The most exciting time in the Cape Winelands has arrived with the 2025 harvest kicking off across the various growing areas. It is such a time of energy and enthusiasm and while the vineyard and winemaking teams are used to early mornings and long days, it seems even those on the experience and hospitality side of our wine farms are gearing up for tourism-related harvest activities.
Remember those days when grape stomping competitions were a regular activity during harvest time? The South African wine tourism offering has come a long way since then and even though you might still manage to get your feet dirty here and there, wineries have developed an interesting offering of experiences focused on all that makes this season so special. A variety of harvest experiences, events and festivals invite tourists to learn more about winemaking, to taste anything from the ripe grapes to the fermenting juice (must) and the popular seasonal mosbolletjie bake, of course. Inviting visitors into the vineyards and cellars, harvest experiences give wine tourism a unique opportunity to tick the authenticity tourism trend. According to a recent article in Meininger’s, SA Wine Tourism is doing an exceptional job at keeping it real and inclusive, while making an important contribution to the GDP as well as job creation.
Other than content visitors, what else can we expect from the 2025 wine grape harvest? The post-harvest conditions in 2024 were quite favourable with warm conditions keeping plants active a little longer, a cold winter for proper dormancy and plenty of rain to replenish ground water and reservoir levels. Spring was cool with late flowering and except for exceptional heat just before Christmas and then again late January, early summer was quite cool and dry, resulting in slightly delayed véraison, but healthy grapes. While predicted to be smaller than the average SA harvest, the 2025 crop is expected to be bigger than in 2024 and similar to 2023. With ageing vineyards and less areas under vine, the smaller harvest volumes are to be expected, but it can be positive for quality. Read more.
South Africa is the only country in the world with an official birthday for its wine industry. On 2 February, we will celebrate 366 years of making wine in the Cape Winelands and while social media is alive with wineries celebrating their first loads coming into the cellar, the invitation is once again extended to a wider community. A Happy Birthday SA Wine campaign invites wine lovers, producers, retailers, and wine and tourism industries worldwide to celebrate South Africa’s rich winemaking heritage.
I encourage you to open your favourite bottle of South African wine and raise a glass to 366 years of an exciting and resilient industry!