Wine Investment in South Africa - Cape Wine Academy

Section 2
Chapter 7
7.1 South African wine culture
It is now 352 years since the first wine was produced in South Africa, yet the industry is
considered ‘New World’, and it seems that any wine drinking culture is very much younger
than that. Roland Peens, of ‘Winecellar’, believes that SA’s wine culture is only twenty
years old ( Peens, 2011 Appendix F) and industry expert Dave Hughes thinks that South
Africa,
“Doesn’t really have a wine culture” ( Appendix D ).
For a very long time South Africa had one internationally recognised wine, ‘Vin de
Constance’, and a lot of sweet or semi-sweet usually white wine ( ‘wyndruif’ or Semillon ) of
variable quality. Wine was often drunk for its effect rather than any inherent enjoyment and
indigenous farm workers grew used to the rough and sweet produce of the farms they
worked. Favourable exchange rates, strong links to its biggest export market – the UK – and
massive replanting of high yielding varietals after phylloxera invasions in the 1860’s saw
production increase and income fall due to over-supply. Some 80 million vines had been
replanted and it was known that farmers would simply poor unwanted wine away.
By the early 20 th century the situation was so serious that a Government funded controlling
organisation, the KWV, attempted in 1918 to set quotas in the key areas of varietals,
production yields and prices. The KWV determined what could be grown where, how much
could be produced, how much would go for distillation and what price could be set. This
lasted until 1992. Setting predetermined price levels obtainable for your produce is hardly an
incentive to search for quality, the first target becomes to achieve or exceed production
levels. The increase in wine sent for distillation helped create South Africa’s love of Whisky,
Brandy, other spirits and fortified wines which even today have a 24% share of the alcohol
consumption market leaving still wine with just 12%; beer accounts for some 46% ( SAWIS,
2011).
The 1950’s and 1960’s saw an attempt by Government to link drinking habits amongst the
population to race and decided to bar all black people from working in the liquor trade. Two
things happened, firstly, the State controlled who had access to alcohol and secondly,
alcohol purchase, manufacture and consumption amongst the majority black population was
driven ‘underground.’ Even today, the local ‘shebeen’ does a healthy trade and the 2008
Alcoholic Beverage Review stated;
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