South Africa

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) recounts that the Dutch East India Company set up a refreshment station at the Cape in 1652 and that Governor Jan van Riebeeck planted a vineyard in 1655; on 2 February 1659 he wrote that wine had been made from Cape grapes for the first time. Simon van der Stel, governor from 1679, founded the town of Stellenbosch and planted about 10,000 vines on his Constantia farm in 1685. About 150 French Huguenots arrived in 1688 and settled mainly at Franschhoek, and their skills helped the industry grow.

Constantia wine was exported to Europe from 1761 and was famous there by 1788. Phylloxera destroyed millions of Cape vines from 1886. The KWV co-operative was formed in 1918, Professor Perold crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut in 1925 to create Pinotage, the Stellenbosch Wine Route opened in 1971 and the Wine of Origin legislation was instituted in 1973.

WOSA places the vineyards at 27–34°S, mostly in the Western Cape near the coast, along a stretch about 800 km long. The climate is Mediterranean and cooler than the latitude suggests: the traditional areas are seldom more than 50 km from the ocean, the cold Benguela current chills the Atlantic coast, and sea breezes and the south-easter cool the vineyards in summer. Rain falls mainly from May to August, up to 1,000 mm a year on the coastal side, and declines to the north and north-west, where irrigation is essential.

The Cape fold mountains consist mainly of Table Mountain sandstone, while much of the Klein Karoo lies on Bokkeveld shale. ARC research describes the Stellenbosch, Paarl and Malmesbury districts of the western coastal foreland as underlain by granite intrusions and Malmesbury Group shale. River valleys such as Breedekloof have alluvial soils, and Robertson lime-rich soils.

The Wine of Origin scheme rests on the view that natural factors, soil, climate and topography, influence a wine's character more than human inputs, and that each area of origin lends its own character, some areas suiting particular styles. A ward must have a relatively homogeneous pattern of natural factors and a real place name, and must show that it can produce wine of distinctive character; districts are defined by broader features such as mountains and rivers and should reflect a distinctive climate. WOSA presents Cape wines as combining Old World restraint with New World fruit, and credits terroir research at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij and Stellenbosch University with better matching of varieties to sites.

Under the scheme, 'Wine of Origin' or 'W.O.' with an area name certifies that 100% of the grapes come from that demarcated area. The units nest: geographical units such as the Western Cape; five regions in the Western Cape (Breede River Valley, Cape South Coast, Coastal Region, Klein Karoo and Olifants River), with Cape Coastal joining two of them; 32 districts, including Stellenbosch and Swartland; and about 102 wards, usually but not always inside a district. Estate wine must be grown, made and bottled on one unit, and a single vineyard may not exceed 6 ha.

A cultivar may be named only from the approved list and if at least 85% of the wine comes from it; a vintage needs at least 85% from that year and certification by the Wine Certification Authority. Pinotage is the best known of the local crossings. The OIV put 2024 production at 8.8 million hl, the lowest since 2005.