General overview

Autumn 2003: Good rainfall after the pressing season, followed by warm and dry weather conditions, resulted in late leaf drop. This was conducive to very good accumulation of reserves.

Winter 2003: Cool but markedly drier than usual. Low rainfall occurred in all the regions, with the result that winter catchment dams as well as soil moisture in dryland vineyards did not receive their full complement of water.

The 2003 growing season: Winter was followed by a cool spring and the vineyards started budding 10 to 14 days later than usual. The season?s growth started with good vigour thanks to the favourable weather conditions and good accumulation of reserves. Cooler conditions in October and November resulted in a long flowering period, which in turn caused uneven berry set and bunches that did not develop uniformly.

One of the biggest challenges in the vineyard this year was uneven berry set and vineyard teams did a great deal of green bunch removal to promote even ripening. Véraison occurred 10 to 14 days later than usual.

The 2003/4 season will also be remembered as one of the healthiest ever, which was mainly due to the absence of rain. It was only in the lower section of the Breede River valley that problems with Botrytis were caused at the beginning of the season by sporadic southeasterly rain and high humidity.

The harvest: Long and testing is how many producers will remember the 2004 harvest. Cool climatic conditions caused the growing and ripening conditions to be very good, but delayed everything. By early March, much of the harvest was still hanging on the vines when it is usually nearly all in the cellar.

Ripening occurred 7 to 14 days later than in 2003, with a heatwave in February and rain at the beginning of March delaying the harvest even further. During the long hang time the grapes ripened slowly and accumulated complexity, but it felt like the harvest would last forever and nerves of steel were required to wait patiently for the grapes to achieve optimum ripeness. Sugars were good and while acids and pH were not always equally satisfactory, these could be adjusted in the fermentation tanks by the winemakers. The colour of red wine cultivars was exceptionally good and intense this year, thanks to the cool night temperatures.

The wines: Thanks to the excellent quality of the grapes that were crushed, the wines look promising. At the time of going to press it was too early to say how the wines would develop, but experience has taught that cool season wines develop more slowly than warm season wines.

Crop size: The 2004 crop was underestimated by everybody. According to initial estimates and indications it was going to be a very average crop. Eventually it turned out to be the biggest crop ever in the South African wine industry! The estimated total wine harvest of 1 018,50 million litres (1 314 364 tons) represents an increase of 6,54% compared to the 2003 harvest. The figures mentioned above include juice and concentrate for non-alcoholic purposes, rebate and distilling wine, at an average recovery rate of 775 litres per ton of grapes.

The biggest increases occurred in the Orange River and Worcester regions. The summer rain in the Orange River region caused a considerable amount of grapes that were destined for the table and drying market to end up in wine cellars.

In Worcester, expansion and a particularly good year were responsible for a record crop.
Stellenbosch: Good average harvest with wine quality ranging from very good to average red and white wines. Paarl: Despite an extremely dry winter a large crop was harvested. Winemakers are looking forward to very good wines. Delightful fruity Chenin blanc and Chardonnay wines. Good Cabernet Sauvignon and outstanding Shiraz.
Swartland: One of the driest seasons in years. Delightful fruity Chenin blanc and Chardonnay wines. Good Cabernet Sauvignon and outstanding Shiraz.
Robertson: Warm, humid conditions and sporadic rainfall. Chardonnay as usual very good. Fruity Colombar. Both the colour and the quality of the red wines are looking good, Merlot especially. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are very promising.
Worcester: The biggest crop in the history of Worcester/Rawsonville. More complex wines; white wines with slightly less fruit. Chardonnay excellent.
Klein Karoo: A warm, dry summer with little rain. The quality of the wines is very promising. Olifants River: Much smaller crop due to serious drought. The quality of the red and early white cultivars is very promising. The region?s potential for the cultivation of quality red grapes is once again confirmed by the fact that a considerable percentage of the crop was delivered to cellars in the Boland.
Orange River: A record crop ? 16% more wine grapes was crushed than the previous biggest crop (2002). Both the sugar content and the quality of the grapes delivered to the cellars were good despite the rain.

Vintage Guide

The number of wine regions, their geographic distance and climatological diversity defy generalisation, but the overall characteristics of the previous five vintages may be summarised as follows:

2003: An excellent vintage, one of the very best in recent years. White as well as red wines impress with full-bodied structure and complexity.
2002: Pay attention to individual cellars, rather than general trends. Downy mildew caused widespread havoc. Good Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Merlot, Pinotage and new clone Cabernet Sauvignon wines. 2001: The summer was very hot and dry with few diseases. Wines were high in alcohol, with very concentrated flavours.
2000: The crop was small. Some excellent red wines that will keep well. Big, alcoholic white wines.
1999: Large crop, warm summer. Excellent ripening conditions. Reds high in alcohol, will develop in time. Fruity whites.

Information supplied by VinPro and SAWIS

Compiled and written by Romi Boom
Email: romi@intekom.co.za