Climatic conditions result in challenging wine grape season

The Western Cape's wine production is expected to be lower this season, reports Glenneis Kriel.

- Glenneis Kriel

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine estimated towards the end of April that South African wine production for the 2023/24 season could amount to about 9,4 million hectolitres (mhl), which is about 1% higher than last season’s and 6% lower than the industry’s five-year average.

However, it was revealed during Vinpro’s regional information days, recently held in various wine regions in the Western Cape, that production could be even lower than last season’s, which at roughly 9,3mhl was the smallest harvest in more than a decade.

Dr Etienne Terblanche, manager of Vinpro’s viticultural consultants, described it as a challenging season at the information day in Stellenbosch.

“The season caught us off-guard. We did not see what was coming at the start of the season,” he said.

According to him, it seemed like the industry was heading for a good season up until November. Great climatic conditions in winter resulted in good bud break in October and flowering towards the start of November.

Towards the end of November, however, problems such as inconsistent fruit set and variability started setting in, with sunburn and dehydration being major problems in some areas from January onwards.