The history of wine cultivation in South Africa is more of a saga than a story.  Even though wine grapes have been grown, and wine produced, in the country for hundreds of years, none of it ever made an international impact…until now.  The situation is due partly to political isolation and partly to a certain contrarian way of thinking, keeping the South African wine world in the Dark Ages for as long as anyone can remember.

That’s all changed.

Prospect wine country

But let’s go back a bit.  Time was, when the majority of grapes in the country’s winegrowing regions (Stellenbosch, Franschoek, and others) were sold to cooperatives – basically a large group of farmers selling fruit to a central facility that produced wine that was, at best, undistinguished.  And the majority of the wine production was under the control of a central quasi-governmental agency called KVW, which placed more importance on quantity than on quality.

Next, the government, for reasons that nobody has ever understood, prohibited the importation of foreign grape varietals, so that most growers were forced to grow what was already there, such as Pinotage and Chenin Blanc, which they call Steen.  Now, Pinotage is capable of being made into extremely drinkable wine, but mostly it wasn’t. 

Third, there was the economic isolation of the country due to apartheid.  It’s likely that only Argentina faced more political and economic challenges in the international wine market than South Africa.

But not any more.  Today, the country is producing (and, luckily, exporting) world class wines make from the prime noble varietals, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, and others.  Pinotage, when it’s grown at all, is now being made into a much more distinguished drinking experience.  Famous South African names like golfer Ernie Els are in the business, and that certainly doesn’t hurt.

For a country that has only recently made a worldwide wine impact, the viticultural history is actually quite long.  It can be traced back to the Huguenots (so named because they were Not Huge) who arrived at the Cape of Good Hope around 1686-1688, fleeing the religious persecution (some things never change) decreed by the Edict of Nantes.  The city named Franschoek means “French Town” in Afrikaans.  Many were experienced farmers, with special skills in viticulture (they were French, after all) and in less than 50 years they planted over a million vines.

Normally, we’d think of South Africa as a “new world” region, but the wine styles give more than a casual nod to Old World tastes.  Many of the reds are redolent of game and earth, much like good Cotes du Rhone.  Since the major winegrowing regions are clustered in the extreme south of the country, and since they receive abundant cooling ocean breezes, the white wines (Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay) are likely to be fruit-driven with crisp acidity.  Recently, the industry has begun experimenting with Sauvignon Blanc, hoping, no doubt, to cash in on the tremendous popularity of the grape (thank you, New Zealand).

Many excellent examples of South African wine will be available for your international sampling pleasure at the Grand Tasting.  And here’s more good news:  if you’re in the mood for a wine journey to this up-and-coming region, most of the major winegrowing regions are an easy drive from Capetown.

Gesondheid!

Harvest in South Africa -- very mechanized

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.