Bamboes Bay”.

Funnily enough I have actually been to Fryer’s Cove and can confirm they do actually serve wine on the harsh west coast. Below is a photo to prove it.

If we zoom in a bit further (removing labels from Google Maps) we can see the majority of wine farms are in and around Stellenbosch, with further clusters on the Cape peninsula, Franschhoek, Elgin and Hermanus.

The oldest wine farm in the Western Cape is Groot Constantia.

Groot Constantia, established in 1685, is South Africa’s oldest wine estate, nestled in the picturesque Constantia Valley near Cape Town.

It has some beautiful historic architecture, and great scenery.

Which is the oldest Wine Farm in South Africa?

Groot Constantia is widely known as the oldest wine farm in South Africa. But if you look at the data, it shows that there are several wine farms established a few years prior to Groot Constantia.

Let’s ask ChatGPT what the reason for this might be:

Asking ChatGPT: Why is Groot Constantia known as the oldest wine farm?

Groot Constantia is known as South Africa’s oldest wine-producing farm, while Steenberg is recognized as the Cape’s first farm. The distinction lies in their primary focus:

• Steenberg, established in 1682, initially operated as a farm for general agriculture and did not exclusively focus on wine production in its early years.
• Groot Constantia, established in 1685, was specifically founded as a wine estate and has been continuously producing wine since its inception.

This continuous focus on winemaking gives Groot Constantia the distinction of being the oldest wine-producing farm in South Africa, while Steenberg holds the title of being the Cape’s first established farm.

Thanks ChatGPT!

When were most of the WC Wine Farms founded?

Looking at the years they were founded we can see most were founded in the late 1600s to the early 1700s.

And then there was a second renaissance of wine farms that started in the 1970s and kicked off in the 1990s into the early and mid 2000s.

Hope you found this interesting and happy wine drinking! 🍷

My Other Blog Posts

If you enjoyed this post about Western Cape Wine Farms and Looker Studio, maybe you’ll enjoy my other blog posts.