South African harvest down - and what are they blaming?

Reports in show that the South African harvest volume was 14.2% down from 2022 levels and is one of the smallest vintages in more than a decade. Despite regional differences, harvest volumes have declined in all 11 growing regions!

So, what is the reason?   One of the main reasons being given is the the inability of Eskom (equiv. to our ESB) to generate enough electricity, so they have to shut down the power supply for certain hours according to a set schedule. The knock on effect is that this is negatively affecting irrigation scheduling and water availability.

South Africa is the 9th largest Wine producer in the world - about 4% of all wines produced!