The Western Cape is home to the vast majority of the South African wine industry, and the country's two most famous wine regions, Stellenbosch and Paarl. The city of Cape Town serves as the epicentre of the Cape Winelands, a mountainous, biologically diverse area in the south-western corner of the African continent.

The Western Cape's wine regions stretch 300 kilomers (185 miles) from Cape Town to the mouth of the Olifants River in the north, and 360km (220 miles) to Mossel Bay in the east. Areas under vine are rarely more than 160km (100 miles) from the coast. Further inland, the influence of the semi-arid Great Karoo Desert takes over. The climate can be cool and rainy (as in Cape Point and Walker Bay) but is more often than not Mediterranean in nature.