Wine producers count the cost of raging CT fire

The impact of a raging fire

that is estimated to have

destroyed more than 2800

hectares of vegetation

on the Simonsberg near

Stellenbosch last week has

yet to be established.

The fire, which spread

across 90km from the Idas

Valley, Simondium, to Paarl

was still being brought

under control at the time

of going to press due to

several small f lare-ups.

André Morgenthal of

Wines of South Africa said

several wine farms had

been affected by the blaze

but it was not yet possible

to say what the impact was

on each brand.

Wine farms known to

have battled fires include

Rustenberg Wines, Uitkyk

Wine Estate, Kanonkop

and Delheim.

The Western Cape

government was expected

to start an impact

assessment on Monday

saying it could not be done

effectively until the fire

had been brought under

control and the smoke had

subsided.

“Once we have conducted

surveys we will have an

idea of the damage to

agricultural land and

infrastructure,” said

a spokesman for the

province.

Morgenthal said the

biggest concern at this

stage was around cost.

“The cost of replacing

vineyards is severe. The

other concern for many of

the wineries – even those

not affected by actual fire –

is smoke taint,” he said.

Harvesting grapes

from vines that have been

exposed to fire smoke can

result in wines containing

smoke taint, commonly

described as having smoky,

burnt and ash aromas or

cigarette, ashtray, acrid and

metallic f lavours.

In an effort to curb this

the organisation last week

distributed guidelines to

help reduce the smoke taint

in grapes.

If the smoke taint is too

bad the grapes are written

off completely for wine

making.

Morgenthal said despite

the large-scale damages

and cost impact it was not

expected that the fires would

have a significant effect on

the total wine exports of the

country although it was also

still too early to make any

definite call in this regard.

“If a winery lost say

15-20% of its vineyards,

there would be a dent in its

production volume. It is

significant if the relevant

vineyards are for premium

wines. But there is no fixed

assessment of the actual loss

and damage yet – they are

still fighting fires,” he said.

CAPTION

Firefighters last week had their hands full as

several fires – like this one near Fish Hoek

– struck several areas in the Western Cape,

including the Winelands.