Wine Shop

The Dutch East India Company established a station at the Cape of Africa in the mid-17th century. They began making wine from indigenous grapes for consumption by sailors, who would stop there on the way to the East, to prevent scurvy. As colonization of Africa became a goal for many European nations, Britain's rule of South Africa brought a surge in the South African wine industry. Disease destroyed most of the vines in the 1860s. Discouraged, farmers replanted with high-yielding vines, creating a surplus which plummeted prices. As a result, the Kooperatiewe Wignbouwers Vereniging (KWV) was formed to control quantity, sales practices and stabilize prices. In the 1900s, Apartheid became a political and humanitarian issue and an increasing number of governments and consumers refused to purchase South African wines. The end of Apartheid and improvement in winemaking techniques have slowly brought the South African wine industry into the international market.