South Africa’s agriculture sector has been badly affected by the worst drought since regular records started being kept in 1904. However, there is a bright side to the situation: the country’s wine industry.

Wine expert Roland Peens is quoted in a Moneyweb article stating that South Africa is currently enjoying one of its most exciting wine phases in history. ‘El Niño and climate change are causing large vintage variation in the Cape and across the globe, already resulting in two of the earliest harvests (2015 and likely 2016) on record,’ he says.

According to Peens: ‘Both 2009 and 2012 were excellent recent vintages. However, many producers believe 2015 to be superior as it enjoyed favourably dry conditions and grapes were harvested with remarkable health and acidity.’ He adds that although the drought has yet to have a dramatic effect on the wine industry, a lack of irrigation could result in decreased yields in 2016, thus the management of water still remains increasingly important.

7 June 2016
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