Wine from South Africa

The arrival of Jan van Riebeeck at the Cape in 1652 heralded the beginning of wine-growing in South Africa. For it was he who recommended to the Dutch East India Company that the Cape, with her suitable grape-growing climate would serve as a useful victalling station for the ships on their passage to the East. Thus in 1655 a shipment of grape vine cuttings, mainly from France, arrived in Table Bay and soon after the first vineyards were planted. In 1659 the first wine was made by Jan van Riebeeck himself.

Jan van Riebeeck may never have dreamed that out of the humble vineyard planted in his garden at the foot of Table Mountain would grow sprawling wine farms and complex corporations, and yet their raison d'etre remains the same. For nature has endowed the southern tip of the African continent, with a climate well-suited for grape growing and has over the centuries attracted people to exploit its full potential