South Africa

I was lucky enough to go to South Africa this year on a wine trip; I got to see a lot of the sites and learned a lot of the history of wine in South Africa. The first vines were brought from Spain in 1655, the first wine made from these grapes was in 1659. In 1918 a government agency was created (KWV) which controlled what was grown and where it was grown, thankfully in 1994 Nelson Mendela got rid of the KWV and gave control over the vines to the farmers. Even during my trip there was a lot of talk from the winemakers about pulling vines and replanting them in areas and in soils that made more sense. We visited Hamilton Russell/Southern Right, Man Vintners, Stark-Conde, Boekenhoutskloof, Neil Ellis and Fairview/ Spice Route. The wine was fantastic and the people were extremely gracious and accommodating. It was important to me to bring this back and hopefully get people who haven’t had South African wines to try them and enjoy them as much as I did. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for pictures and more information about my trip and some authentic South African recipes.
Thanks, Stephanie