After a long and drawn-out harvest time, many wine grape producers can finally take a breather, while others still wait patiently for their last grapes to reach optimal ripeness.
“It’s safe to say that in a normal year, most producers have finished harvesting by the beginning of April, although there is always great variation between the regions,” says Conrad Schutte, manager of Vinpro’s viticultural consultation service. “A number of cellars have announced on social media over the past few weeks that they have finally finished harvesting, but there are a few producers, especially in the Breedekloof, who will probably have to hold out for another week or so.”
From the onset, the South African wine grape season lagged by about two weeks, characterised by moderate and cooler weather conditions. According to the latest estimate by SAWIS (SA Wine Industry Information and Systems) mid-March, the harvest may be slightly larger than in 2020, but still smaller than the ten-year average. This was the second last estimate before the final harvest figure will be published in the official SA Wine Harvest Report mid-May.
Good yields are expected in most regions, but cooler weather may lead to crop losses in the Cape South Coast and Stellenbosch regions due to disease pressure and in Stellenbosch the moderate temperatures also placed a limit on berry sizes, especially in earlier cultivars such as Pinot Noir, Pinotage and Chardonnay.
“Now, while we’re nearing the end of this late season, winemakers and viticulturists are especially excited about good colour extraction, low pHs and high natural acidity that are emerging in the analyses. The cool weather conditions allow producers to harvest blocks at the optimum time. Both of these factors indicate that exceptional wine quality can be expected from the 2021 vintage,” says Conrad.
According to Christo Spies, CEO of Farm Management Systems, their WineMS software also indicates that harvest time is about two weeks late. “We are currently in week 14 of harvest time and are now harvesting more tonnes than in week 12 last year. It is estimated that 88% of the total harvest has been taken in at cellars.”
Nearly 73% of all tonnes delivered in the South African wine industry are captured by WineMS’ software. Christo shares the following interesting facts from their system about the 2021 harvest:
Did you know #1
Due to a lot of rain in week 10, there were a few regions that did not take in any grapes on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 – a week that is typically at the peak of the harvest season.
Did you know #2
People in our industry don’t miss lunch time! On average, far fewer grapes are delivered to cellars between 12:00 and 13:00.
Did you know #3
Sauvignon Blanc, Nouvelle and Semillon are predominantly harvested in the morning. On average, 12% of all grapes are received at cellars before 8:00 in the morning, which means that some growers are up nice and early.
For viticultural advice, contact a viticulturist in your area, or call 021 276 0429.
If you want to know more about WineMS’ information management system for wine grape producers and cellars, visit www.winems.co.za or call 021 276 0487.
