South African
South African wines have a history dating back to 1659. Under apartheid, the industry struggled with inferior grape varieties and industrial winemaking, but the dismantling of the old state cooperatives and access to international markets has unleashed a burst of new energy and new investment.
Production is concentrated around Cape Town, with major vineyards and production centre at Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester. The South African wine industry produces about 1 million liters of wine annually.
There are about 60 appellations within the Wine of Origin (WO) system, which was implemented in 1973 with a hierarchy of designated production regions, districts and wards. More recently 3 "Geographical Units" have been declared, which may cover a number of WO Regions plus some additional districts and wards.
- WO wines must be made 100% from grapes from the designated area.
- "Single vineyard" wines must come from a defined area of less than 5 hectares.
- An "Estate Wine" can come from adjacent farms, as long as they are farmed together and wine is produced on site.
- A ward is an area with a distinctive soil type and/or climate, and is roughly equivalent to a European appellation.
- A district can contain several Terroirs, whereas a ward can't, which explains why Cape Point, with just one winery, is a district and not a ward.
- Varietal WO wines must contain at least 85% of the named variety (75% before 2006). About 75 varieties are currently approved for WO wines.
South Africa can claim her own grape variety in the Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault (known locally as Hermitage (grape)). Pinotage was bred in 1925 by Dr. Abraham Izak Perold, the first Professor of Viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch.
South Africa is also notable as the second home of Chenin Blanc, known locally as Steen. However there are a lot of dreary white wines produced from some low quality clones of Steen and Colombard. The grapes known locally as red and white Muscadel are probably Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains demonstrating its variable colouring.