SOUTH AFRICAN WINE HISTORY
Jan van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Cape, planted a vineyard in 1655, and on 2 February 1659, the first wine was made from Cape grapes. This led to the planting of vines on a larger scale at Roschheuvel, known today as Bishopscourt, Wynberg.
The Dutch had almost no wine tradition and it was only after the French Huguenots settled at the Cape between 1680 and 1690 that the wine industry began to flourish. As religious
refugees, the Huguenots had very little money and had to make do with the bare essentials. They also had to adapt their established winemaking techniques to new conditions.
During these centuries, Constantia wine was the most prized sweet wine throughout the world, particularly highly valued by the kings and the emperors of Europe. From the Prussian
King Frederick the Great and King George IV of England to King Louis-Philippe of France, almost all the crowned heads imbibed it. Legend has it that Napoleon Bonaparte, while in exile on the isle of Saint Helena (1815–1821), requested a glass of Constantia wine on the evening of his death .
The first half of the 19th century brought prosperity to the industry. The British occupation of the Cape, in addition to Britain's war with France, created a large new market for Cape
wines. The vines at the Cape increased within 45 years from 13 to 55 million and wine production from 0,5 million to 4,5 million liters.
However, 1861 brought disaster. Britain finally resolved her differences with France, and South Africa's wine exports collapsed. In 1886, the disease phylloxera was discovered at the
Cape and decimation of the vineyards followed.
The year 1899 saw the beginning of the Anglo-Boer War. The wine industry was in chaos. A proliferation of new plantings caused
overproduction and 25 years of hardship followed. It was Charles Kohler who set out to alleviate the situation. His efforts led to the
creation in 1918 of the Ko-operatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Beperkt (KWV). An umbrella for its farmer members, the KWV brought stability to the industry, placing it
on the road to growth and prosperity. The foundation was laid for today's thriving wine industry