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the consumer market with
the remaining 70% being dis-
carded, distilled into brandy or sold
as
table grapes and juice. By 2003 the
numbers had been reversed with more than
70% of the grapes harvested that year reach-
ing the
consumer market as wine.
Wine of Origin
Although the majority of South
Africa’s wine regions lie in the West-
ern Cape, recent pioneering efforts
have included the Eastern Cape and
KwaZulu-Natal as wine regions.
Drafted in 1973, the “Wine of
Origin” (WO) program legislates
how wine regions of South Africa
are defined and can appear on wine
labels. While some aspects of the
WO is taking from the French
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée
(AOC) system, the WO is primar-
ily concerned with accuracy in labeling and does not place
any additional regulations on wine regions such as permitted
varieties, trellising methods, irrigation and crop yields. Wine
regions under the WO system fall under one of four categories-
the largest and most generic are Geographical Units (such
as the Western Cape region which includes the smaller, but
still largely defined Regions (such as Overberg), followed by
districts (like Walker Bay) and then finally wards (such as El-
gin). The Eastern Cape Province is South Africa’s most recent
wine region. While geographical units, regions and districts
are largely defined by political boundaries-wards are the level
of origin designation that is most defined by unique terroir
characteristics.
Viticulture
Blooming vines in Franschhoek
Historically vineyards in South Africa were planted with
untrellised bush vines planted 1.2 meters (3 ft. 11 in) apart at
a density of 7,000 vines per hectare (2,800 vines per acre).
Following the phylloxera devastation, the focus of viticulture
in South Africa was more on quantity rather than quality. Vine-
yards were planted with high yield varieties, widely spaced
to facilitate the use of mechanical harvesting. In the late 20th
century more producers began to focus on quality wine pro-
duc-
tion
and
adopted
modern viti-
cultural practices.
Vines were planted to
an average density of 3,300
per hectare (1,300 per acre)
and pruned to keep yields down to
49–56 hl/ha (2.8–3.2 tons/acre). The
most common form of trellising found
in
South Africa is the vertical hedge row
system
that uses a split cordon supported on a wire kept around 750
millimeters (2.46 ft.) off the ground. The grapevine leaves are
trained upright on separate wires that allow plenty of sunshine
to reach the grapes but provide enough coverage to keep them
from being sunburned. The vines are usually pruned to allow
four to five spurs each with two to three buds (potential grape
clusters) per cordon. Heat is also a concern come harvest time
with some wineries harvesting only at night in the cooler tem-
peratures under floodlights.
Both downy and powdery
mildew can
present an occasional
viticul-
tural threat to South
Afri-
can vineyards.
The lack of
precipitation in
many wine re-
gions makes
irrigation a
necessity.
Sprinkler
and drip
irrigation
systems are used