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- The 2022 SA Wine Harvest Report indicates that consumers can expect some excellent wines this year, despite a smaller crop.
- This year's wine grape harvest is estimated to be about 5.5% smaller than last year, but still bigger than the five-year average.
- South Africa is the eighth-biggest wine producer world-wide and produces about 4% of the world's wine.
Despite a smaller wine grape crop, South Africa's 2022 harvest is expected to deliver great quality wines, according to the annual SA Wine Harvest Report released on Friday.
The 2022 wine grape crop is estimated at 1 378 737 tons, according to an estimate of industry body SAWIS (South African Wine Industry Information & Systems) on 25 May 2022. This is 5.5% smaller than in 2021, but still larger than the five-year average of 1 346 024 tons.
"A cool season and moderate weather conditions in most regions during the harvest slowed down ripening, which gave vines the opportunity to develop stunning flavour and colour," says Conrad Schutte, consultation service manager of wine producers' body Vinpro.
The smaller wine grape crop can be attributed to a decline in the overall vineyard area due to the uprooting of vineyards, disease pressure caused by untimely rainfall just before or during harvest time, as well as isolated cases of sunburn as a result of heatwaves in certain regions.
According to Siobhan Thompson, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WoSA), there is a continued interest globally in South African Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and red blends.
South Africa's total wine export volume grew by 22% to 388 million litres in 2021, with export value increasing by 12% to R10.2 billion. The UK is still South Africa's largest export market and has shown continued growth in both volume and value. The rest of the top five export countries by total volume are Germany, the US, Canada and Africa, while exports to China have grown exponentially.
South Africa is the eighth biggest wine producer worldwide and produces about 4% of the world's wine. The wine industry contributes more than R55 billion to the country's GDP and employs close to 269 000 people throughout the value-chain, of which more than 80 000 work on farms and in cellars.
"The South African wine and brandy industry is continuing on its road to recovery and rebuilding, after two years of severe disruptions due to domestic sales bans and global trade barriers," says Vinpro MD Rico Basson.
He adds that wine producers' profitability is still under significant pressure due to a sharp increase in input costs, while wine prices and consumer spending remain low. Although global and local sales volumes recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels, the industry still carries an excess stock of around 200 million litres.
It is still unclear how severe the effects of the war in Ukraine and continued shipping constraints will be on export lead times, availability of dry goods and cost hikes.
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