Wellington, The Heart of the Cape Winelands, which became a wine district in 2012, has moved forward and, having followed due process, now has five wards demarcated and fully authorised by the Demarcation Committee of the Wine and Spirit Board of South Africa.
On completion of a lengthy statutory period, the wards and their names are as follows: Limietberg, Groenberg, Bovlei, Mid-Bergriver and Blouvlei.
According to the statutes governing their use, each will in future be able to use the title “Wine of Origin”.
“This is a natural evolution of the process of Wellington growing in stature as a quality winemaking area,” said Schalk Burger, chairman of the Wellington demarcation committee, following a process that took nearly nine years to complete.
“Taking ownership of the exceptional terroir, vineyards and views that it has and allowing proprietors, winemakers and viticulturists to make use of the magnificent terroir and vineyard sites to express themselves, from the fruit into the wine, is all to the benefit of the consumer. It also opens a new chapter of destination tourism for the various wards and wine estates in Wellington to entertain visitors in this hidden gem, which is closer to Cape Town than Franschhoek!”
Burger further stated: “Further, it is indeed a privilege to be part of a process in which great names depicting decomposing soils dating back millions of years, vineyard blocks on unique sites and winemaking skills in these areas, such as those that have now been awarded ward status, are now protected in perpetuity for future generations of owners and winemakers to tell a story of the origins of their wines on a label, which until now had not been possible.”
Duimpie Bailey, Chairman of The Demarcation Committee of the Wine and Spirit Board, lamented: “Following the application process we believe that Wellington possesses beautiful vineyard sites and terroir that now are demarcated as such and allow the wines’ origins to be more specifically named than before, which is great for the consumer.
