Some SA Wine Stats

In the February edition of the SA Wine Magazine, there was a small booklet included which detailed some 2005 statistics courtesy of SAWIS (SA Wine Industry Information and Systems). There were a number of interesting stats about SA wine production.

-For instance, in 2005 there were 495 private cellars compared to 210 in 2001. That is a 60% increase. I think that is fairly massive.

-101 607 hectares under vine (with the Vatican city being the World's smallest state at 44 hectares, SA vines makes up 2309 Vatican cities!)

-308 million vines planted, with the Paarl area (where we are situated) having 18% of that total.

-The top 4 reds in terms of total red and white vineyard plantings are Cabernet Sauvignon 13.4%, Shiraz 9.6%, Merlot and Pinotage 6.4%.

-The top 4 whites in terms of toal red and white vineyard planting are Chenin Blanc 18.8%, Columbar(d) 11.3%, Chardonnay 7.8% and Sauvignon Blanc 7.5%.

-Our per capita wine consumption is 7.37 litres per year which is fairly light going compared to 48 for France, 47 for Italy and 20 for Australia.

Have a good week.

SB