From the oceanside town of Hermanus to the Bot River, the coastal appellation of Walker Bay is one of the prettiest in a nation full of attractive wine regions. Its maritime climate allows for the kind of truly Burgundian-styled Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that’s impossible in most of South Africa.

The Arctic Benguela current brings cool air and water to the region to encourage a long, even ripening season, and the shale and sandstone soils promote small yields of excellent quality and structure.

Walker Bay is located in the Cape Overberg Region, about an hour from Cape Town. It is a cool-climate wine area that produces some of South Africa’s greatest wines. With a marine environment and Antarctic currents cooling the long heated summers and delaying grape ripening, wines from this region have tremendous fruit concentration as well as exuberant natural acidity. The region is well-known for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as its crisp, mineral Sauvignon Blanc, and it also produces wines from Merlot and Syrah, among other grapes.

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