South Africa History/Laws

Question 1

Who planted the first vineyards in South Africa?

Answer 1

The history of the vine in South Africa can be traced to 1655, when Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town and established its first vineyard

Question 2

Although in the 17th c the wines of SA were considered revoltingly sour, the French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in their homeland.With this came a new wealth of winemaking knowledge came to the ____, and vineyards sprouted up in the 1680s and 1690s

Answer 2

Franschhoek Valley

Question 3

Who created Vin de Constance?

Answer 3

However, Governor Simon van der Stel’s Constantia estate eclipsed the modest winemaking tradition of his predecessors, and the sweet Vin de Constance became the first New World wine to be coveted throughout the courts of Europe.

Question 4

. SA struggles in 19th c?

Answer 4

• powdery mildew and phylloxera struck
• British finally abolished preferential tariffs in 1861, renewing competition between French wines and those of the Empire. Cape wines—often heavily treated with sulfur dioxide and fortified with poor brandy—simply could not compete in quality against French and German wines abroad or even at home
• expensive ocean transit rather than a short hop across the English Channel, and the Cape’s export trade suffered greatly
• Groot Constantia in 1885the root louse appeared on the property, ravaging the famous vineyards

…A golden era for Constantia ended, and South African vineyards, decimated by phylloxera and colonial war at the turn of the century, entered a period of decline

Question 5

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains AKA in SA?

Answer 5

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (also known in South Africa as Muscat de Frontignan or Muscadel). RED OR WHITE SKINNED.

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (also known in South Africa as Muscat de Frontignan or Muscadel) and its red-berried variant provided the base for white and red versions of Vin de Constance

Question 6

What happed to the constantia estate in 1712, and then in 1778? What was it called then?

Answer 6

Founded near Cape Town in 1685, Constantia—now a ward of the Coastal Region—was divided into two estates upon Stel’s death in 1712. In 1778, Groot Constantia, one of the original estates, was sold to Hendrik Cloete, who renovated the property and brought international acclaim to the wines.

Question 7

Grape for Vin de Constance and place in history?

Answer 7

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and its red-berried variant provided the base for white and red versions of Vin de Constance, a dried grape wine sold in the early 1800s to a plethora of dignitaries, including King Louis Philippe (the last king of France) and the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte.

Question 8

Ko-operatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika (KWV) in 1918?

Answer 8

formed in 1918 with the support of 90% of South Africa’s growers. The KWV, a cooperative of wine producers and growers, fixed minimum prices, determined areas of production and established production limits—powers formalized in the 1924 Wine and Spirits Control Act. It pulled the industry back from the brink of disaster but favored large producers and rewarded lower quality, as it set viable prices even for distillation wine.

Question 9

Ko-operatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika (KWV) in 1994-7?

Answer 9

However, the end of apartheid in 1994 and the transformation of the KWV into a private company in 1997 spurred a great renewal in the industry. International economic sanctions and boycotts were lifted, opening export markets, and the KWV relinquished its statutory powers and scrapped quotas as early as 1992, encouraging growers to focus on quality.

Question 10

What is SAWIS?

Answer 10

In 2002, The South African Wine & Spirit Board began to offer quality certification through SAWIS (South African Wine Information & Systems) in accordance with the Wine of Origin scheme, South Africa’s appellation system.

Question 11

What is SAWIT?

Answer 11

In 1999, the South African Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT) was established to speed transformation of South African wine and to empower black workers in an industry that had long relied on slave- and apartheid-era labor - cofounded by KWV practices.

Question 12

What is the WO?

Answer 12

The Wine of Origin (WO) system, introduced in 1973, compels producers seeking certification to submit a sample of the wine for evaluation by a tasting panel.

Question 13

What is a Single vineyard wine?

Answer 13

The term “Single Vineyard Wine” may be used for wines sourced solely from the vineyard, provided it is appropriately registered and of less than 6 hectares. -WO

Question 14

What is Estate Wine?

Answer 14

Estate wines must be produced from contiguous parcels of vineyard land, and vinified and bottled on a single property. -WO

Question 15

How do you know a bottle has been approved by the WO? What if there is not an indication?

Answer 15

A WO seal appears on all bottles of South African wine that pass certification. While it is an entirely voluntary process, none of the above claims—vintage, varietal, or area of production—may legally appear on any bottle that forgoes certification.

Question 16

WO Requirements

Answer 16

• tasting panel, which confirms that the wine shows the correct organoleptic qualities for its cultivar (variety) and age.
• scientific analysis
• Must be approved cultivar (75)
• as of 2006
• 85% grape
• Blends may list several grapes, if vinification occurred separately and each listed grape comprises a minimum 20% of the wine
• 85% vintage is also required
• 100% stated area

Question 17

What are the 4 types of production areas?

