South Africa

Viticulture with a long tradition

Although vines were planted in South Africa as far back as 350 years ago, South African wine did not arrive in our latitudes until the 1980s. Before that, trade relations were severely restricted due to the apartheid regime, which of course also affected exports from the wine industry. In the mid-1990s, after the end of the dark years of racial segregation, the market changed: the monopoly of the large wine union was broken up, many small producers came into the picture and enormously upgraded the image of South African wine.Today, on the total vineyard area of 110,000 hectares, slightly more white grapes are harvested than red ones; Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are predominant among the light varieties, while the dark grapes come largely from Cabernet, Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah vines. Discover our wine recommendations from South Africa!