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Oak trees on the Braak in Stellenbosch

Jan van Riebeeck who was sent to the Cape by the VOC in 1652 to start a refreshment station thought it would be nice to grow some grapes in the company gardens in the centre of Cape Town so he obtained some cuttings from Europe and on arrival in 1655 he planted them in the gardens. It took about four years for the vines to produce enough grapes for van Riebeeck to make wine and the first wine produced in South Africa happened on the 2nd February 1659. The wine was not of the best quality but van Riebeeck had proved that wine could be made in South Africa.

It was however not until 1659 with the appointment of Simon van der Stel as governor at the Cape that the wine industry took a major leap forward. Although wine was produced the quality was not good and van der Stel took it upon himself to improve the quality.

On receiving the farm Groot Constantia from his bosses in Holland van der Stel set up a model wine farm along the slopes of what today is known as the Constantiaberg and was soon producing high quality wines. Van der Stel was a busy man and made it his business to explore the Cape and its surrounding areas and on one of his travels towards the east came upon the Stellenbosch valley with the Eerste River (First river) flowing through it. After spending a night on an island in the river he decided the area would be good for farming and especially for the production of grapes.

The second oldest town in the Cape was born. Farms were allocated to farmers and soon a bustling little town which eventually became known as Stellenbosch was established. As the farms came into production it became clear to van der Stel that the farmers had no idea of how to produce wine. Most of the farmers were ex company officials of the VOC who had asked to remain in the Cape and to be granted land. As luck would have it the French Huguenots were being tossed out of France for their beliefs and van der Stel knew that they were wine farmers.

He soon made contact with some of these destitute families and persuaded them to come to the Cape where they would be given farms on arrival. About two hundred families arrived in the Cape and were allocated farms between the Dutch farmers along the banks of the Berg River in the Drakenstein valley.

With the introduction of these farmers into the Cape, wine production increased and there was a marked improvement in the quality of the wines produced. In the mean time the wines produced at Groot Constantia became famous in Europe and were enjoyed by nobility of that era.

Unfortunately for the wine industry Phylloxera a root pest attacked the vines of the Cape in 1855 and destroyed the industry. After much research it was discovered that American root stock was immune to phylloxera and so the American rootstock was grafted onto shoots of local variatals of grapes and soon disease free vineyards were once again in production.

Today the production of wine has become one of the Cape's biggest money earners.

Because the winelands of the Cape and the wines produced have become so popular many visitors to our country visit the area. Some take guided tours while others search for the estates whose wines thay have enjoyed either here in Cape Town or abroad.

Zevenwacht is one of the farms visited by tour operators and you can see why in the photo below.

Zevenwacht Manor House

The old manaor house was extended and renovated in the early 1800's and is the typical Cape Dutch shape of a capital H. It has lovely gardens, leafy oak trees, acres of vines, a cheesery and much much more. The old manor house is utilised as a restaurant these days.

Next time you visit Cape Town take a drive out to Stellenbosch and visit some of the estates.

Cape Town tours are the best!
Winelands are even better !
Book your tour today !
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Phone (local) 0836651065 (International) +27 836651065

Contact Details : Email   Geoff Fairman     6 Bothma Street, Monte Vista 7460 South Africa

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