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A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
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MOST IMPORTANT WINE GRAPE CULTIVARS IN THE RSA*
VINES PLANTED MORE OR LESS (-) THAN UPROOTED (1995-1998)
In 1998 there was a nett increase of 1 502 hectares of vines compared to the 1 433 hectares increase in 1997. Table 1 shows the biggest increase to have been in the Worcester district with 390 hectares. The Robertson (263 ha), Olifants River (270 ha) and Malmesbury (287 ha) districts also show increases of more than 200 hectares.
The only decrease (9 ha) was in Stellenbosch which also showed decreases of 181, 60 and 33 hectares respectively in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The Paarl district showed the smallest increase, namely 38 ha, compared to the previous year's decrease of 10 ha.
1. MOST IMPORTANT WINE GRAPE CULTIVARS ACCORDING TO NUMBERS (TOTAL POSITION)
Chenin blanc with 26,44 per cent (27,58% in 1997) of total vines planted, is still the most important cultivar in the South African wine industry. In Table 2 the ten most important wine grape cultivars according to numbers (total position) are indicated.
Of the so-called "noble" cultivars ("Big six"), Chardonnay (fourth with 6,19%), Cabernet Sauvignon (fifth with 5,88%), Sauvignon blanc (sixth with 5,32%) and Pinotage (eighth with 4,66%) appear among the first ten cultivars.
2. MOST IMPORTANT WINE GRAPE CULTIVARS PLANTED ACCORDING TO NUMBERS (1 DECEMBER 1997 TO 30 NOVEMBER 1998)
Pinotage is the cultivar of which most vines were planted in the course of 1998, with Cabernet Sauvignon in the second position. Chardonnay's position weakened from most planted in 1996 and 1997 to fifth most in 1998. Likewise Chenin blanc, whose position weakened from third and fourth position in 1996 and 1997 respectively to the seventh position in 1998.
Table 3 shows the ten most important wine grape cultivars planted in 1998, according to numbers.
All the "noble" cultivars, namely Chardonnay, Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Sauvignon blanc (in other words the so-called "big six") counted among the ten most planted cultivars in 1998.
In figure 9 the total plantings in hectares of eight different cultivars, from 1996 to 1998, are expressed as a percentage of the total plantings over the period. It is clear from the figure that over the three year period Pinotage was planted most, followed by Chardonnay and Colombar.
Figure 10 indicates the total plantings of white and red cultivars in hectares, expressed as a percentage of the total plantings for the period 1995 to 1998. It is clearly noticeable that the percentage of plantings of red cultivars increased annually from 28% in 1995 to 60% of all plantings in 1998. Likewise, the annual decrease in the percentage of plantings of white cultivars from 72% in 1995 to 40% in 1998.
3. ANALYSIS OF WINE GRAPE CULTIVARS PLANTED IN THE VARIOUS KWV DISTRICTS - 1 DECEMBER 1997 TO 30 NOVEMBER 1998
Table 4 presents an analysis of wine grape cultivars planted according to numbers in the various districts from 1 December 1997 to 30 November 1998. The position and percentage of total plantings of the five most important cultivars only within a specific district are shown.
From Table 4 the following is clear:
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted cultivar in Paarl (21,8%) and Robertson (18,7%) and the second most in Malmesbury (17,6%) and Stellenbosch (26,4%).
From 1986 (2 231 ha) to 1993 (4 660 ha) there was an annual increase in the total position of Cabernet Sauvignon while the total position in 1994 (4 621 ha) and 1995 (4 650 ha) shows a slight decrease compared to the 1993 position. Following the sharp increase to 4 988 ha in 1997, the total position increased further to 5 615
(Figure 1).
Chardonnay was the most planted cultivar in the Olifants River district (17,6%). In Robertson (16,7%) it was the second most planted, the third most in the Little Karoo (18,0%) and Worcester (12,3%), the fourth most in Malmesbury (11,5%) and fifth most in Paarl (10,5%). In the Orange River and Stellenbosch alone Chardonnay did not count among the first five cultivars planted.
From 1986 (379 ha) to 1998 (5 722 ha) there was an annual increase in the total position of Chardonnay. The planting of 495 hectares in 1998 represents the first decrease in the planting trend of Chardonnay since 1993
(Figure 2).
Chenin blanc is the most planted cultivar in Worcester (16,5%), the third most in the Orange River (15,0%) and the fifth most in the Olifants River (11,0%) and Little Karoo (7,2%). However, Chenin blanc does not appear under the first five cultivars planted in the Malmesbury, Paarl, Robertson and Stellenbosch districts.
From 1988 (31 012 ha) to 1998 (25 875 ha) there was an annual decrease in the total position of Chenin blanc. Since 1990, except for 1994 (581 ha) and 1997 (524 ha), the annual plantings have stabilised between 380 and 500 hectares (Figure 3).
Colombar was planted most in the Orange River (46,4%) and Little Karoo (23,2%), second most in the Olifants River (16,1%) and fourth most in Worcester (11,8%). In Malmesbury, Paarl and Stellenbosch Colombar does not feature among the five most planted cultivars.
With regard to total position, Colombar is still showing an increasing trend, its total position amounting to 11 244 ha in 1998. After the second most plantings of Colombar in 12 years in 1997 (624 ha), plantings decreased to 536 ha in 1998 (Figure 4).
Hanepoot (3,5%) occupied the fourth position in one district only, namely Orange River, with regard to plantings.
Merlot occupies the second position in Paarl (18,7%), the fourth position in Stellenbosch (13,9%) and the fifth position in both Malmesbury (7,3%) and Worcester (11,5%) with regard to plantings. The 411 hectares established in 1998 represent the biggest plantings over the past thirteen years
(Figure 5).
Pinotage was planted most in the Stellenbosch (27,6%) and Malmesbury (33,3%) districts and second most in Worcester (15,9%). Pinotage was planted third most in both Paarl (16,8%) and Robertson (13,9%) and fourth most in the Olifants River (13,6%) and Little Karoo (16,2%) districts.
The decreasing trend in the total position of Pinotage since 1986 was reversed in 1993 with increasing plantings since 1993. 1998 saw the most plantings of Pinotage (755 ha) over the past thirteen years
(Figure 6).
Ruby Cabernet was planted second most in the Little Karoo (19,4%) and fifth most in both the Orange River (2,6%) and Robertson (9,4%) districts.
Sauvignon blanc is the fifth most planted cultivar in Stellenbosch (9,7%).
From 1986 (2 618 ha) to 1998 (4 966 ha) there has been an annual increase in the total position of Sauvignon blanc (Figure 7).
Although Shiraz does not feature among the ten most important cultivars with regard to total position, it is the third most planted cultivar in the Olifants River (14,1%), Malmesbury (15,4%) and Stellenbosch (14,6%) districts. It is also the fourth most planted in both the Paarl (12,5%) and Robertson (12,4%) districts.
Annual plantings since 1997 (282 ha) are indicative of a sharply increasing trend, with plantings of 507 ha in 1998. The total position also shows an annual increase since 1991, with sharp increases in 1997 (1 329 ha) and 1998 (1 999 ha) (Figure 8).
As in the previous year, Sultana once again occupies second position with regard to plantings in one district only, namely Orange River (23,7%).
The national planting patterns clearly indicate that each year the so-called "noble" cultivars constitute a bigger portion of the total plantings, thereby reinforcing the contribution made by these cultivars to the South African wine industry.
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