Western Cape Wine
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Western Cape Wine
Western Cape is a Geographical Unit within the Wine of Origin classification system of South African wine. Corresponding to the province of Western Cape it includes most of the vineyards in South Africa. Style The wines of the Western Cape range from sturdy Rhone-style red wines to aromatic Sauvignon blancs in vineyards cooled by breezes off the Atlantic. History On 2 February 1659 the founder of Cape Town, Jan van Riebeeck, produced the first wine recorded in South Africa. In 1685, the Constantia estate was established in a valley facing False Bay by the Governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel. His 'Vin de Constance' soon acquired a good reputation. But it was Hendrik Cloete, who bought the homestead in 1778, who really made the name of Constantia famous, with an unfortified wine made from a blend of mostly Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), Pontiac, red and white Muscadel (probably clones of Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains??) and a little Chenin blanc. It ...
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South African Wine Regions
The wine regions of South Africa were defined under the "Wine of Origin" (''Wyn van Oorsprong'') act of 1973. Mirroring the French ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) system, all South African wines listing a "Wine of Origin" must be composed entirely of grapes from its region.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 445-446 Dorling Kindersley 2005 The "Wine of Origins" (WO) program mandates how wine regions of South Africa are defined and can appear on wine labels. While some aspects of the WO are taken from the AOC, the WO is primarily concerned with accuracy in labeling. As a result, the WO does not place adjunct regulations on wine regions such as delineating permitted varieties, trellising methods, irrigation techniques, and crop yields. The WO system divides growing regions into four categories. The largest and most generic are Geographical Units (such as the Western Cape region) which subsume the smaller, but still broad spanning Regions (such as Cap ...
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Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine'' alludes to the grape variety having tightly clustered, pinecone–shaped bunches of fruit. Pinot Noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in cooler climates, and the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy (wine), Burgundy region of France (wine), France. Pinot Noir is now used to make red wines around the world, as well as champagne, Sparkling wine, sparkling white wines such as the Italian wine, Italian Franciacorta, and Wine from the United Kingdom, English sparkling wines. Regions that have gained a reputation for red pinot noir wines include the Willamette Valley (wine), Willamette Valley of Oregon (wine), Oregon; the Carneros (AVA), Carneros, Central Coast (AVA), Central Coast, Sonoma Coast AVA, Sonoma ...
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Cape Winelands District Municipality
The Cape Winelands District Municipality, formerly the Boland District Municipality, is a district municipality located in the Boland region of the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011, it had a population of 787,490. The largest towns in the municipality are Paarl, Worcester, Stellenbosch and Wellington. Geography The boundaries of this municipality, which covers an area of , coincide roughly with the boundaries of the geographical area that has been known since the early days of the Cape Colony as " The Boland". In Afrikaans Boland means "up land" or "the higher land" or "the land above" (i.e. in contrast to the low coastal areas of the original Dutch settlement at the Cape). However, the term "Boland", as originally used, was a loose concept, with no defined borders (cf. the informal but not meaningless terms "The Sahara" or "The Rocky Mountains"). The Boland is generally mountainous, with range after range of beautiful and isolated sandstone peaks reaching toward ...
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Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bezanson Hugues (1491–1532?), was in common use by the mid-16th century. ''Huguenot'' was frequently used in reference to those of the Reformed Church of France from the time of the Protestant Reformation. By contrast, the Protestant populations of eastern France, in Alsace, Moselle, and Montbéliard, were mainly Lutherans. In his ''Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', Hans Hillerbrand wrote that on the eve of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572, the Huguenot community made up as much as 10% of the French population. By 1600, it had declined to 7–8%, and was reduced further late in the century after the return of persecution under Louis XIV, who instituted the '' dragonnades'' to forcibly convert Protestants, and then finally revoke ...
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Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics during the course of the 18th century. Now spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, estimates circa 2010 of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. Most linguists consider Afrikaans to be a partly creole language. An estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary is of Dutch origin with adopted words from other languages including German and the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa. Differences with Dutch include a more analytic-type morphology and grammar, and some pronunciations. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form. About 13.5% of the South ...
