Orange River Cellars Information

The Orange River and the Kalahari Desert bound Upington, the biggest town in the warm, dry North Western Cape. This is also the main office of the Orange River Cellars, the largest wine cooperative in South Africa and the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the second-largest in the world, according to the number of tons harvested. In the early 1900s vineyards were planted in the Lower Orange valley for raisin production. Since the early seventies, the wine production activities have been extended significantly with the addition of cellars at Groblershoop, Grootdrink, Kakamas, and Keimoes. Grape juice production is managed from a separate, specialised facility at Kanoneiland, and is also done at the wineries of Grootdrink and Kakamas. In the land of contrasts flows the Orange River, which is the life source of this arid landscape. Together with the red Kalahari Desert soil and the thundering roar of the Augrabies Falls, the huge variety of succulents give the barren area its natural beauty. In 1966 the Orange River Scheme was put into operation and to this day this irrigation canal is the nutritive source of a flourishing wine region. The intake of the cellars has grown from 5182 tons in 1968 to a record of 184 000 tons in 2004. Not much of the original distilling wine scheme survived. The production of good wine goes hand in hand with marketing and here Orange River Cellars had great success with its products. Originally only three wines were produced, but the product list has grown to over 30 different products. A large number of awards over the last couple of years indicates the quality of these products. To date, we have received national and international awards and recognition for our wines, the latest being 5 medals at the 1999 Veritas. With the growing demand for grape juice concentrate, Orange River Cellars established juice cellars at Kanoneiland and Grootdrink and in 1996.