|
A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
|
|
RECENT ARTICLES | WYNBOER HOME
Most Important Wine Grape Types In The RSA*
*Statistics of Grape Vines as on 30 November 2001. (Complete information obtainable from SAWIS, Paarl).
Vineyards More Or Less (-) Planted Than Uprooted (1998- 2001)
In 2001 there was a nett decrease of 1 465 hectares of vineyards compared to a decrease of 1 971 hectares in 2000. It is clear from Table 1 that the biggest decrease occurred in the Robertson district, 357 hectares to be exact. Just one district, namely Worcester, showed an increase (60 ha), while all the other districts showed decreases.
1. Most Important Wine Grape Types According To Numbers (Total Plantings)
Chenin blanc with 20,9 per cent (22,5 % in 2000) of total planted vines, is still the most imporant cultivar in the South African wine industry with regard to plantings. Table 2 shows the ten most important wine grape types according to numbers (total plantings). The shift in positions since 1999 is also indicated.
All six the so-called "noble" cultivars ("Big six"), namely Cabernet Sauvignon (third with 10,0 %), Pinotage (fourth with 6,6 %), Shiraz (fifth with 6,4 %), Chardonnay (sixth with 6,3 %), Sauvignon blanc (seventh with 5,9 %), and Merlot (eighth with 5,7 %) still occur among the top ten cultivars.
2. Most Important Wine Grape Types Planted According To Numbers - 1 December 2000 To 30 November 2001
Cabernet Sauvignon is the cultivar of which the most and Shiraz the cultivar of which the second most vines were planted in 2001. The position of Chenin blanc weakened further from sixth most in 2000 to seventh most in 2001. The position of Colombar also weakened further from the eighth position in 2000 to the ninth position in 2001. Table 3 shows the ten most important wine grape types planted in 2001 according to the number of vines.
For the first time Petit Verdot and Malbec also claimed a place among the top ten most planted cultivars, while all the "noble" cultivars, namely Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Sauvignon blanc except Chardonnay, ranked among the ten most planted cultivars in 2001.
Figure 1 (above) shows the total plantings in hectares from 1997 to 2001 of eight different cultivars, expressed as a percentage of the total plantings over the period indicated. From the figure it is clear that Cabernet Sauvignon was planted most over the five year period, followed by Shiraz, Pinotage and Merlot.
Figure 2 (above) shows the total plantings of white and red cultivars in hectares, expressed as a percentage of the total plantings for the period 1995 to 2001. It is clearly noticeable how the percentage plantings of red cultivars increased annually from 28 % in 1995 to 84 % of all plantings in 2000, and that there is a slight decrease to 82 % in 2001. On the other hand, an annual decrease is noticeable in the percentage of plantings of white cultivars from 72 % in 1995 to 18 % in 2001.
White cultivars also represent the five cultivars most uprooted in 2001; Chenin blanc being the most uprooted with a percentage of 28,3% of all the vines that were uprooted.
3. Analysis Of Wine Grape Cultivars Planted In The Various Districts - 1 December 2000 To 30 November 2001
Table 4 shows an analysis of wine grape cultivars planted in terms of number of vines in the various districts from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2001. Only the position of the five most important cultivars and their percentage of total plantings within a particular district are indicated.
Table 4 shows the following:
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted cultivar in Paarl (39,3 %), Malmesbury (34,1 %), Stellenbosch (29,0 %) and Worcester (20,5 %), second most in Olifants River (20,6 %), third most in Robertson (17,5 %), and fifth most in Orange River (4,2 %).
After a steep increase to 5 615 ha in 1998, the total position of Cabernet Sauvignon showed a very steep increase to 6 963 ha in 1999, 8 824 ha in 2000 and 10 390 ha in 2001 (Figure 3).
In 2001, as in 1999 and 2000, Chardonnay was not among the first five cultivars planted in any district.
However, between 1986 (379 ha) and 2000 (6 067 ha) there was still an annual increase in the total position of Chardonnay due to little or no uprootings. The planting of 35 hectares in 2001 represents the fourth consecutive decrease in the planting trend of Chardonnay since 1993, with the total position of Chardonnay showing a decrease in 2001 for the first time since 1985 (Figure 4).