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Boland, Western Cape
The Boland (Afrikaans for "top country" or "land above") is a region of the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated to the northeast of Cape Town in the middle and upper courses of the Berg and Breede Rivers, around the Boland Mountains of the central Cape Fold Belt. It is sometimes also referred to as the Cape Winelands because it is the primary region for the making of Western Cape wine. Geography Although the Boland does not have defined boundaries, its core lies around the Boland Mountains and the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Worcester. It may be understood to extend as far as Malmesbury, Tulbagh, Swellendam and Somerset West. This is approximately the area included in the Cape Winelands District Municipality, which was formerly called the Boland District Municipality. To the southwest lies the Cape Town metropolitan area, to the northwest the Swartland and West Coast, to the northeast the Great Karoo, to the east the Little Karoo, and to the south the Overberg. ...
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Wellington, South Africa
Wellington is a town in the Western Cape Winelands, a 45-minute drive from Cape Town, in South Africa with a population of approximately 62,000. Wellington's economy is centered on agriculture such as wine, table grapes, deciduous fruit, and a brandy industry. The town is located 75 km north-east of Cape Town, reached by the N1 motorway and R44. Due to the growth of the Flakkaland and Mbekweni township south of the town, it now forms a de facto urban unit with Paarl, just 10 km to the south. Wellington now officially falls under the Drakenstein Local Municipality, which also covers Saron and Paarl. Location Wellington is situated at the foot of the Groenberg on the banks of the Kromme Rivier (Dutch for Crooked River) and forms the center of the Cape Winelands with its picturesque environment and numerous wineries. The town is at the base of one of the oldest mountain passes in South Africa, Bain's Kloof Pass, built by master road-builder Andrew Geddes Bain. The to ...
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Robertson, Western Cape
Robertson is a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa founded on the theft of KHOIKHOI First nation land and cattle, known as the valley of wine and roses, at the heart of the wine route - Route 62 (South Africa), Route 62. Khoikhoi First nation land was stolen in 1853 and named after Dr , a Scotland, Scottish Dutch Reformed Church minister. Situated in the fertile Robertson Valley, farming and wagon building were the town's original industries. However, after the Second Second Boer War, Anglo-Boer War of 1899, the wagon building industry collapsed when the railways took over the transport of all goods. Robertson subsequently became famous for its ostrich farming, but this industry collapsed as well shortly after World War I, and the farmers of the area turned to wine and fruit farming. Later, several successful racehorse stud farms were founded. Agriculture remains the mainstay of the town's economy. Tourism Tourism has grown in recent years and the town has several ...
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Paarl
Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch) and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington. It is situated about northeast of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province and is known for its scenic environment and viticulture and fruit-growing heritage. Paarl is the seat of the Drakenstein Local Municipality; although not part of the Cape Town metropolitan area, it falls within its economic catchment. Paarl is unusual among South African place-names, in being pronounced differently in English than in Afrikaans; likewise unusual about the town's name is Afrikaners customary attachment to it, saying not ''in Paarl'', but rather ''in die Paarl'', or ''in die Pêrel'' (lite ...
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Franschhoek
Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. Formerly known as Oliphants hoek (as there were vast groups of elephants roaming the valley). It is situated about 75 kilometres from Cape Town a 45 minute drive away. The whole area including townships such as Groendal and suburbs such as Wemmershoek has a population of slightly over 20,000 people while the town proper, known as Hugenote, has a population of around 1,000. Since 2000, it has been incorporated into Stellenbosch Municipality. Mentioned in Time (magazine) top 50 places in the world to visit for 2022. History Franschhoek's original inhabitants are the Khoisan peoples. They are now mostly extinct, but their descendants continue to live in the area as mixed race (Khoisan and French/Dutch) people. In 1685, the French King, Louis XIV, banned Protestantism in France. Hundreds of French Hugue ...
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Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin, 1852. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
A Grammar of Afrikaans.
Bruce C. Donaldson. 1993. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated about east of Cape Town, along the banks of the Eerste River at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain. The town became known as the City of Oaks or ''Eikestad'' in Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch due to the large number of oak trees that were planted by its founder, Simon van der S ...
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South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ...
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