South African wine has a history dating back to 1659 with
Constantia, a vineyard near Cape Town, being considered one of the greatest wines in the world. Access to international markets has unleashed a burst of new energy and new investment. Production is concentrated around
Cape Town, with major vineyard and production centres at
Paarl,
Stellenbosch and
Worcester. There are about 60
appellations within the
Wine of Origin (WO) system, which was implemented in 1973 with a hierarchy of designated production regions, districts and wards. WO wines must be made 100 rom grapes from the designated area. "Single vineyard" wines must come from a defined area of less than 5 hectares. An "Estate Wine" can come from adjacent farms, as long as they are farmed together and wine is produced on site. A
ward is an area with a distinctive soil type or climate, and is roughly equivalent to a European appellation.