The Southern Hemisphere is in full swing with the 2024 harvest—or they have already finished. We visited South Africa in mid-February, and some producers had already almost finished.
Andrew Wightman at Wightman & Sons in Swartland said he started harvesting unusually early this year; his first picking was January 10.
Nic van Aarde, winemaker at Oldenburg in Stellenbosch, said the same thing. This was the earliest harvest he had ever experienced. He started in the third week of January, which is three weeks earlier than normal.
Everything indicates that the 2024 South African wine harvest is exceptional. However, the growing season was not without problems. Winter started early and was wet. In Stellenbosch, it was one of the rainiest winters ever. The rain was welcome and filled the dams, but at the end of September, excessive rain in Elgin and other places caused flooding and destroyed roads as a result. In some places, the spring was cool, which affected the flowering and produced a smaller volume of wine than had been hoped for.
But despite this, we saw many happy faces in South Africa. So we can look forward to an outstanding vintage 2024 in South Africa.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to South Africa with BKWine. 2025 tour soon to be launched.
