In 2014 South Africa’s wine exports revenue hit a record high level. Its turnover grew by 6.3% due to their packaged and sparkling wines.
South Africa is the ninth wine producer country in the world and has been recognized as a wine zone for over 300 years.
South Africa, along with Chile and Argentina, was affected by high harvests in the northern hemisphere in 2013. For this reason the volume of exported wine decreased by 5.6%, but got the greatest gain to date thanks to its packaged wines and sparkling wines exported.
According to reports of OEMV (Spanish Observatory of Wine Market), the volume of wine exports from South Africa dropped 16.6% due to the fall of bulk and bag in box. This is a situation that has not affected economically the country thanks to the profits obtained from other types of wines aforementioned.
The first market for South African bulk is the UK, with good numbers in prices and a slight drop in volume figures, followed by Germany.
From the 100% of wine exports from South Africa during 2014, 50% were white varieties, 40.6% red varieties and the other 8.6%, Blanc de Noir and Rosé.
South Africa is the oldest wine producer from the New World, and it’s most important producing areas are: Robertson, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Worcester, Tulbagh, Overberg, Constantia and Calitzdorp.
The most widely planted grape varieties include Chenin Blanc and Colom bard. It’s most popular wines are: Pinatage, a medium color wine, ruby??Red with hints of plums and raspberries, and Rosenberg, a red wine made only in South Africa with hints of red fruits.
Recall that according to reports by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) for 2013, South Africa, along with Chile, was noted for wine exports, experiencing such growth in volume that allowed it to beat Australia by taking the fourth position worldwide as a wine exporter.
By 2014 the situation changed and, despite not increasing its numbers in terms of export volume, exceeds its own earned income records through exports. This indicates how valued South African wine is worldwide.
By Marta Burgues, Uvinum’s blog