Company's Garden: Where African Wine Was Born on February 2, 1659

On February 2, 1659, Jan van Riebeeck wrote: "Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from Cape grapes." Those 12 bottles -- pressed from vine cuttings shipped from 5 countries -- launched a wine industry that would, within 150 years, produce wines coveted by Napoleon and Louis XVI. The VOC's Company's Garden where it happened is now a free public park in central Cape Town. Walk the paths where the world's first multinational corporation grew grapes to keep its sailors alive on the 6-month voyage to the spice islands.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Find the Twelve Bottles That Beat Burgundy History · Free

   Enter Company's Garden from Queen Victoria Street in Cape Town CBD. Free entry, open dawn to dusk. February 2, 1659. Jan van Riebeeck wrote the most famous journal entry in New World wine history: 'Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from the Cape grapes.' Total yield? Twelve bottles. That's it. From 1,200 vine cuttings planted at Bosheuvel, he pressed a 'cleyn proeffieu' -- a small trial. But those 12 bottles cracked open a wine industry that would, within 150 years, produce wines Napoleon demanded on his deathbed. The vine cuttings came from five countries: Bohemia, Canary Islands, France, Germany, Spain. Among them: Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains -- the grape that would become legendary Constantia sweet wine. Walk the main pathways. Look for the pear tree avenue, the original VOC-era layout. The garden's design still follows the 1652 plan. This isn't a pretty park. It's the birthplace of a 370-year wine industry. Can't find VOC markers? Visit the Iziko South African Museum at the garden's south end (R30-R40) -- the entrance displays document Van Riebeeck's arrival and the garden's history.

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2. 2 Meet the Chief Who Escaped Robben Island by Rowing Boat History · Price: low

   Iziko South African Museum, southern end of Company's Garden. Open 9am-5pm Mon-Sat. Entry R30-R40 (students/pensioners R30). Before Van Riebeeck planted a single vine, the Khoisan had lived in this valley for 100,000 years. The museum's Khoisan display shows artifacts, rock art (some radiocarbon-dated to 26,000 years old), and clan structure of groups who grazed cattle where Constantia vineyards now grow. The Goringhaiqua clan moved seasonally through this exact area. Table Valley in early summer, Hout Bay in midsummer, Boland in winter. Every major Cape wine region was, for thousands of years, a Khoikhoi grazing ground. Look for the display on Autshumao ('Harry the Strandloper') -- the Goringhaikona chief who became Van Riebeeck's interpreter and the first political prisoner on Robben Island in 1659. He successfully ESCAPED by rowing boat. One of the only people ever to escape Robben Island. Van Riebeeck's hedge -- which you saw at Kirstenbosch -- was built to keep them out. Museum closed? Read the exterior historical plaques. Friday entry is free for SA citizens.

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3. 3 Find the Founder Who Isn't There History · Free

   Northern end of Company's Garden, near Government Avenue. You'll find a statue of Jan Smuts (Prime Minister 1919-1924, 1939-1948). But NO statue of Jan van Riebeeck in the garden he planted. Van Riebeeck is commemorated at the Castle of Good Hope, but not here. This tells you something about how South Africa remembers its colonial history. The garden is now a public space, reclaimed from its VOC origins. The VOC commanders who launched Cape wine -- Van Riebeeck (1652-1662), Simon van der Stel (1679-1699) -- weren't here to build a country. They were middle managers for the world's first multinational corporation, tasked with keeping sailors alive long enough to reach the spice islands. Wine was preventative medicine for scurvy. That's it. The wine industry they accidentally created outlived the VOC itself (dissolved 1799). Walk to the north end toward Government Avenue. The Jan Smuts statue is prominent. Notice what's NOT there. Then walk toward the Castle of Good Hope (10 minutes) if you want to see where VOC commanders are actually memorialized. Short on time? Just walk the garden and notice: this space has been RECLAIMED. It's no longer the VOC's vegetable garden. It belongs to Cape Town.

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4. 4 Touch the Water That Built an Empire Adventure · Free · Optional

   Any fountain or water feature in Company's Garden. The entire reason the VOC established the Cape refreshment station was WATER. Ships sailing Amsterdam to Batavia (6-8 months) needed fresh water at the halfway point. The stream from Table Mountain into Table Bay was called '//ammi-i-ssa' by the Khoikhoi -- 'sweet water.' The Dutch found it fresh, clean, abundant. This water source made the location valuable enough to colonize. Without it, there would be no Cape Town, no Constantia wine, no Stellenbosch vineyards. Everything started here because sailors were dying of scurvy and ships needed drinkable water. Find any fountain in the garden. Dip your hand in. This is the same water source -- Table Mountain's runoff -- that Van Riebeeck found in 1652. The modern city pumps and treats it now, but the source is unchanged. Look up at Table Mountain. That mountain is why you're drinking Cape wine tonight.

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