The Cape is famous for its wines – which were served to Napoleon and beloved by Jane Austen, Bismark and Frederick the Great.

But early photographs of the vineyards are hard to come by.

Here is a selection of images I have collected down the years. Most are dated from the 1880’s but some are even earlier.

My oldest – a photograph of a vineyard in Tamboerskloof, just above Cape Town, 1867

Vineyard in Constantia. This probably still exists as a farm, but which one?
Vineyard and Farm near Wynberg. Surely no longer a farm, but which suburb is it today?