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Windmeul Wine
The mill to which Windmeul owes its
name must have been the centre of
economic activity in the area. This
Windmeul was probably the finest in
the country. Not only did it have a
fantail to turn the cap, but it also had
shuttered sails, like Venetian blinds
which automatically opened or closed
according to the strength of the wind.
Research so far has revealed that the
windmill, built by Mr Blake, a Paarl
miller, was probably erected some time
between 1884 and 1890. In this year
the post office agency called Windmill
was established in Agter-Paarl
alongside the mill.
There were twenty-seven mills in Paarl
area but the one at Agter-Paarl was
the only windmill.
Mr Johnnie de Villiers of Windmeul,
whose father was the one-time owner
of the mill, recalls that a severe storm
damaged one of the sails, so that it
could no longer be effectively wind
driven and that his father bought a
paraffin motor in Cape Town to drive it.
He also says that there was an
economic recession after the Boer War,
and the mill being no longer viable,
ceased production. According to Mr De
Villiers, the owner (JP van Rensburg,
died 5th May 1927) of the farm
Waterpoel, as Roelanda was then
known, had the tower of the mill
demolished a few months before his
death, leaving the three-meter base
which still exists, for use as a store
room.
All that is left is one of the millstones
housed on the grounds of a local
school. Although the undertaking has
passed into oblivion, the name
Windmeul has remained, and was the
one adopted when a co-operative wine
cellar was established in the area in
1944.
Originally a group of export grape
farmers thought of forming a co-
operative cellar to vinify the portion of
the crop that was not suitable for table
use. Since these farmers were not in
position to deliver the minimum of
1500 tons required to set up a co-
operative, several wine farmers were
invited to join them.
The Windmeul Co-Operative Wine
cellars was registered on September
4th 1944 with the twenty-three
founder members undertaking to
deliver a combined total of 1700 tons
of grapes. The following year a tender
for building a cellar was accepted at
R15 700 and the 1946 crop was the
first to be pressed at Windmeul. |
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