South Africa’s wine grape crop may increase 1.4% this season, VinPro says

South Africa’s wine grape crop will be 1.28 million metric tons this season, up 1.4 percent from last year, according to industry group VinPro.

The crop will yield 992.5 million liters, including juice and concentrate for non-alcoholic purposes, wine for brandy and distilling wine, or 1 percent more than last year, the Western Cape province-based VinPro said in a report on its website today, citing estimates of the SA Wine Industry Information & Systems. The average recovery is calculated at 776 liters for every ton of grapes, it said.

“What appeared to be a large crop early in the season systematically shrunk,” it said. Cold weather during flowering, a windy December and “large-scale” flood damage along the Orange River curbed production, it said. VinPro says it represents about 4,500 producers.

South Africa mainly grows white grapes, including Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc, while red varieties include Pinotage, a hybrid developed in the country. Italy is the world’s biggest wine producer.