Wines at The Raft Restaurant Walvis Bay 

Our Wine List can be browsed from here;

• Fine French Champagnes
  
  Fine French champagnes list
• Sparkling Wine List of The raft Restaurant
  
  Sparkling Wine list of The Raft Restaurant
• White wine List at The Raft
  
  White Wine List at The Raft Restaurant
• Red Wine List
  
  Red Wine List at the Raft Restaurant Walvis Bay.
• Rose and Semi Sweet Wines
  
  Rose and Semi Sweet Wines of The Raft Restaurant
• Dessert Wines
  
  Dessert Wines available at The Raft Restaurant Walvis Bay Namibia.

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 Some interesting notes on South African Wines

ORIGIN
South Africa’s wine country has been zoned into five regions: Boberg, Breede River Valley, Coastal Region, Klein Karoo and Olifants River. These regions have been further divided to provide Wine of Origin districts: Constantia, Douglas, Durbanville, Overberg, Paarl, Piketberg, Robertson, Swartland, Stellenbosch, Swellendam, Tulbagh and Worcester. Certain areas have been further subdivided, for greater definition of locality, into wards and some of those declared are: Aan-de Doorns, Andalusia, Benede-Oranje, Boesmansrivier, Bonnievale, Cedarberg, Eilandia, Franschhoek, Goree, Goudini, Groenekloof, Hoopsrivier, Le Chasseur, McGregor, Nuy, Riebeekberg, Riverside, Scherpenheuvel, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, Slanghoek, Vinkrivier, Walker Bay.

SUPERIOR

Though wine submitted for certification must be of a certain minimum standard to be issued with wine seals, the Wine and Spirit Board does not classify wines on ratings of merit. Nevertheless, when the certification programme was drawn up for legislation, a decision was made to provide an extra incentive for producers to make outstanding wines. The most effective incentive, naturally, is a higher price, and the best method of selling a wine at premium price is to give the wine a reliable, responsible award that can be shown on the seal and on the label. It is imperative that no wine of anything less than truly outstanding quality be granted the award ‘Superior’, so the panel of tasters who have the authority to bestow this award are highly skilled, practised and experienced individuals involved in the wine industry. As a precaution against any prejudice, they are only told the cultivar and vintage specified on the application, and are not told the specific source of the wine until after they have made their judgement. The ‘Superior’ classification is linked to wines of origin. A wine may be a blend of different vintages and of different cultivars, but it must have been grown and made within one area to be certified ‘Superior’, thus the official title of such a wine is ‘Wine of Origin Superior’, often abbreviated to ‘WOS’.

ESTATE

Only registered Estate farms qualify for this addition to the seal. The laws governing the composition and function of Estate farms are contained in the previous chapter. As every Estate lies totally within a wine growing ‘area’, i.e. no Estate lies across the boundary between one ‘area’ and another, all Estates automatically qualify for the ‘origin’ classification. Estate farmers must gain other certification in regard to cultivar and vintage in the same way as other producers.

There are many methods by which an Estate farmer can improve his crop and his product, and he is more likely than most other wine farmers to search them out and implement in a short time those he considers practical and worthwhile. The Estate farmer is the first to see the results of his improvements in the form of better wine and the resultant cash return. By being in charge of a relatively small area of vineyard, he is theoretically able to supervise more fully any developments, changes or improvements that he implements. He is able to make earlier use of research into improved wine quality. He has good reason for doing so, as the results may be seen by the public in his wines, bearing his label. There are no limits on the types of wines an Estate producer may make, beyond the source of his grapes. There is a minimum standard of quality that all Estate wines must meet, in analysis and taste, before they are certified by the Wine and Spirit Board, but, considering the competitiveness of the Estate wine market, no Estate wine farmer would be likely to attempt to sell any wine that did not reach such a quality level. An Estate wine farmer may make fortified wines, unfortified wines, sweet wines, dry wines and all shades in between. His market is his only control in these areas. If there is a demand at a worthwhile price for a particular type of wine and he has the ability to produce it, he will do so. South African Estate farms produce sweet fortified wines, dry and semi-sweet wines, pure cultivar and blended cultivar' wines, succulent ‘noble rot’ wines, sparkling wines made by the traditional ‘Champagne’ method, port and sherry wines and many others. Though an Estate wine must be made on the Estate from grapes grown on the Estate, it may be bottled elsewhere, if supervision of its movements at all times prior to bottling and records of its history, from vineyard to retailer, are available to the Wine and Spirit Board. There is no real limit in area to the size of an Estate farm, which may be so small as to contain only one vineyard and a small cellar, or may be a conglomerate of several farms, with adjoining boundaries, that have been made into one farm. The registration and operation of this latter type of Estate are under the strict control of the Wine and Spirit Board. It must be shown that the proposed Estate, has relatively uniform climate and environment. All of the ground must lie within one ‘Wine of Origin’ area. When the laws governing Estates were passed by an Act of Parliament, several small Estates were at that time in operation selling wine as Estate wine that had been produced on two or more properties that did not have adjoining boundaries but were owned by the same person. In these several special cases, involving farms owned by the one person and operated as one unit before 1 January 1973, the law made exceptions regarding the rules involving adjoining boundaries. The registration of wine Estates has been a legal requirement of the Wine and Spirit Board since 1973. Only those properties formally registered may use the term ‘Estate’ on their labelling and in promotional publicity for their wine. However, there are several farm cellars, producing limited quantities of high-quality wine from grapes grown under their control, who are unable to meet the specifications for a single Estate registration and who trade as unregistered Estates.