In the mid-1600s the VOC (Dutch East India Company) created a halfway stop between Europe and Asia at a place the indigenous peoples called Kamissa (‘sweet water’). These were early days for Cape Town, where ships would restock on food supplies and fresh water for the VOC’s trip eastwards or back to the north.

The French Huguenots brought their old-world knowledge of viticulture and oenology to the Cape towards the turn of the 17^th century, resulting in South Africa’s heritage of over three centuries of finely-honed wine-making.

Cape Town became a cultural melting pot of settlers with pioneering ideas; indigenous people with an intimate knowledge of the land and its botanical treasures; as well as workers from the east, whose descendents added spicy cuisine and entrepreneurial flair to the mix.