The history of the vine in South Africa can be traced to 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town and established its first vineyard.
The first wines of the colony, derided by contemporaries for their “revolting sourness,” emerged seven years later to sustain sailors bound for the East Indies on the long ocean voyage. But with the arrival of French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in their homeland in the late 1680s and early 1690s came a new wealth of winemaking knowledge. The Huguenots settled between Paarl and Stellenbosch in a region that became known as Franschhoek (meaning “French Quarter”) and established vineyards. Around this same time, Governor Simon van der Stel’s Constantia estate eclipsed the modest winemaking tradition of his predecessors and introduced sweet Vin de Constance, then called the "governor's wine," to the world. This wine would be coveted throughout the courts of Europe and holds its prestige even now, over 300 years later. Founded near Cape Town in 1685, Constantia—now a ward of the Coastal Region—was divided into three estates upon van der Stel’s death in 1712. In 1778, Groot Constantia, one of these estates, was sold to Hendrik Cloete, who renovated the property and brought international acclaim to the wines.
South African wines flourished under British colonial rule, but in the latter half of the 19th century, powdery mildew and phylloxera struck. Compounding the industry’s misfortunes, the British finally abolished preferential tariffs in 1861, renewing competition with French wines. In the absence of such tariffs, Cape wines—often heavily treated with sulfur dioxide and fortified with poor brandy—simply
I wish the maps were a little better.. don't see Orange River, Hout Bay, Cape Peninsula
Dexter West I'm late to the game here, but a couple of clarifications:
First off, Jerepigo is just a mistelle; it can be made from any variety (including muscadel, of course), but there is plenty of Muscadel vinified in other styles in South Africa, most famously Vin de Constance.
Also, do note that what the South Africans refer to as Muscadel is in fact Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains, which is a totally distinct variety from the Moscadelle we see in Bergerac and Rutherglen.
Vincent Morrow thanks for the information. Do you mind sending me links with your sources and I'll update.
Also, Sutherland-Karoo now may have the highest vineyards in South Africa if we're looking beyond the Western Cape. Mount Sutherland Winery is producing wine from vineyards 1500m above sea level, whereas Cederburg's vineyards range 900-1050m (although the peak of the mountains reaches above 2000m).
Just a clarification, I believe the Vredendal winery may be one of the larger co-ops in South Africa, but I don't think it's the largest, overall. If we're including total production (grapes, concentrate, juice, etc), then it would be Orange River Cellars, whom claims to also be the largest co-op in the southern hemisphere.