Who brought grapes to South Africa?
South Africa might be considered a new world wine region, but its winemaking history dates back some 300 years. South Africa’s first vines were planted in 1652 by Dutch surgeon, Jan van Riebeeck, when the Dutch East India Company first landed in Cape Town.
What almost happened to European vineyards in the 1870s?
Over 40% of French grape vines and vineyards were devastated over a 15-year period from the late 1850s to the mid-1870s. The French economy was badly hit by the blight: many businesses were lost, and wages in the wine industry were cut to less than half.
How old is the South African wine industry?
The first harvest was made on 2 February 1659 (as noted in Van Riebeeck’s log) seven years after the landing in 1652. The man succeeding Van Riebeeck as governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel, sought to improve the quality of viticulture in the region.
Does South Africa have good wine?
South African wines offer impressively good value, and feature styles and tastes that are food friendly, blending elegance and power. … At one time, the sweet wine of Constantia was the most prized in the world. The most important South African wine regions are around the two cities of Stellenbosch and Paarl.
Who started the wine industry in South Africa?
Three Centuries of Cape Wine
But much more evolved than that – the establishment of a trading station led to a flourishing wine industry and later to the birth of a nation. Jan van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Cape, planted a vineyard in 1655, and on 2 February 1659, the first wine was made from Cape grapes.
Which country has never been affected by phylloxera?
B. Phylloxera—a tiny, yellow, insect—has spread through much of the world, destroying vineyards in its wake as the insects feed on vines’ roots, ultimately sucking the life out of the plants. However, a phylloxera epidemic has not (some would say not yet) hit Chile.
Is phylloxera a virus?
Phylloxera is a microscopic louse or aphid, that lives on and eats roots of grapes. It can infest a vineyard from the soles of vineyard worker’s boots or naturally spreading from vineyard-to-vineyard by proximity.
Why is Chile not in danger of phylloxera?
Chile, however, never had to find a phylloxera solution because they never had a phylloxera problem. Part of that is geography. It’s isolated, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Andes Mountains on the other. Another reason is the government.