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Wine
The first wine of South Africa was produced (about
15 liters) on February 2 1659 by Jan van Riebeeck (the first governor
of the Cape of the Dutch East India Company).
Today more than 108000 hectares of vines are under cultivation and South
Africa is ranked 7th in the world in terms of total production in litres.
The most planted grape variety in South Africa is Chenin Blanc (21%).
About 40% are red grape varieties and 60% white. The country's premier
wine centre is Stellenbosch. More than 106 wineries are situated around
Stellenbosch and have obtained almost 70% of all the awards and decorations
received by South African wines. If you are interested in South African
wines you have manifold possibilities for wine tasting around Stellenbosch
and Franschhoek Valley (just follow the different wine routes) or you
can attend a wine course at the Cape Wine
Academy. I have passed one of their courses and so I would like
to give some hints for wine tasting and a list of wineries. In the near
future I want to point out my favourite wineries and indicate my preferred
wines but I still need some time for research...tasting ;)))
 Wine Tasting
The
big wine estates usually have special tasting rooms and you have to
pay a 15-25 Rand tasting fee. Then you can select about 5 or 6 wines
for tasting.
Wine tasting is not an event only for professional connoisseurs or wannabe
wine experts. Everybody is able to decide whether he prefers a specfic
wine or not. All you need is practice:
order
- dry before sweet
- white before red
- light before full-bodied
- young before old
- a sweet white wine e.g. Late Harvest (dessert wine) after red
the dos and don'ts
- no smoking in the tasting room
- no perfume or aftershave
- blind tasting (the cover must be coverd)
- make notes (build a reference for comparing)
- swirl the wine around in your mouth
- smell (makes up 75% of taste perception)
- wine is judged in three categories: appearance, nose and palate
wine farms around Stellenbosch (links open in new window)
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