South Africa harvest returns to normal

South Africa’s 2026 wine harvest reached 1.37 million tonnes, placing it firmly back in the upper-middle of the country’s recent historical range and marking the strongest crop since 2022.

The figure is above last year’s smaller vintage and broadly in line with South Africa’s typical modern production band of around 1.2 to 1.5 million tonnes.

That puts 2026 closer to a 'normalised' recovery year after more variable and weather-affected seasons earlier in the decade, rather than a record-breaking peak or a structural expansion in output.