Wine industry association Vinpro has announced that many South African wine grape producers are expecting a smaller-than-usual wine grape crop.

This forecast for the imminent harvest season – which typically runs from January to April – is based on the second of four crop estimates issued by viticulturists and producer cellars in the third week of January.

“At this early stage, we expect this year’s wine grape crop to be smaller than in 2021,” said Vinpro viticulturist team manager Conrad Schutte in a statement on January 24. Schutte issues crop estimates together with industry body South African Wine Industry Information & Systems.

He attributed the expected smaller harvest to a decrease in vineyards, high disease pressure and heatwaves in some regions of the country.

“The South African wine industry is spread over a range of cultivation areas throughout the Western and Northern Cape, with often diverse climatic conditions. Because of this variation, the crop is estimated upwards and others downwards in the respective regions,” Schutte said.

The harvest is expected to be smaller in most wine grape growing regions, except for Stellenbosch, the Cape South Coast and Klein Karoo. Schutte attributes the overall decline in the 2022 wine grape crop to vineyards being uprooted – especially in the Northern Cape, Olifants River and Robertson regions – as well as high downy mildew and powdery mildew infections in some of these regions.

He said the ripening period was cooler than normal, but that heatwaves in December and January caught some vineyards off guard, causing sunburn damage to grapes.

The uprooting of vineyards is not a particularly unusual practice in the industry, Vinpro communications manager Wanda Augustyn told Engineering News. She explained that the likely reasons for the uprooting of the vines is that many of them were ageing and, therefore, no longer producing optimally.

She noted that, additionally, the Covid-19 alcohol restrictions that were implemented sporadically in 2020 and 2021 negatively impacted on investment in new vineyards.

UPBEAT OUTLOOK

Despite the smaller harvest this year, Vinpro claimed that wine grape producers had experienced an “exceptional” growing season.

“Winter conditions were excellent, characterised by mostly above-average cold units – as reflected by frequent snowfall on mountain peaks – along with higher-than-normal rainfall that supplemented groundwater levels,” Vinpro explained.

Although a cool and wet spring meant that budding was 7 to 14 days later than normal, it remained consistently “good and even”. The cool weather also delayed initial growth. However, most vines caught up during flowering, which occurred about five days later than usual.

“We are excited to build on the great quality wine grapes and wines that we’ve seen year on year in the vineyards and cellars,” Schutte said.

The next crop estimate to be issued by viticulturists and producer cellars will be released in the third week of February.