As far as areas of outstanding beauty go, you don't get much better than the Elgin Valley, a hop, skip and jump over the Hottentots Holland Mountains from Cape Town. The Elgin Valley is one of the more intensively farmed areas of the country and produces nearly two-thirds of the national apple crop. That's a startling fact for an area so small but less surprising when you enter the area and the gorgeous weather greets you. Of course, as South Africans, we know we're unlikely to get a sniff of it, with most of our best fruit exported to Britain. Mutter, mutter, mutter.
Surrounded by mountains and with cool temperatures, an ocean breeze and plentiful winter rainfall, the Elgin basin has conditions for wine growing thatStellenbosch, Franschhoek end other well-known wine-growing regions. The area's Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs are particularly well received. The wine farms here may not be as famous, but that does not mean they're any less impressive.