Chenin blanc is the third most planted cultivar (16,4 %) in the Little Karoo, the fourth most (10,8 %) in Orange River, and the fifth most in Paarl (4,3 %). However, Chenin blanc does not appear among the first five cultivars planted in the Olifants River, Malmesbury, Robertson, Stellenbosch and Worcester districts.
From 1990 (29 355 ha) there was an annual decrease to 2001 (21 100 ha) in the total position of Chenin blanc. Between 1990, except for 1994 (581 ha) and 1997 (524 ha), after the annual plantings stabilised between 340 and 500 hectares, there was a sharp decrease to 191 ha in 2000 and to 177 ha in 2001 (Figure 5).
Colombar was planted second most in the Orange River (26,1 %), and fifth most in Olifants River (8,1 %). In the Little Karoo, Malmesbury, Paarl, Stellenbosch, Worcester and Robertson, Colombar does not figure among the top five most planted cultivars.
After constant growth from 1990 onwards, Colombar showed a negative trend in 2000 and 2001 with regard to total plantings which decreased from 11 673 ha in 1999 to 11 432 ha in 2000 and 11 072 ha in 2001. Plantings of Colombar decreased from 624 ha in 1997, to 174 ha and 113 ha in 2000 and 2001 respectively (Figure 6).
With regard to plantings, Merlot occupies the first position in Robertson (20,8 %), the second position in the Little Karoo (16,9 %), the third position in Stellenbosch (19,6 %) and Worcester (14,8 %), the fourth position in Olifants River (9,7 %) and Paarl (8,0 %), and the fifth position in Malmesbury (6,9 %). For the first time since 1995 the plantings again show a decreasing trend. (Figure 7).
Pinotage is the third most planted in the Olifants River (17,2 %), Malmesbury (9,8 %) and Paarl (8,9 %), and the fourth most in Stellenbosch (8,9 %).
The decreasing trend in the total position of Pinotage since 1986 was reversed in 1993 with increasing plantings since 1993. From 1999 Pinotage plantings have been showing a decreasing trend, with 337 ha being planted in 2001. (Figure 8).
Viognier is the fifth most planted in the Little Karoo (6,7 %).
Ruby Cabernet is the third most planted in the Orange River (13,0 %), the fourth most in the Little Karoo (11,5 %) and Robertson (10,9 %), and the fifth most in Worcester (5,5 %).
Sauvignon blanc is the fourth most planted cultivar in Malmesbury (8,8 %) and Worcester (14,0 %), and the fifth most in Robertson (7,4 %) and Stellenbosch (6,9 %).
From 1986 (2 618 ha) to 2001 (5 758 ha) there was an annual increase in the total position of Sauvignon blanc (Figure 9).
In 2001 Shiraz was the most planted in Olifants River (26,7 %) and the Little Karoo (23,8 %). It is also the second most planted cultivar in Malmesbury (26,8 %), Paarl (21,6 %), Robertson (19,5 %), Stellenbosch (19,9 %) and Worcester (15,2 %).
It is only in the Orange River district that Shiraz did not rank among the two most planted cultivars. Annual plantings show a definite upward trend since 1997 (282 ha), with plantings reaching a peak in 2000 (1 536 ha) and decreasing to 947 ha in 2001. The total position shows an annual increase from 1991, with a sharp increase in 1997 (1 329 ha), 1998 (1 999 ha), and especially in 1999 (3 469 ha), 2000 (5 631 ha) and 2001 (7 078 ha) (Figure 10).
Just like the previous year Sultana is once again the cultivar that occupies the first position as far as plantings are concerned in one district only, namely Orange River (36,4 %).
The countrywide planting patterns still indicate a sustained intensified focus on the establishment of premium red cultivars, as well as Sauvignon blanc, so as to further strengthen the contribution of these cultivars to the South African wine industry.
|
|
Wynboer is incorporated in WineLand, magazine of the SA wine producers.
Visit our sister sites:
|
Paiter Botha, VinPro (SA)
| UP |
COPYRIGHT (C) 2000 WineLand |