A fire that raged through the Simonsberg last week is not expected to have any significant impact on the Western Cape’s wine harvest this year.
Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, said initial reports by his department as well as VinPro, a service organisation for wine producers, indicated a minimal impact.
While several of South Africa’s top wine farms - including Delheim, Kanonkop and Thelema - suffered damages in the week-long blaze that started in the Simonsberg just above the town of Pniel on January 19, a fraction of the total wine production will be affected.
“There are 100 000 hectares in the province and a very small portion of that was damaged. It is unfortunate that some of our top wineries were affected,” said Winde. ”However, I was pleased to hear this week from Kanonkop that there was no structural damage, and as such the fire will have no impact on their bookings and the tourism side of the business. Wine tourism generates R6 billion annually for the national economy and we know our prestigious wine farms are major draw-cards for tourists.”
Denise Strubbs, the majority shareholder at Thokozani Wines, said they expected a decline from about 500 tonnes to 300 tonnes.
“We have hired 40 temporary workers for three months. They were unable to work when the sugar dropped and we could not harvest, but we will try to find them general work here at the farm,” she said.
Despite the lower volume the wine producer is still hoping to deliver a higher quality wine.
Winde reiterated the importance of the wine industry in the Western Cape saying targets were to double the value of South African wine exports to strategic destinations by 2025.
“As demand for our product grows, we will need to develop appropriate irrigation infrastructure to ensure we can increase production. This includes supporting efforts to increase the volume of water in the Brandvlei Dam. In this regard, we have established an inter-governmental and industry task team. The expansion of the Brandvlei Dam also seeks to mitigate the impact of future water shortages for the wine industry,” he said.
