The South African wine industry is positive that a good growing season will yield a larger harvest, despite a decline in the area under vines in recent years. Following a cold winter and moderate to warm spring with good, even budding, the harvest would be larger than the 2011 harvest. Yields of 5 – 10% larger than the 2011 harvest are anticipated for
most regions.
The area under grape vines has shrunk by more than 1 000 ha since 2006 to 101 016 ha at the end of 2010. With the reduced number of vines producing smaller yields, the wine industry has since 2005 not been able to keep up with the required annual replacement of 5% (5 000 ha) vines. An increasing percentage of older vineyards can therefore also have a negative impact on production in the long term. Although some districts have managed to plant more vines than uprooting in 2010, the positive effect of this will not be felt yet.
In general, the winter was colder than in previous years – which is beneficial to suspend dormancy. Robertson had exceptionally high rainfall levels, while districts such as Paarl, Stellenbosch and Malmesbury had a very dry winter. Available irrigation or further rainfall will still have an impact on the final volume of the 2012 harvest.
“We’ve had ideal spring weather conditions throughout the industry up to now with good shoot growth, even budding and promising flower cluster numbers and sizes. The vineyards are very healthy in general, with no visible fungal diseases, however snails and snout beetles did cause damage in some areas,” said Francois Viljoen, manager of the VinPro Consultation Service.
The cold, rainy conditions that prevailed in the Western Cape over the past month had an effect on the flowering and set of wine grapes, the extent of which on the harvest cannot be
accurately determined at this stage. Climatic conditions until January can still have a significant impact on the eventual harvest.
Swartland and Stellenbosch are exceptions, where average or even smaller harvests are forecast.
For a map of winegrowing areas in South Africa click on South Africa wine MAP
