Stellenbosch University: 5 Minutes That Saved South Africa's Signature Grape

On 17 November 1924, Professor Abraham Izak Perold crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsault; he planted the seeds at Welgevallen Experimental Farm the following year, and the Pinotage Association dates the variety's birthday to that 1925 planting. Then he forgot about them. Three years later, a demolition crew was sent to clear the overgrown garden. Charlie Niehaus, a young lecturer, walked past at exactly the right moment and stopped them. If he'd been 5 minutes later, South Africa's signature grape would have been composted. The first wine was made in 1941 -- the same year Perold died. He never tasted his own creation. The first commercial bottling was the legendary 1959 Lanzerac Pinotage. 2025 marked the centenary.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Find the Garden Where a Grape Was Saved by a Bicycle History · Free

   On 17 November 1924, Professor Abraham Perold crossed Pinot Noir pollen with Cinsault in this garden. He planted the seeds here in 1925 — four of them, just 4, and the Pinotage Association calls that planting the variety's birthday. Then in 1928 he left for the KWV in Paarl and forgot about them. The garden became overgrown. In 1928, the university sent a team to clean it up. They were about to rip out everything - including four scruffy, unidentified grapevine seedlings. Dr. Charlie Niehaus cycled past at exactly the right moment, recognized what they were, and stopped the demolition crew. If he'd been 5 minutes later - or taken a different route - Pinotage would have been composted. South Africa's signature grape exists because one man happened to ride his bicycle past a garden at the exact right second. Welgevallen Experimental Farm is part of the university's Department of Viticulture and Oenology. Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden (adjacent, Neethling and Van Riebeeck streets) open 08:00-17:00 daily, R10 admission. For specific access to the experimental farm, contact 021 808 3025. If the exact Perold garden site isn't accessible, walk the Botanical Garden where Perold walked daily. The Welgevallen area is the birthplace - even if you can't stand on the exact spot, you're standing where it all happened.

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2. 2 Visit the Oldest Wine School in the Southern Hemisphere History · Free

   Formal wine training started here in 1912 under Professor Abraham Perold - the first Professor of Viticulture. He was a chemist with a PhD from Germany who introduced 177 grape varieties to South Africa. Paul Sauer - founder of Kanonkop Wine Estate - was among the first students enrolled at Elsenburg in 1918, according to Kanonkop's own history, which records the enrolment without naming a graduation year or a teacher. This department has trained the majority of South Africa's top viticulturists and winemakers for over 100 years. Walk into virtually any respected cellar in the Cape, and the winemaker either studied here or was mentored by someone who did. Contact the department at 021 808 3025 for visitor information. Look for signage directing you to the Faculty of AgriSciences and the DVO building. Working academic department, so visits may be limited during term time. If the building isn't accessible, walk the campus. This university created an entire wine industry's knowledge base. Since 2008, the Welgevallen Wine Cellar has produced wine under the SU label - making Stellenbosch the only South African university that produces wine for the public.

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3. 3 Taste Pinotage Where the King Saved the Grape's Reputation Wine · Price: low

   Beyers Truter won the 1991 International Wine & Spirit Competition's Robert Mondavi Trophy for Best Winemaker in the World with Kanonkop Pinotage. Then he founded Beyerskloof on land that belonged to the Beyers family for five generations until 1895 - making him the sixth generation to farm it. In the 1970s-80s, Pinotage was dismissed as a failed experiment that smelled like nail polish remover or burnt rubber. Truter proved it could make world-class wine. His easy-drinking Pinotage sells over 1 million bottles annually and sells out every year. This is the temple of Pinotage. Full circle from birth (Welgevallen) to redemption (Beyerskloof). Open Monday to Saturday 08:30-16:30. Tasting R20 for any 8 wines (excluding Diesel and Field Blend). Booking recommended. Visit beyerskloof.co.za. If fully booked, head to Kanonkop (15 minutes away on the Simonsberg slopes). Beyers Truter worked there 1981-2002 before founding Beyerskloof. Kanonkop's Complete Range Tasting is R75 for 7 wines, or try the Pinotage Tasting (R250) which includes the legendary Black Label from 1953 bush vines.

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4. 4 Find Perold's Tragedy - The Wine He Never Tasted History · Free · Optional

   Abraham Perold died on December 11, 1941. That same year, CT de Waal vinified the first-ever Pinotage wine in a small barrel. Perold spent 16 years nurturing his creation: crossing the grapes on 17 November 1924 and planting the seeds in 1925, watching Charlie Niehaus save the seedlings in 1928, seeing CJ Theron graft them onto rootstocks in 1935, authorizing commercial planting at Myrtle Grove. But he never tasted a finished Pinotage wine. He died the year his wine was born. The 1959 Bellevue Pinotage won the Cape Wine Show's General Smuts Trophy - the moment Pinotage became legitimized. It came 18 years after Perold's death. When you taste Pinotage at Beyerskloof or Kanonkop, pause. The man who created this grape crossed two flowers with a paintbrush in a Stellenbosch garden and died before he could taste the result. Every glass is a tribute to his genius and a memorial to his tragedy. Ask the staff about Perold. They know the story. Watch their faces when they tell it - this is wine industry lore, and they carry it with reverence.

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