KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal (/kwɑːˌzuːluː nəˈtɑːl/; also referred to as KZN or Natal and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, enjoying a long shoreline beside the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg and its largest city is Durban.

During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was occupied by the Zulu Kingdom while the southern part was, briefly, the Boer republic of Natalia before becoming, in 1843, the British Colony of Natal. KwaZulu remained independent until 1879.

KwaZulu-Natal is the birthplace of many notable figures in South Africa's history, such as Albert Luthuli, the first non-white and the first person from outside Europe and the Americas to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1960); Pixley ka Isaka Seme, the founder of the African National Congress (ANC) and South Africa's first black lawyer; John Langalibalele Dube, the ANC's founding president; Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP); Anton Lembede, the founding president of the ANC Youth League; Jacob Zuma, the current President of South Africa; and Bhambatha, a 19th-century Zulu chief who became an anti-apartheid icon.

KwaZulu-Natal wine

KwaZulu-Natal is designated as a geographical unit under the Wine of Origin classification of South African wine. It corresponds to the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east of South Africa, which has an embryonic wine industry.

History

The first trials of Vitis vinifera in KwaZulu-Natal were in 1992 at Sunwich Port.

Tiny and Judy van Niekerk established the Stables Wine Estate in 2005, the first wine estate in KwaZulu-Natal, and released the first wines from the region in 2006. Judy van Niekerk was responsible for having KZN designated as a "Wine of Origin" region in 2005 after negotiations with SAWIS.

Owners and winemakers Ian and Jane Smorthwaite bought their farm Abingdon Wine Estate in 2000 and the first vines were planted in 2004. Situated at 1100m above sea level, Abingdon Estate has in excess of 2ha under vine.

Judy van Niekerk approached the KZN Government in 2007 with a proposal to fund vineyard plantings in the Tribal regions of the province, creating job opportunities in under resourced regions. This project commenced in 2009 with newer plantings of 10ha at Ballito on the KNZ north coast. These vineyards are cultivating the French-American hybrid Villard Blanc, a grape cultivar that thrives in warm, humid conditions. The first wines of this were produced in Sept 2013 under the banner of iLembe Co-operative Winery.