Wine producers in the Western Cape say it could take years to recover fully from last month’s floods that washed away vineyards and damaged critical infrastructure.
Many vineyards will need to be replanted and re-established, an expensive and lengthy process because vines require several years to mature before producing commercially viable grapes.
While the total cost of damage to the wine industry has not yet been finalised, for some estates the impact has been catastrophic.
Among the hardest hit is Springfield Estate, a family-owned wine farm in Robertson that cultivates 220ha of vineyards along the Breede River. The farm estimates its losses at about R15m, and will have to spend the same amount on replanting vines, restoring soil and replacing infrastructure.
Springfield Estate spokesperson Jenna Bruwer Kruger said the floods were the fourth major floods to hit the farm in three years, and by far the worst. “We only received about 20mm of rain on the farm itself. The destruction came entirely from upstream. By May 12, roughly 90 of our 220ha were underwater. Nothing remains.”
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