Award Winning Wine Representing Production Regions, Districts, and Wards in the Western Cape, South Africa

These maps show wineries with award winning wines per production region, districts within the Western Cape of South Africa. The division of production areas represent an interesting aspect of wine--the importance of terroir. Terroir is a French word that is difficult to translate into English, but roughly describes the interplay between climate, soil, and topography and how those environmental factors effect the characteristics of wines produced from the area. Old World wine regions, like France and Italy place great emphasis on the importance of terroir, so much so that the actual varietals used in their wines is less noteworthy than the region the wine comes from. This practice is less common in New World Regions, like the United States and Australia, where wines are known by their varietals rather than their production region.

The Wine of Origin label can only be applied if all grapes used to create the wine were grown within the boundaries of the specific appellation. The Western Cape is the largest appelation and covers grapes grown anywhere in the province. This label is typical used by bulk producers who are not attached to vineyards and can purchase grapes from across the province to ensure the best price. 

There are five production regions: Coastal, Breede River Valley, Cape South Coast, Klein Karoo, and Olifants River. Only two regions are represented in these maps: Coastal and Breede River Valley. The Coastal appellation has been widely considered the best wine producing region in the Western Cape as cooling Atlantic ocean breezes sweep over the vineyards cooling them off from the intense heat. Stellenbosch and Paarl, two historic wine cities, are part of this region. Robertson and Worcester are the two historic, although less prestigious, wine cities in the Breede River Valley region.

There are 26 production districts, including two located outside of the Western Cape. These appellations have the largest number of award winning wines, particularly from Robertson, Stellenbosch, and Worcester. This is the appellation most commonly used by wine cooperatives in the area. These co-ops contract with wine farmers in each district and sell both packaged and bulk wines. 

There are 67 production wards in South Africa with three falling outside of the Western Cape. Some districts have multiple wards, for instance, Stellenbosch includes Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills, and Simonsberg - Stellenbosch. These are geographically small areas that are used by wine estates with the ability to grow completely on premises. For this reason, wards account for the smallest amount of production in the industry. These appellations have the wides spatial distribution of the all the production areas. The ward map shows that, yes, a lot of good quality wine comes from well known areas, but there are newer wards, like Hemel-En-Barde Ridge, making names for themselves.

Wine Production Regions, Districts, Wards - Western Cape