South Africa

Question 1

South Africa - History

Answer 1

• Wine has been made in SA for over 350 years
• first wines planted in 1654
• 1688: 150 Hugenottes fled France, arrived in SA at Franschhoek and planted vineyards
• Governor Simon van der Stel planted vineyards at Constantia the same time
• Most of the wine production originally went to brandy and fortified wines (still important for the local market)

Question 2

What is WOSA?

Answer 2

Wine of South Africa is a non-profit industry organization that promotes the export of all South African wine in the key international markets.

Question 3

WO scheme - South Africa

• when started legislation
• when are certification seals awarded
• what is certified?

Answer 3

Wine of origin legislation started in 1973 with the main goal to protect both, producers and consumers.

Certification seal is awarded after tasting and it guarantees label correctness.

• Vintage: 75% must come from the indicated vintage
• Grape variety: 85% must be of that
• place: 100% of the grapes need to be from there

Hierarchy in size of production area:

• Estate wine (individual wineries, bottled at source)
• Ward (such as Franschhoek)
• Districts (such as Paarl, Stellenbosch)
• Regions
• Geographical units (such as Western Cape)

Smaller units are not necessarily part of a larger one. This leads to untidy production boundaries.