Grapes and wine

Logistics are testing farmers’ ingenuity.

Sector Insight

White wines fetched top prices at the 2022 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction.

Both wine and grape production are supported by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture which offers technology, research and development, agricultural training and analytical services at plant pathology and water and soil laboratories.

Grape farmers, wine producers and exporters have had their hands full coping with a series of challenges that go beyond the normal worries about weather, unpredictable customer preferences, global competition and variable pricing.

Logjams at the Port of Cape Town create headaches for exporters of time-dependent fruit and just as Covid-19 restrictions were coming to an end, Russia invaded Ukraine, putting some of the income derived from exports in jeopardy.

Nearly 2% of South African wine is exported to Russia. In 2021 the volume increased to nearly seven-million litres. With payment normally made through SWIFT, Russia’s expulsion from that system made transactions impossible.

Despite these headwinds, the volumes of grapes inspected for export in the 2022/23 season were expected to decrease by only 8% in comparison to 2021/22 season figures. This estimate was released by the South African Table Grape Industry Association (SATI), headquartered in Paarl, South Africa, which estimated a crop total of approximately 71.7-million cartons (4.5kg equivalent).

SATI noted how farmers have focussed on crop-load management and quality to overcome logistical issues. Some regions are growing more white seedless grapes and producers are paying attention to the quality of grapes, both on-farm and during the cold-chain process.

Exports of South African grapes and wine to China are on an upward trend. The imposition in 2020 of prohibitive tariffs on Australian imports by China helped to boost that trend.

Wine

The wine and brandy industry has set about creating a new strategic framework in response to the various economic and geopolitical shocks. With wine tourism disappearing during Covid-19 lockdowns and input costs rising, the industry has chosen to strategise for a more sustainable future.

Led by Vinpro, the wine industry organisation which represents South African wine grape producers, wineries and wine-related businesses, a new strategic framework, the Wine Industry Strategic Exercise (WISE2025), and the Agricultural and the Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP) have been created.

For some time, South African winemakers have been aiming for better quality instead of