There will be whining because there will be less wine to go around

If you are a wine-lover like Keri Miller, you might want to prepare yourself mentally for a shortage of some sort in terms of your favourite wine. 

Yes, this after SAWIS (South African Wine Industry Information & Systems) shared that South Africa’s wine grape crop is expected to be smaller this year due to a decrease in vineyards, high disease pressure, and heatwaves.

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The first of four 2022 crop estimates, published by SAWIS and Vinpro, which represents more than 2,600 South African wine producers, cellars, and industry stakeholders, was released in December.  It noted that the wine grape crop was likely to be smaller than in 2021, but still larger than the five-year industry average.

The second and most recent one published by Vinpro on Monday, also depicted similar results. 

“At this early stage, we expect this year’s wine grape crop to be smaller than in 2021,” said Conrad Schutte, manager of Vinpro’s team of viticulturists of the harvest season which typically runs from January to April.

The popular wine-growing regions, like Stellenbosch, the Cape South Coast, and Klein Karoo, are unlikely to experience this downward trend in 2022, according to the latest estimate. But the vineyards in the Northern Cape, Olifants River, and Robertson regions are likely to bring down the national tally.

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The biggest change between the first and second estimates concerns heatwaves, specifically in December and January, that caught some vineyards off guard and caused sunburn damage to grapes. 

To be specific, areas in the Northern and Western Cape, over the past week alone, have recorded temperatures above 40°C.

So just get ready for some sort of shortage in wine...

Main Image Courtesy: Supplied