Answer 17

There are four types of production areas, in descending order of size: geographical unit, region, district, and ward.

Question 18

What is IPW?

Answer 18

In 1998, South Africa launched the Integrated Production of Wine Scheme (IPW), a voluntary means of certification for WO producers wishing to comply with sustainable environmental standards.

Question 19

IPW requirements?

Answer 19

The IPW sets guidelines for agricultural, manufacturing, and packaging practices, and certification falls under the jurisdiction of the SA Wine & Spirit Board. Wineries are judged on a number of points, including worker safety measures, handling of wastewater, carbon emissions, use of pesticides and other chemicals, and vineyard biodiversity. Starting with the 2010 vintage, wines that meet a minimum score in IPW evaluation (60% or better) and qualify for WO certification will be marked with a joint seal, indicating a “sustainable wine of origin,” rather than the basic WO seal.

Question 20

IPW wines and the future?

Answer 20

By 2011, 85% of South African WO wine carried this new seal, and virtually all WO wines in the future are expected to qualify for the IPW scheme as well.

Question 21

South Africa’s wine-producing areas are divided into five large geographical areas: What are they?

Answer 21

South Africa’s wine-producing areas are divided into five large geographical areas: Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, and Limpopo.

Question 22

What are the 5 production areas of the northern cape?

Answer 22

Northern Cape consists of only five production areas: the Douglas and Sutherland-Karoo districts, and the independent Hartswater, Central Orange River, and Rietrivier FS wards.

Question 23

Eastern Cape wards? Wards/Districts of Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo?

Answer 23

Eastern Cape has a single ward (St. Francis Bay) and Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo contain no other production areas.

Question 24

Where does most of south African wine production take place?

Answer 24

Western Cape

Question 25

Western Cape production areas?

Answer 25

Coastal Region, Cape South Coast, Breede River Valley, Klein Karoo, Olifants River, and Boberg.

Question 26

Western Cape Terroir

Answer 26

At a latitude of 27°-34°, the Western Cape’s climate is essentially Mediterranean, with warm, sunny growing seasons, although the Benguela Current flows north from Antarctica to cool the coastal areas. The Cape Doctor, a notoriously strong southeasterly wind, blows across the Western Cape throughout the spring and summer, inhibiting fungal disease and moderating temperature—but also ferociously battering the vines.

Question 27

Coolest area in all of SA

Answer 27

The Cape’s southernmost district, Cape Agulhas, offers the coolest climate in the country,- Western Cape

Question 28

South Africa’s warmest viticultural area?

Answer 28

Northern Cape production areas along the Orange River experience a hot, arid climate and are generally only suitable for bulk wines.

Question 29

South African name for varietal?

Answer 29

cultivar

Question 30

South African major White plantings

Answer 30

#1 Chenin/Steen occupying around 20% of the nation’s vineyards. 
#2Chardonnay
#3 SB
\+ Colombar(d) (a significant ingredient in South Africa's cheap dry whites), Cape Riesling (Crouchen), Semillon, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, various Muscats.

Question 31

Chenin blanc AKA?

Answer 31

Chenin Blanc, known locally as Steen

Question 32

What is Cape Riesling?

Answer 32

a synonym for Crouchen Blanc unrelated to Riesling

Question 33

What is Hanepoot?

Answer 33

Muscat of Alexandria

Question 34

What is Pinotage?

Answer 34

Cinsault x Pinot Noir Abraham Perold in 1925 - smoky fruity pungent

Question 35

What is Pontac?

Answer 35

a teinturier grape linked to the old red wines of Constantia, enjoys a limited revival amongst dedicated producers.

Question 36

What is Cap Classique?

Answer 36

Traditional method sparkling wines known as “Cap Classique” are increasingly produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Question 37

Fortified Styles in SA?

Answer 37

fortified styles include Cape Port and Sherry—terms that were phased out in 2012.
- Cape Port today is generally named according to its style: Cape Tawny, Cape Ruby, and so forth.

• Jerepigo - VDL/Mistelle
• Hanepoot - Fortified Muscat d’Alexandria
• Muscadelle - Fortified Muscat de Frontignan
• Sherry-style wines are marketed as Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Pale Cream, Pale Dry, Medium Dry, Full Cream and Old Brown in South Africa.

Question 38

Important red grapes of South Africa

Answer 38

Cabernet Sauvignon is now the dominant variety, followed at by Shiraz, then Pinotage and Merlot.
40%+ of vineyard land is Red Grapes

Question 39

What is Jerepigo?

Answer 39

Jerepigo is a fortified style of wine, made from red or white grapes. Mistelle/VDL, as it is fortified MUST, not fortified wine. Found in eastern fortified wine regions (Klein Karoo’s Calitzdorp, Western Cape’s Breede River Region, Boberg, Swartland, etc)