Winemakers in the Cape tell me that
the 2019 vintage is challenging. Rain, heavy at times and low clouds on hills
during the end of March affected late harvested varieties. Where air couldn’t
circulate among tight bunches a malady called slip-skin caused skins to fall
off grapes.
Also, after three years
of drought, vines are over stressed and are starting to drop leaves.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
and Malbec are being harvested earlier than desired. With lower sugar levels
the resulting wines are expected to have lower than usual alcohol levels.
If there is sufficient
rain vines are expected to recover for the next season.
However, early ripening
grapes including Pinotage were harvested ripe and in good condition and this is
expected to be good vintage for Pinotage, while maybe not as great as 2017. Time will tell.
Another severe challenge for wineries is load-shedding. Power cuts, up to 3 a day and each 2½ - 3 hours in duration are a real problem in wineries, even those with generators to keep essential machinery running don't have lighting.
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