HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN WINE

The South African wine industry has come a long way since the first unsuccessful attempt to grow grapes in the area known today as the Cape Winelands.

When the Dutch East India Company established a refreshment station, to provide fresh food and water for its own needs, and to supply passing Dutch ships, at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 under the command of Jan van Riebeeck, it was not their intention to practice viticulture. Holland had never been a wine producing country and so the Dutch did not initially succeed in producing drinkable wine. However, Dutch merchant traders noticed that crews on ships from the wine producing Mediterranean countries suffered less from the dreaded disease scurvy, and this was mainly because of their wine consumption.

The introduction of viticulture at the Cape was largely due to the horticultural experiments of Van Riebeeck. He wanted to know if the grapevine would do well in the Cape, and successfully imported vines from France, the Rhineland and Spain in 1655.

Jan van Riebeeck was lavish in his praise of the first wine that was produced in 1659. A modest 15 litres made of Muscadel grapes and “round white grapes”. Others were less enthusiastic, and it took many years before Cape wines earned the respect of Europe. In his journal he wrote: “Today, praise be to God, wine was pressed for the first time from Cape grapes…”

Just two decades after wine was first produced in the Cape, a new governor arrived on the scene. His name was Simon van der Stel. He continued to develop areas even further from Cape Town with much greater enthusiasm than his predecessors. In 1679 he established the foundations of what was to become the charming town of Stellenbosch. Today one of the centers of the South African wine industry.

His own estate of Constantia was granted to him not long afterwards, and soon it became really famous. Kings and princes of Europe clamoured for the sublime "Vin de Constance" - and the wine was even praised in the novels of Austen and Dickens. The South African wine industry that originated from the Cape Winelands has not looked back.

The Huguenot Settlers - Towards the end of the 17th century, freedom of religion was abolished in France and the Protestant Huguenots were persecuted and many were killed for their beliefs. Thousands fled to Holland where some found their way aboard ships bound for the little Cape settlement. They brought with them a sound knowledge of viniculture and were allocated land in the Cape Winelands - areas now known as Franschhoek, Paarl and Drakenstein, where they contributed to the improvement of the South African wine industry.

The drink has long since passed the stage of being merely a remedy for scurvy, and today the South African wine industry and Cape wines are once again in demand around the world.