South African Wine

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The history of wine-making in South Africa began as the Dutch East India company established a “refreshment station” at the Cape for trading fleets (a precursor to the truck stop) in 1652. Jan van Riebeeck, the first Cape governor planted the first vineyard in 1655 and others followed with various Dutch immigrants. The Constantia vineyard was first planted by Simon van der Stel and gained some notoriety. But since the Dutch, face it, aren’t really known for their viticultural skills, it wasn’t until the French Huguenots settled in the Cape around the 1680s that more refined wine-making techniques were practiced.

But South African wines still had yet to catch on in the rest of the world. In the 18th century, there was a shortage of proper oak barrels for aging, and terroirs and climates had yet to be matched to the grapes most suited to grow in them. But the British occupation of the Cape finally helped nudge things along in the mid century, since they were still on bad terms with France, and happy to source wine from other countries. Until the Phylloxera crisis hit South Africa by the end of the 1800s, and once again, the system needed rebuilding.

In 1918, Charles Kohler established the Ko-operative Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Africa Beperkt (which is thankfully abbreviated to KMV) to regulate the wine industry.

But South Africa’s big moment arrived in 1925 when Stellenbosch University Professor A.I. Perold crossed Cinsault and Pinot Noir to create a unique South African hybrid, Pinotage. Say what you will about this grape of acquired taste (berries and rubber tires...yum?). But this varietal did catch on and many wineries planted the grape for domestic and export bottlings by the 1960s. However, many countries were wary to do much business with South Africa due to its ongoing Apartheid practices. By the 1980s, a full stop embargo was enacted between countries such as the US and South Africa, which once again halted the industry since international investments in its wine dried up. Even when the embargo was finally lifted at the end of the decade, much of what was exported had garnered a poor reputation since this isolation held back modern techniques and quality advances in wine-making.

But in the 1990s, once trade relations stabilized, foreign investment came pouring in. There were many opportunities for growth, and soon a range of formidable Old World and New World styles of wine were being produced and exported. Pinotage is the most popular red grape, along with Shiraz (Syrah), Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Merlot. Chenin Blanc is the most popular white varietal, along with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

The subregions of South Africa are:

*Eastern Cape

*KwaZulu-Natal

*Northern Cape (which includes the Orange River region)

*Western Cape (which produces the majority of the country’s wines and includes the Breede River Valley, Cape Agulhas, Coastal Region, Klein Karoo, Olifants River, Overberg, Ruiterbosch and Walker Bay regions)

– Description from Amanda Schuster (hide)

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Mentor for South African Wines

Wisequeen Donna Jackson

Passionate wine enthusiast/writer/consultant.Specialist on Italy, where She has made her home and kingdom for the past decade. Travels extensively in Europe and New world,Portugal,Douro, South Africa,and in particular Bordeaux style wines, loves Dolcetto

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Varietals Produced in South Africa View all

Pinotage

History of the grape: In 1925, Stellenbosch University Chief Horticulture Professor Abraham Izak Perold created the P...
Cabernet Sauvignon

“King of the Red Wine Grapes.” The colonizer of the vineyards, pushing native wine grapes into its shadows. The Caber...
Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is widely grown in California -- at over 15,000 acres, it’s now the third most planted variety -- and...
Chenin Blanc

History of the grape: Modern day French oenologist Pierre Galet states Chenin Blanc has been in France at least since...
Syrah

The irony here is that Syrah’s origins could give Carmen Sandiego a run for her international wallet. Syrah’s deepest...
Chardonnay

British wine writer and critic, Jancis Robinson, once noted that throughout the 80’s and 90’s in the United States, C...

Subregions of South Africa

Breede River Valley

The Breede River Valley is a low altitude, flat wine region in South Africa. Much of it ha...
Bot River
Coastal Region

The Coastal Region, within the Western Cape district, is considered the heart of the South...

Popular Wineries in South Africa View all

Tall Horse

Tall Horse is a winery in the Western Cape, at the tip of South Africa, named for the nickname ...
Jam Jar

Jam Jar was born out of the realization that there are not a lot of options available to consu...
Neil Ellis Wines

Neil Ellis Wines differs from most South African wineries in that instead of owning vineyards we ...
Boland Kelder

Situated in the picturesque Paarl Valley, Boland Cellar has much to boast about. Nominated as one...
Robertson Winery

Our winery has a long-standing tradition of dedicated grape-growing families, some of whom are 4t...
Rupert & Rothschild

At the foot of the spectacular Simonsberg mountain in the Franschhock Valley lies the historic Fr...

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