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Vineyards were planted more extensively a generation later, when the French Huguenots began arriving from 1688 onwards, fleeing religious persecution.

 First under Dutch and then British rule, the Cape became famous  for its Constantia dessert wines. By the late 18th century they were  being served in Europe to the nobility and when Napoleon was  exiled to St Helena, in 1815, it is said they brought him some solace. 
Such was their renown that Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and  Baudelaire wrote about them.

By the late 19th century and early 20th century, German and Italian  immigrants began settling at the Cape, introducing winegrowing and  winemaking traditions of their own.

For most of the 20th century, the local wine industry was controlled  by the KWV or the Koöperatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereeninging  Beperkt van Zuid-Afrika (Co-operative Wine Growers’ Association  Limited of South Africa). Founded in 1918 to represent the interests  of wine farmers and regulate the stable growth of the Cape’s wine  industry, it was privatised in 1997, allowing for the deregulation of  the industry.

Another impetus for freeing up the industry was South Africa’s  return to international trade after decades of isolation under  apartheid rule. With political reform and the advent of democracy in  1994, there was an influx of financial and intellectual capital into the  wine industry.

Locally trained winemakers began travelling to other  wine-producing countries, to study abroad or work in the cellars  of leading winemakers in the Old and New World. Viticulturists  began playing a far more prominent role and producers became  keenly aware of the need to focus on noble cultivars, to use superior  plant material and also to match varietal with terroir, in the process  discovering and developing new winegrowing areas. They also  began adopting techniques to better express specificity of site in  flavour profile.

At the same time, producers began developing a  conversancy with international markets, and with the needs and  demands of consumers. 
A concerted effort was also made to begin benchmarking against  international wines, with world-respected palates from abroad  becoming a regular feature of local competition panels, affording a  wider frame of reference.

Even though South Africa’s presence on contemporary world  markets is still in its relative infancy - spanning no more than a  decade-and-a-half - the country’s wines consistently earn positive  attention. They also win prestigious awards on showcases such as  the International Wine & Spirit Competition and International Wine  Challenge in London, Vinexpo in France, Concours Mondial de  Bruxelles in Europe, Sélections Mondiales des Vins in Canada, as  well as on other Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin  (OIV) events.

Stylistically, South African wines occupy  the middle ground between Old World  and New. Structured for elegance and  food-compatibility, they nevertheless  express prominent varietal flavours.