These maps show the spatial distribution of winning wine grape varietals
in South Africa. I chose top four varietals of each color for still,
non-fortified wine. The top red wines are Pinotage, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
and Shiraz (SAWIS 2015). The top white wines are Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon
Blanc, and Viognier (SAWIS 2015).
Old World countries are known for distinct wine appellations that produce a specific type of wine that can only come from a particular region. Only sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France can be labeled as Champagne and likewise for many other notable wines such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chianti, and Prosecco. New World countries have taken a different, varietal-forward, approach. New World regions often have a one varietal that they do exceptionally well, see Zinfandel in the United States, Malbec in Argentina, and Shiraz in Australia. South Africa’s take on this trend is a hybrid Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (known as Hermitage in South Africa) grape called Pinotage.
A dark, full-bodied wine, Pinotage was hybridized and developed in South Africa by viticulturist from Stellenbosch University (Estreicher 2014). It is the most common red grape planted in the Western Cape, but it is a rarity outside of the country with just a 0.14% share of the global market in 2010 (SAWIS 2015, Anderson 2013). Another top contender for South Africa’s signature grape is the white Chenin Blanc. Originally from France, it is the mostly commonly grown white grape in the Western Cape and has a larger presence on the global stage with a 0.26% share (SAWIS 2015, Anderson 2013).
The
white varietal map shows that Chenin blanc is distributed pretty widely across
the area with no one or two vineyards producing the majority of it. The same
cannot be said for Pinotage, which has distinct areas of greater production,
particularly Durbanville, Stellenbosch and Paarl. The density analysis of red
versus white varietals shows a clear preference for Pinotage.
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