Region & History

What exactly is South African brandy, and where does it come from? It's a wine spirit from the Western Cape, distilled from white wine grown around Paarl, Stellenbosch, Worcester, and Robertson. In South Africa it's called "brandewyn" in Afrikaans, and for many families it's as much a fixture of the braai as the charcoal itself. Depending on the bottle, you might get a young blend or a potstill spirit that's spent over a decade in the barrel.

One of the best-known addresses lies near Vlottenburg in the Eerste River valley, not far from Stellenbosch. According to the house, Van Ryn's tradition dates back to 1845, when Jan van Ryn arrived at the Cape. The current distillery was built in 1905 and, by its own account, is the only one in the country with its own in-house cooperage for repairs.

On January 8, 1918, winegrowers in Paarl founded KWV, a cooperative meant to steady the fluctuating wine market. According to the company, its site in Worcester, in the Breede River Valley, houses the largest potstill distillery in the Southern Hemisphere, with 120 copper pot stills under one roof.

The legal framework is set out in the Liquor Products Act of 1989, which defines three categories of brandy: Potstill, Vintage, and Blended. What distinguishes these three names is explained further below, under brandy styles.

The South African Brandy Foundation has relaunched the Brandy Route. According to the foundation, the Western Cape alone counts 19 recognized distilleries on the route, known as Brandy Homes, offering tours and tastings. A second route, the Route 62 Brandy Route, winds through the Little Karoo.

Alongside the big houses are family-run operations like Boplaas in Calitzdorp, which says it has been family-owned since 1880. In Robertson, Klipdrift says it first distilled brandy in 1938.