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History of wines from Paarl The terroir of wines from Paarl The grapes of Paarl wines

The best wines from Paarl

Paarl is one of the most well-known wine district of South Africa, situated about 60 km inland from the coast by Cape Town, just north of Stellenbosch. It has been a centre of viticulture of South Africa, with vineyards going back to the first European settlers, housing now very distinguished wineries and beautiful vineyards.

Despite being a bit further out the coast to benefit from the cooling ocean winds and is one of the warmest districts in the Western Cape’s region it produces high quality wines from a range of grape varieties, like Shiraz, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinotage, Viognier and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Paarl is in the centre of the wine regions and many wine enthusiasts visit the area and to take tours to the many wineries in the area. Having housed the headquarters of the KWV, it still hosts the yearly Nederburg Wine Auction, where the best wines of the country and wine personalities come together to showcase the new vintage releases.

Suppliers in Paarl

Nederburgh

History of wines from Paarl

In 1658 a group of Dutch explorers led by Sergeant Jan van Herwaarden explored the regions beyond Cape Town and discovered a fertile valley between the Paarl Rock mountain and the Du Toitskloof mountains, in this valley they created the now town Paarl. It owes it name to the glistening of the Paarl Rock after a rain shower which the Dutch found to have a similar beauty as that of a shining pearl.

At the end of the 17th century European settlers started moving to the area, particularly the French Huguenots, they recognized the potential of the favourable climate and soil. And having being granted land by the Governor Siman van der Stel in 1687 the viticulture flourished, and Paarl became a centre of quality wine production in South Africa.

The terroir of wines from Paarl

With the hotter climate than the more coastal regions, which is distinguished by hot, dry summers and chilly, rainy winters the vineyards are found on the slopes of the local mountains where the higher sloping area’s generally consist of well-drained granite and shale soils, and going all the way down to the valley floor being more sandstone-based soils.

The vineyards on the higher slopes being less fertile and less water-retaining, forces the vines to dig deeper for nutrients and moisture, which makes them stronger and lowering yields, which results in more concentrated grapes for high quality wines. For the summer these vineyards are often irrigated to help cool the plants, with the cool ocean breeze having only limited influence on the vineyards, they are still very sought after for the premium quality of wine which can be produced from these vineyards.

The grapes of Paarl wines

With the large diversity from up the slopes to down to the valley floor allows for a large diversity in grape varieties for robust red wines, notably Shiraz, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon and for sophisticated whites from Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.

Alongside the high quality red and white wines Paarl is also know for its rosé, dessert wines, sparkling wines, port sherry, and brandy, produced from a diversity of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Grenache, Viognier and more. For the sparkling wines they apply the South African “Methode Cap Classique” which is based on the French méthode traditionnelle which is used in the Champagne region.



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