Despitethe fact that South African wine is generally thought of as New World, the country has actually been producing wine for more than350 years. However, it is only since the end of Apartheid in the 1990's thatthe South African wine industry has really come into its own.

Theheart of South Africa?swine growing industry is The Cape and three of the country's five growingregions are located here. Stellenbosch, one of these regions, accounts for avast proportion of the country's wine production, in particular, ofinternational grape varieties.

Havingsaid that, a wine search shouldn't be focused entirely on Stellenbosch. Althoughthe area produces great tasting wines, it's also a firm favourite on thetourist trail, meaning that you'll come across some fairly hefty pricescompared to other South African wine regions. If you want to be sure that youget maximum value for money from your wine, yet get all the quality and tasteof real South Africa,don't forget to look to the lesser known areas and wine-makers.

Traditionallywhite grapes have dominated South African wine production. Chenin Blanc, whichis more commonly known in South Africa as Steen, accounts for a hugeproportion of the wine production. It produces a deliciously crisp dry wine,although it can be used to make some sweeter varieties. Sauvignon Blanc andChardonnay are also popular with South African winemakers.

Morerecently, demand for South African red wine has taken off, with a number ofinternational varieties, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, allkey to this success. In addition, South Africa?s home grown red grapePinotage, is at the heart of South African wine production. Pinotage wasinitially slow to gain popularity but has become increasingly sought after aswinemakers get to grips with learning how to get the most from it.

Winemakingtook off in South Africawhen the migrating French Huguenots brought their winemaking skills to thecountry back in the 17th century. By the early 20^th century, theseskills had been rolled out across the country, although it could be argued thatthe quality of the wine being produced at this time was relatively poor. Amaster cooperative (KWV) was set up in order to help provide stability andsupervise all production within the South African wine industry. However, thiswas privatised following the end of Apartheid. Since then, an exciting newgeneration of winemakers has been learning skills from other wine-makingnations. New capital and training has been invested and winemakers have hadmore freedom to experiment. The result is the emergence of a generation ofwines which rival those from the New World.

Unlikemany other nations, wine from South Africaclearly straddles the Old World and New. Thanksto its warm temperate climate, South African wines are blessed with all thefruitiness of New World, yet have the wine growing history and finesse of the Old World.