Namibian wine is produced in small quantities by a few wineries. Although the production of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

is expanding in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, the

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s grown in the country are mostly destined for use as

table grape Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption as fresh fruit, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, Juicing, juice production, jelly and jam making, or for drying into raisins. ''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of e ...

s for export to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

rather than for wine. One of the challenges of

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

is that the country is quite dry, which means that

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

is usually necessary. Unlike its southern neighbour,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, it is also situated closer to the equator than the traditional (but now challenged) "30 to 50 degrees latitude" rule of thumb of areas suitable for wine production.

Early developments

The history of Namibian wine production began with the colonisation of Namibia by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1884. The first vineyards in Namibia were planted by German

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priests at the end of the 19th century in the mountain valleys of the suburb of Klein Windhoek in the capital city,

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

. They produced a

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

and a potent

schnapps Schnapps ( or ) or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to ...

named "Katholischer". Production was halted in the late 1960s, when the last wine-making priest died and the vineyards made way for building classrooms for the church school, Saint-Paul's.The Namibian July 18, 2005: Namibian grapes set to conquer US market
/ref>

Newer developments

Several developments have taken place following Namibia's independence in 1990. Plantations for table grapes took place along

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

in the southern part of the country. Small scale winemaking was pioneered in 1990 by Helmuth Kluge in the town of Omaruru. He grew

Colombard Colombard (also known as French Colombard in North America) is a white French wine grape variety that may be the offspring of Chenin blanc and Gouais blanc. This makes the grape the sibling of the Armagnac Meslier-Saint-François and the nearl ...

and Ruby Cabernet in his plot calle
Kristall Kellerei

, accessed on December 19, 2009 which now concentrates on brandy and fruit wines. A nearby winer
Erongo Mountain Winery
produces a variety of wines from European-style grapes. Then, Allen Walken-Davis established a vineyard with

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

vines during the 1990s at hi
farm Neuras
near Maltahöhe, in the south of Namibia. In 1997, Bertus Boshoff planted his first vines at his farm
Thonninggii
in the Otavi Mountains near

Otavi Otavi is a town with 10,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency. Geography The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and Gr ...

. He grows Shiraz,

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...

, Cabernet Sauvignon as well as small patches of Pinotage and Mourvèdre. In 2003, the families Schulz and Evrard bought a farm 2 km away from Dr. Boshoff, and they planted Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Mourvèdre, Tempranillo and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

in 2004.

References

{{Namibia topics Agriculture in Namibia Namibian drinks African drinks Namibian cuisine Southern African cuisine

Early developments

Newer developments

See also

References