Power cuts could make plonk of SA’s wine

CAPE TOWN – South African wine producers fear that weeks of power cuts in the Western Cape, South Africa’s wine-making region, may have spoiled this year’s vintage.

The Western Cape has been hit by blackouts since December, when a unit of the Koeberg nuclear power plant outside Cape Town broke down. “We will probably not make as good a wine as we could have,” said manager Andre Freeborough from Distell cellar in Stellenbosch, the centre of the wine-making region.”These power cuts disrupted the fermentation process and temperatures went too high,” he said.”The power cuts are complicating our work in the cellars – grapes have to wait in the sun for long hours because our cooling system is not functioning and at the end of the day that affects quality,” said Freeborough.A number of wine farmers were buying expensive generators to prevent more disruptions during the harvest period, which is due to end in May.The power outages are expected to continue until the end of July.Wines of South Africa spokesman Andre Morgenthal told AFP that this was a sensitive period in the wine-making calendar to be losing power.”It is extremely dangerous during harvest to lose power and these wines can easily be spoilt,” said Morgenthal.The Cape winelands is the largest wine-producing region in the Western Cape and about 834 million litres of wine are produced annually, including the famed Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.- Nampa-AFP”We will probably not make as good a wine as we could have,” said manager Andre Freeborough from Distell cellar in Stellenbosch, the centre of the wine-making region.”These power cuts disrupted the fermentation process and temperatures went too high,” he said.”The power cuts are complicating our work in the cellars – grapes have to wait in the sun for long hours because our cooling system is not functioning and at the end of the day that affects quality,” said Freeborough.A number of wine farmers were buying expensive generators to prevent more disruptions during the harvest period, which is due to end in May.The power outages are expected to continue until the end of July.Wines of South Africa spokesman Andre Morgenthal told AFP that this was a sensitive period in the wine-making calendar to be losing power.”It is extremely dangerous during harvest to lose power and these wines can easily be spoilt,” said Morgenthal.The Cape winelands is the largest wine-producing region in the Western Cape and about 834 million litres of wine are produced annually, including the famed Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.- Nampa-AFP