Three South African vineyards have made it into a top 50 ranking of the world’s top wine destinations, with the highest placed — Creation Wines near Hermanus, Western Cape — coming in at number four worldwide.
The World’s Best Vineyards is an annual award which aims to showcase the very best global players in wine tourism. Organised by William Reed, a publishing company that specialises in the food and drinks sector, the list aims to pinpoint the best places for travellers to taste terrific wines and learn about winemaking and grape-growing.
As Andrew Reed, MD of wine and exhibitions at William Reed, explains: “Local and international tourists are looking for experiences that offer a whole host of activities,” and so many of the winners offer something extra: superb views, restaurants and places to stay and unique experiences.
The world's number one is Catena Zapata in Mendoza, Argentina, with Spain’s Bodegas de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, praised for its “stunning, futuristic architecture and impressive setting” coming in second place. Third is Chilean vineyard VIK.
![Bodegas de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal in Rioja, Spain, has "stunning, futuristic architecture and [an] impressive setting".](https://www.timeslive.co.za/resizer/v2/2WJ7APLMJVJXDGYOPDNFESDYAA.jpg?auth=625a6cb95cc60162b1db59fc7d3599792c9f92458bbe6529dd3fa231e798d369&width=274&height=154&smart=true)
The organisers praise Creation in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, also the winner of the Best in Africa award, as a “young and ecologically minded winery in a location that fittingly translates as ‘heaven and earth’.”
It also gets kudos for its self-catering, solar-powered Voormanshuis cottage; hiking and biking trails among the fynbos; its art collection; and its array of food-and-wine matching options, chocolate pairings and its signature “Story of Creation” dining experience.
The two other South African vineyards on the list are Klein Constantia at number 32, and Delaire Graff at number 36.
Of Klein Constantia, the organisers say: “Combining classic Cape Dutch architecture with slinkier updates, it doesn’t just offer a sprawling farm to rove by 4x4 or bicycle, or a fine dining bistro run by a Cordon Bleu chef, or a tasting room crowned by jacaranda trees — it instigated the revival of the sweet wine [Vin de Constance] that made this region famous, and which was once favoured by Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette, Queen Victoria and Jane Austen.”
The Delaire Graff Estate in Stellenbosch is applauded for its botanical gardens, luxury accommodation with private plunge pools, and the personal art collection of the estate’s owner, British jeweller Laurence Graff, which “provides embellishments everywhere you look, including overhead, with 1,300 Perspex swallows swirling over diners at the Cape Malay-inspired Indochine restaurant”.
On the global list, compiled by a voting academy of more than 500 leading wine experts, sommeliers and travel experts, Argentina fares impressively with three vineyards in the top 10. There are 23 vineyards from Europe and France has the highest overall number of wineries with nine in the top 50 including the Champagne houses Maison Ruinart, Bollinger, Billecart-Salmon and Veuve Clicquot. With more first-time entrants than before, the 2023 list welcomed entries from Hungary, Georgia and Lebanon.
Continent winners also included Château Mercian Mariko Winery, in Japan, Rippon in Central Otago, New Zealand, and California's Jordan Vineyard and Winery, tucked into the hills of Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley.
Read more about the awards and all the winners here.
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