Robertson, Western Cape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robertson is a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa known as the valley of wine and roses. It was founded in 1853 and named after the Scottish Dutch Reformed Church Minister, Dr William Robertson.

Situated in the fertile Robertson Valley, farming and wagon building were the town's original industries. However, after the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1898, the wagon building industry collapsed when the railways took over the transport of all goods.

Robertson subsequently became famous for its ostrich farming, but this industry collapsed as well shortly after World War I and thus the farmers of the area turned switched to wine and fruit farming. Later, several successful racehorse stud farms were founded. Agriculture remains the mainstay of the town's economy up to the present day.

Tourism has also grown in recent years and the town has several South African National Monuments, such as the Pink Church (1859), the Museum (1860), the Edwardian-style house 12 Piet Retief Street (1904), the Victorian-style house 59 Van Reeneen Street (1914) and the Powder House (which used as a storage for gunpowder).

The wine industry in Robertson has grown from less than 25 cellars in 1995 to more than 50 registerd wine cellars as of today. There is a number of wine cellars that receives the highest awards both locally and internationally every year. Famous wine cellars or Robertson include Graham Beck, Springfield, Bon Cap and Majors Hill. There is also a range of small boutique wineries as Rosendal and Fraaii Uitzicht.