2007 to be a vintage year
11 July 2007
South African winemakers are anticipating red and white wines of exceptional quality, following a cold winter and other favourable climatic conditions during the 2006 growing season, the SA Wine Industry Information & Systems said this week.
According to its website, Sawis is a non-profit company that works together with the South African wine industry to collect, process and disseminate information as well as in administering the industry's Wine of Origin system.
In its 2007 harvest report, Sawis states that this was also a particularly healthy season, with much of the country’s crop ripening disease free.
In addition, the report states that the harvest was "long and drawn out with early cultivars ripening up to 10 days earlier".
According to Sawis, the estimated 2007 wine harvest of 1.04-billion litres (about 1.35-million tons), at an average recovery of 774 litres per ton of grapes, represents an increase of 4.2% compared to the 2006 crop.
This figure includes grape juice concentrate and grape juice, wine for brandy and distilling wine.
Good winter rains ensured that most cultivars performed better than the previous two seasons.
"The crop is bigger in all the regions except in Stellenbosch, where the 2006 harvest was above average, in the Malmesbury/Swartland region, where production varied within the region and Orange River where drying conditions and prices for raisins were excellent, causing less grapes to be delivered to the cellars," the report states.
Winemakers appear confident that this season's red and white wines, in particular Sauvignon blanc, Chenin blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon will be exceptional. Rosé wines should also prove interesting, the report states.
"The colours and aromas of the reds are intense and consumers can look forward to big wines with complex structures. White wines have lovely flavours, texture and lower sugars than previous years," it adds.
Despite a heat wave at the start of the harvest that caused most cultivars to ripen much earlier than last year, the nights remained relatively cool enough and most vineyards were protected by sufficient water supplies.
"We had a wonderful 2007 harvest at Du Toitskloof," said Du Toitskloof Cellar's winemaker, Shawn Thomson.
"The quality of the Sauvignon blanc is really very good, something that will be remembered. We are a big team, like a family, making wine at Du Toitskloof, and everyone agrees: the red wines are looking very good, with exceptional colours and wonderful flavours."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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