A couple of Wine Trivia questions: which Wine of Origin area (at ward level) has most sauvignon blanc planted? And where and when was sauvignon blanc first planted in South Africa?

In fact, there could be another question to supplement the first: which are the wards where sauvignon is the most planted variety? According to my count there are eleven of them (which I'll list at the end, in case anyone's interested). At the head of that list is Durbanville with 380 hectares (at the end of 2008, which are the latest statistics available), and then Elgin with 337. But you might be surprised to learn that beating both of them is Goudini, a ward in Breedekloof in the Breede River Valley. Goudini has 413 hectares (but those plantings are dwarfed by the areas it devotes to chenin, colombard and chardonnay). Puts things in perspective, perhaps. But I'd be pretty sure that Durbanville, Elgin and Constantia make more money out of their much more expensive sauvignons than does Goudini.

As to the first plantings - as far as I know it is not certain when sauvignon was introduced to the Cape, but it was certainly being grown at Groot Constantia in the late 1880s, and reportedly performing well. I don't know of earlier references. (This was after Groot Constantia had been bought by the state following its insolvency and was being used as a model farm and training establishment.) If anyone knows better, I'd be interested to learn. Anyway, until the turn to quality and the rise of the estates in the 1980s, sauvignon did not get much attention. When Professor Orffer edited his little book on Wine Grape Cultivars in South Africa in 1979, he remarked on the quality of the grape but noted its scarcity in South Africa.

This, though, was exactly the time when sauvignon was just starting its dramatic quantitative climb. The first varietal Sauvignon on the market was that of Verdun (now Asara) in 1977, with Backsberg and De Wetshof joining with the 1980 vintage. Within a few years there were many more. Interestingly, many of the early sauvignons were at least lightly wooded (the 1983 Platter guide sternly notes that the Backsberg 1982 was "almost smothered by oak") - probably reflecting a hope that sauvignon could serve the function of chardonnay, which was generally performing so poorly in the Cape at the time. Since those early days, sauvignon has not looked back in its inexorable progress and now accounts for about 9% of the national vineyard. The oldest sauvignon vineyards in the country seem to be those at Spice Route in the Swartland, planted in 1965, and at Bloemendal in Durbanville, planted sometime in the early 1970s.

This little excursion into the past was prompted by the great chance coming up for lovers of sauvignon to taste a wide range of local and some brilliant international examples of wines, at the Constantia Fresh Sauvignon Blanc Festival, which is taking place in a couple of weeks. Some of the events are gulpingly expensive, unfortunately, but it all looks very exciting. (Click here for the Festival website, which has a programme.)

Incidentally, the Festival is not entirely about sauvignon (nor is Constantia itself, of course, by any means). There's a tasting of some of the local reds alongside a stellar line-up of foreign wines - with the idea of discussing and discerning freshness in reds. Actually, I have a strong suspicion that Constantia might also have been the first place in the Cape to grow shiraz (though there are some not always convincing arguments that it had been around for a long time). But certainly, the modern shiraz industry goes back to the late nineteenth century when shiraz (and mourvèdre) were brought here from Australia. Though it was never planted as high up the Constantia mountains as it is now by Eagle's Nest for their elegant Syrah - which will be, together with the modern Groot Constantia's much-praised version, at the Festival's red wine tasting.

• The wards which have sauvignon blanc as their most-planted grape are, in order of size of plantings: Durbanville, Elgin, Franschhoek, Constantia, Elim, Bot River, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Sunday's Glen, Cape Point, Lamberts Bay - and Bamboes Bay, all 3.5 hectares of it!

And if you're not sure about what wards are, or where they are, there's a map of the production areas on the ever-useful Sawis site. Click here for it.