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MAGAZINE - MAY 2013
he roots of
the South African wine industry can be
traced to the explorations of the Dutch East
India Company which established a supply
station in what is now modern day Cape Town.
A Dutch surgeon, Jan van Riebeeck, was given
the task of managing the station and planting
vineyards to produce wines and grapes intended
to ward off scurvy amongst sailors during their
voyages along the spice route. The first
harvest and crushing took place in 1659,
seven years after landing in 1652. The
man succeeding Van Riebeeck as governor
of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der
Stel, sought to improve the quality of viticulture in
the region. In 1685, Van der Stel purchased a large
750 hectares (1,900 acres) estate just outside Cape
Town, establishing the Constantia wine estate. After
Van der Stel’s death, the estate fell into disrepair
but was revived in 1778 when it was purchased by
Hendrik Cloete.
While many growers gave up on winemak-
ing, choosing instead to plant orchards and
alfalfa fields to feed the growing ostrich
feather industry. The growers that did
replant with grapevines chose high yield-
ing grape varieties such as Cinsaut. By the
early 1900s more than 80 million vines
had been replanted, creating a wine lake.
Some producers would pour unsaleable
wine into local rivers and streams. The
depressed price caused by the imbalance
between supply and demand prompted
the South African government to fund the
formation of the Koöperatieve Wijnbouw-
ers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Bpkt
(KWV) in 1918. Initially started as a
co-operative, the KWV soon grew in
power and prominence to where it set
policies and prices for the entire South
African wine industry. To deal with the
wine glut, the KWV restricted yields and
set minimum prices that encouraged the
production of brandy and fortified wines.
For
much of the
20th century,
the wine
industry of South
Africa received very
little attention on the
world stage. Its isolation
was exacerbated by the boycotts of South African
products in protest against the country’s system of
Apartheid. It was not till
the late 1980s and 1990s
when Apartheid was ended and the
world’s export market opened up
that South African wines began to
experience a renaissance. Many
producers in South Africa quickly
adopted new viticultural and win-
emaking technologies. The presence
of flying winemakers from abroad
brought international influences and
focus on well-known varieties such
as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and
Chardonnay. The reorganization of
the powerful KWV co-operative into a private business further
sparked innovation and improvement in quality as vineyard
owners and wineries who had previously relied on the price-
fixing structure that bought their excess grapes for
distillation were forced to become more competi-
tive by shifting their focus to the production
of quality wine. In 1990, less than 30% of
all the grapes harvested was used for
wine
production
meant for