South Africa Flashcards
What grape is vital to the Cape Blend?
Pinotage
What is Cape Riesling?
Crouchen Blanc
What crossing created Pinotage? How did this grape get its name?
Pinot Noir x Cinsaut
Cinsaut used to be called Hermitage in South Africa and thus the name is a compound of both Pinot and Hermitage = Pinotage
What are the 9 districts of the Coastal Region?
Lutzville Valley Swartland Tullbagh Darling Wellington Paarl Franschhoek Valley Stellenbosch Cape Town
Who revived the iconic Constantia wine style and produces Vin de Constance and what is the grape and region of its production?
Klein Constantia
Produced from Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains)
Produced in the Constantia Ward within the Cape Town District of the Coastal Region
In what region is the Elgin district located and what are the top three performing grapes there?
Cape South Coast Region; Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir.
What is the southernmost wine growing ward in South Africa? In what district and region is it located?
Elim in the Cape Agulhas district located within the Cape South Coast Region.
What defines an estate wine in South Africa?
Term for a wine that was grown, made, and bottled on a single geographical unit registered with the Wine and Spirit Board.
What is the name of the cooling ocean current that influences viticulture in South Africa and where does it flow?
Benguela current; flows north along the western side of the African continent and at its southern tip where it meets the warm Agulhas Current.
Where do the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet?
Cape Agulhas
What are dessert wines in South Africa called that are produced from botrytized grapes? What is a late-harvest wine produced from unbotrytized grapes called?
Edel Laat-Oes; Laat-Oes is the name for late harvest wines produced from unbotrytized grapes.
What is the name for noble rot in South Africa?
Edelkeur
What is Frontignac in South Africa? What is it in Australia?
In South Africa it a sweet wine produced from Muscat de Frontignan.
In Australia it is a synonym for Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
What is the traditional synonym for Muscat of Alexandria in South Africa?
Hanepoot
Which cooperative with close political ties dominated the South African wine industry during the time of apartheid in the 20th century?
Ko-operatieve Wijnbouwers Veriniging van Zuid-Afrika (KWV)
When did the Dutch first settle in South Africa and for what reason did they establsih a settlement there?
1652; to establish a an outpost halfway between the Netherlands and India where the Dutch merchant ships could replenish supplies along the trade route.
Who was responsible for planting South Africa’s first grape vines?
Jan van Riebeeck
What was the role of the free burgher in South Africa’s early days?
These were old members of the Dutch East India Company that worked in the vineyards for land and who along with slave labor were the backbone of the labor force in South African vineyards in the early days.
What iconic wine of Cape Town was first known as the “governor’s wine”? Who was responsible for growing the estate that would produce this wine?
Constantia; Simon van der Stel
When did the French Huguenots arrive in South Africa and where did they settle? What influence did they have on viticulture?
1680s through the 1690s
They settled between Stellenbosch and Paarl in what would become the Franschhoek Valley (French Quarter).
They brought with them technical expertise in both viticulture and vinification that would boost the quality of wine being produced though some believe this influence was overstated.
What grape of South Africa was historically called “Greengrape” and what was the most significant export produced from it in the 1700s?
Semillon; brandy
When was the Cape Colony ceded to Great Britain and how did this influence viticultural development in South Africa?
1814; under British control tariffs on South African wine were reduced encouraging vineyard expansion particularly around the areas of Stellenbosch, Paarl, and the area immediately surrounding the cape.
What advancement led to the development of Robertson and Swartland’s vineyard areas?
The expansion of the South African railway system.
In what year did the British abolish slavery in South Africa?
1834