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Paarl-Simonsberg Wine Region

The Region of Fine Wines

If you’re a wine lover, you might have known about the wines from the Paarl wine region of South Africa.

This is one of the most popular wine producers in the country and is located just 37 miles from Cape Town.

Located just north of the popular Stellenbosch region, Paarl is home to some of the best-known wineries in the Western Cape part. You might be wondering what is Paarl-Simonsberg now.

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Well, it is one of the wards of Paarl that is known for producing some fine wines. Let’s see all about the vines and wines from Paarl and Paarl-Simonsberg here…

Geography and Climate of Paarl-Simonsberg

The Paarl region is surrounded by the Boland Mountains on its eastern side and by the Paarl Rock on its western side.

As I mentioned earlier, Paarl has various wards one of which is Paarl-Simonsberg.

The other wards of Paarl are Wellington and Voor Paardeberg. We could observe that the Paarl-Simonsberg is somewhat warmer than the other pockets of Stellenboch. However, it is receiving abundant amounts of rainfall with an annual range of 800 millimeters.

The summers are found to be longer and hotter here. The wind from the Atlantic Ocean, which is at a 60-km distance from this region has some impact on the vine cultivation in terms of cooling breeze in the afternoons.

Here, we can see vineyards being planted on the lower slopes of Paarl Rock and on the northern side of the Simonsberg Mountain. In addition, we can also find some vineyards in the valley of the Berg River.

It has been found that the mountains of this region are providing the well-drained granite and shale soils for the vine cultivation. On the other hand, the soils of the valley are found to be more of sandstone-based.

Because of these the vineyards that are being grown on the upper slopes are benefitted by the low nutrient soils which are forcing them to dig deeper and deeper thereby making them stronger. Here, the yields are also found to be low, thus making the quality of wines outstanding.

Wine Production in Paarl-Simonsberg

The history of winemaking in Paarl can be dated back to the 1680s when the French Huguenots started to settle in this region and planted vines here.

This region was the headquarters of the ancient South Africa’s Cooperative Wine Growers Association.

Today, the region is gifting the winemakers with a great variety of terroirs thereby providing them the opportunities for experimenting with various varieties of grapes and blends.

The red wines from the region are found to be layered and are found to be rich and robust in characteristics. They will have a great intensity of grapefruit.

On the other hand, white wines from Paarl-Simonsberg are found to be very juicy and are tropical and fruit-driven.

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Grape Varieties of Paarl-Simonsberg

The major grape variety of this region is found to be the Shiraz which is a red variety.

The Shiraz wines that are produced here are found to have deeper and complex layers of fruit with peppery and savory characters.

The major Shiraz producers of this region are Lindhorst and Backsberg. The other important red variety of this region is found to be Pinotage.

Apart from these, the heat-sensitive white varieties are also planted here because of the warmer climatic conditions. As such, we can find that the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are the major white varieties here.

The Chardonnay of Paarl-Simonsberg is found to be with serious styles. One other white variety found here is Chenin Blanc.

We can also find some Merlot plantations in this region. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends from this region are found to have cedar and herbal minty flavors.

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Author

Tharani Rajamanickam

Tharani Rajamanickam

Winewriter

I am Tharani, I have Bachelors degree in Biotechnology. I am passionate about the wine industry and continue to explore, learn and share and I bring in a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help you keep updated with best wines in the world. Stay tuned..

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