Wine history in the Cape had very little to do with the enjoyment that we associate with this beverage today. Back in 1652, wine was a much more practical commodity - sailors who drank wine on a voyage were believed to have a lower chance of contracting the deadly scurvy disease. As a vital maritime port dedicated to ensuring the safe passage of ships to the East, winemaking became an essential practice at the Cape. However, Jan van Riebeeck's first attempt did not go down well in wine history and it wasn't until the arrival of Simon van der Stel in 1679 that winemaking in the Cape really began to gain ground.

Wine connoisseur Simon van der Stel is credited with founding the winemaking town of Stellenbosch as well as the excellent wine area of Constantia. When the French Hugenots settled in the Franschhoek area after fleeing religious persecution in France, the Cape cemented its place in wine history as one of the most prestigious viticultural areas in the world.

A THREE HUNDRED YEAR-OLD WINERY IN STELLENBOSCH

Hazendal Wine Estate is one of the oldest wine farms in South Africa and along the Stellenbosch wine route. Established in 1699, the farm was given to German Christoffel Hazenwinkel by Simon van der Stel himself and the very first vines were planted in that same year. The first wine cellar, which is still standing today, was erected in 1790 and as it produced wines from the very beginning, this estate has a rich wine history and extensive experience in the wine arena.

Throughout the centuries, Hazendal Wine Estate mixed wine farming with cattle farming and changed owners many times. The one constant was the quality of the wine that was produced until the farm unfortunately fell off the wine history map and into a state of disrepair. This was the point that Dr Mark Voloshin stepped in when he bought this Stellenbosch winery in 1994. An intense revitalisation process has begun that has included everything from the national heritage buildings themselves to the wine. An amalgamation of Dr Voloshin's own Russian influence and the wine history of the estate has created an entirely different type of wine estate.

Find out more about some of the important dates in Hazendal's wine history.