Hell no! Or hip hip hooray? At the end of the 2018 grape harvest in the Cape, SA wine industry body Vinpro has again advocated that: “Amidst a looming wine shortage, the South African wine industry needs an upward price adjustment to ensure sustainable supply going forward.”

According to Vinpro’s annual Wine Harvest Report, wine grape production is at 1.2 million tonnes – nearly 15% down compared to 2017 – which translates into “170 million litres less wine produced in 2018”. The decline in wine production is attributed to a prolonged drought, a decline in area under vines and frost damage in some areas.

“After years of financial pressure,” says Vinpro MD Rico Basson, “wine producers need a significant income adjustment of close to 30% to ensure a more viable and sustainable environment. At the moment they [on average] earn a meagre 1% return on investment…”

It’s reported that: “More than a third of wine grape producers operate at a loss and the industry has around 25% less producers than a decade ago… Many wine grape farmers therefore leave the industry, uproot vines to make way for more profitable crops, or don’t replace vineyards. The area under wine grapes has shrunk by close to 9% in the past ten years.”

Basson says: “The only way to ensure a sustainable supply going forward is increasing the prices we receive for our wines, so that wine grape producers have sufficient financial means to plant and renew vines, increase production, and are able to accelerate the already significant investment in socio-economic aspects including further training and upliftment of their people.

“It is positive to note that we have in the short term already seen evidence of above-average adjustment of prices at South African retail level for certain wine categories with further adjustments expected over the medium term,” reflects Basson. And Yvette van der Merwe, MD of South African Wine Industry Information & Systems (SAWIS, says that: “Consumers can expect to pay between 8% and 11% more for their favourite wine.”

More on Vinpro’s price forecast here.

For some, the worst drought in 100 years!

“The 2018 harvest season was really challenging, due to a prolonged drought which some believe to be the worst in 100 years, accompanied by water restrictions and frost damage in some areas” – Francois Viljoen, manager of Vinpro’s viticultural consultation service.

All regions except the Breedekloof reported a smaller wine grape crop, with the Olifants River region being hit hardest due to a water allocation amounting to only 20% the region’s normal allowance from the Clanwilliam Dam. “The South African wine industry is already very diverse due to the variation in climate and terroir between the respective regions,” Viljoen said. “But this year it was exceptionally difficult to generalise as the conditions would differ significantly from one region and even one farm to the next, depending on access to water, the prioritisation of other crops on the farm and how the vineyard was managed to cope with the drought.”

Full Vinpro harvest report here.