Mzansi’s wine grape crop harvesting may have gotten off to a slow start, but volumes at cellars are looking great with industry players excited about the grape quality and the exceptional wines expected from the 2022 vintage.
Joining the weekend edition of Farmer’s Inside Track, Conrad Schutte, manager of Vinpro’s viticultural consulting service, says the 2022 season was characterised by cooler weather conditions from winter to mid-December last year.
This led to lighter than normal budding, flowering and ripening. As a result of warm weather in December and January, crop maturation was increased.
“But the harvesting programme for most cultivars is still being delayed by about seven to ten days. Although we started later than normal in the harvest, all 10 wine grape producing regions have always had a significant number of grapes at this stage,” Schutte explains.
He adds that this gives them a good indication of the volumes being delivered to the sellers.
Climate change threat
Schutte describes the geographical diversity of the representative wine rain regions. According to him the harvest is smaller than the year before and that this can mainly be attributed to showers in the Northern Cape and fungal diseases and rot.
He adds that they are dealing with several factors when it comes to ultimately producing some of the best wines in the world. “In some areas, we get favourable growth conditions and we do see bigger crops, while in other areas we do not have as favourable weather conditions and we see a smaller crop.”
Climate change poses a threat to the wine industry.
Stellenbosch and Cape south coast had a better harvest experience, but Paarl, Swartland and Robertson experienced sunburn due to heat waves, he says.
Some of the early varieties are already being released onto the market and show good quality.
“The closer we get to the end of harvest, the more accurate the estimation will get. And we do believe that producers will keep on bringing good quality grapes to the sellers so that the winemakers can make excellent wines,” Schutte says.
ALSO READ: ICYMI: SA wine producers pass harvest halfway mark
Want to know more? Listen to the full episode of Farmer’s Inside Track
Option 1: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
Option 2: Click here to listen on any Apple device.
Option 3: Click here to listen on Google Podcasts.
