Constantia is where wine began in South Africa, and it still has the air of a place that knows it. The valley lies on the eastern side of the Table Mountain chain, sheltered from the Atlantic, with old oak avenues, whitewashed Cape Dutch farmhouses and vineyards climbing toward the steep slopes of the Constantiaberg. It is one of Cape Town's leafiest and wealthiest suburbs, but the farms are open to visitors and the roads around it are some of the most beautiful in the city.
The story starts with Simon van der Stel, the Dutch East India Company governor, who was granted the land in 1685 and built Groot Constantia, whose gabled manor house is now a museum. A century later the farm's sweet wine, Vin de Constance, was famous across Europe: Napoleon had it shipped to him in exile on St Helena, and Jane Austen mentions Constantia wine in Sense and Sensibility as a cure for a broken heart. The style was revived in modern times and you can taste it today, along with the region's sauvignon blanc, which loves the cool breezes from False Bay.
For riders, the best road begins at the top of the valley. Constantia Nek is the saddle between the mountains, and the road drops from it through forest and down to Hout Bay, which leads to Chapman's Peak Drive, the toll road cut into the cliffs above the Atlantic. Rhodes Drive runs the other way, under trees along the slope past Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden to Newlands. Both are twisty, shaded and slow enough to keep you honest, with cyclists and walkers on weekends. For the longer rides east, to Clarence Drive, the winelands or the passes beyond, you leave on the M3 and the N2, which are busy but quick.
The weather is a factor. In summer the southeaster, the Cape Doctor, can blow ferociously across the Cape Flats and the N2, while winter brings rain and the mountains catch the clouds. Spring and autumn are lovely, with green vines and long, clear light.
Constantia has shopping centres with fuel, cafes and supermarkets, and the wine farms have restaurants, though booking is often necessary at the popular ones. Taste with discipline: South Africa enforces drink-driving limits and the roads out of the valley are not the place for a heavy head.