Thus far, the wineries represented comprise: Bouchard Finlayson, De Rust, De Wetshof, Fairview, Jordan, Hamilton Russell, Klein Constantia, Meerlust, Morgenster, Rustenberg, Vilafonté and Warwick. The significance of this launch is two-fold in that South Africa is the first African country to receive Street View from Google - more than 50 US cities as well as large areas of Australia, Japan and Europe are presently visible in Street View, which was first launched in May 2007, and is hugely popular worldwide - and the Cape winelands are privileged to boast the elite status of being the first wine region in the world to be captured. Juliet Cullinan, one of South Africa's leading wine critics, expounded on why the inclusion of the winelands in Street View was indeed fitting: "The Cape winelands are internationally renowned and deemed an iconic part of South Africa's heritage. As the first winelands ever to be included in Google's cutting edge Street View initiative, wine-lovers all over the world can explore the beautiful estates of some of our leading producers. " Street View adds another dimension to Google Maps, with 360º street-level images taken by the Google cars and trikes around a plethora of the world's cities, procuring images of some of each respective country's most popular landmarks. For instance, in South Africa, in addition to the winelands, Google Street View provides users with opportunities to view and navigate panoramic images of a few of our celebrated attractions including: the legendary Kruger National Park and the natural wonder of The Blyde River Canyon. You can now: check out a restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, get a helping hand with geography homework or just explore and get to know the country better. Over and above the obvious consumer advantages, South African businesses can also benefit from the Street View technology, promoting their services by embedding Google Maps directly into their sites free of charge. Users can view major roads, and, thereby plan routes and print out directions. Julie Taylor, Communications Manager for Google South Africa commented: "This is a really exciting development for South Africans, who can now explore the country in new ways, whether a local neighbourhood or a coastal route they've never travelled along. But it's also going to be a massive bonus for the tourism industry, especially with all the international visitors on their way to South Africa in June for the World Cup." Using Street View In areas where Street View is available, one can view the images on Google Maps (on a PC or internet-enabled mobile) by zooming into the lowest level, or by dragging the orange "pegman" icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. Google has gone to great lengths to safeguard privacy, while simultaneously allowing all users to benefit from this trend-setting feature. Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads has technological adaptations which automatically blur faces and licence plates. In addition, any user can easily flag images for removal that he or she considers inappropriate by clicking on the icon "report a problem". The full list of wineries currently in Street View is: Bouchard Finlayson De Rust Estate De Wetshof Fairview Jordan Hamilton Russell Klein Constantia Meerlust Morgenster Rustenberg Vilafonté Warwick Please click here to view Google Street View.