|
|
At the southernmost tip of Africa, where the two oceans meet, and the mighty Table Mountain stands guard, lays the fairest Cape in the world. Close to the famous Table Mountain is the mountain, called Leeuwen Kop (Lion's Head), by the Dutch Settlers in the 17th century. Closely is Signal Hill, called Leeuwen Staart (Lion's Tail) by them. When looking at these two mountains, one can clearly see the shape of the crouching lion, the king and ruler of Africa. Under the watchful eye of this constantly guarding sphinx, we bottle only the best and friendliest wines. Leewenzicht, a Dutch word, meaning in view of the lion.
When Europe discovered the richness of the East with their silks and spices, they started sailing around the Cape of Good Hope on their way to these luxuries. In 1652 the Dutch East Company set up a halfway station at the tip of Africa to provide fresh food and water for the sailors. But the colony soon grew bigger, and the Europeans missed the wines from their homeland. In 1655 imported vines from France, the Rhineland and Spain were planted. South Africa is perhaps the only country that can give an exact date of the first wine production. Van Riebeeck wrote in his diary on the 2nd of February 1659:" Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from Cape grapes."
Since those early days, the wine from the Cape was a firm favourite for many. When the wine cellar book of King Louis XVI of France was found many years after his death, it showed that he owned a few bottles of Burgundy, almost no Bordeaux, and many thousands of bottles of Constantia wine from the Cape of Good Hope. (New York Times; April 8, 1992). But the King of France was not the only one who knew the secret where to find the best wines in the world, Napoleon and other European noblemen also valued the high quality of the Cape wines.
|
|
