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wine industrylatest news & developments
The data released by Statistics South Africa showed that agricultural gross value added expanded by 15,8% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2025.

South Africa’s agricultural performance so far this year is not all doom and gloom

The outbreak of animal disease is a concern but there’s good news from the field crops, horticulture and poultry sectors

Black-owned wine businesses struggling the most to survive alcohol ban, says Vinpro

The industry is hoping the government will scrap the latest ban on alcohol during the next national address on the Covid-19 pandemic, expected on Sunday

Cheers: The Treasure Chest Collective wine producers cut the ribbon at the Johannesburg launch of their 100 wine varieties.

The Treasure Chest Collective: Changing the identity of SA wine

A close-knit group of black, mostly women, wine producers is determined to get black South Africans to identify with and buy their good-quality wines

Excellent harvest expected this year.

​Too palatable for comfort: Am I complacently waiting for the winelands to change?

Sipping delicious wine in the gentle sun on weekend afternoons is a wonderful pastime but behind the vines the inequality is still strong.

The wine, steel, vehicle and insurance sectors are among those most affected by protectionist US tariffs.

SA wine exports reach record volumes on bumper harvest

Demand for South African wines from Europe, whch experienced a poor harvest in 2013, saw exports rise by 26%.

The pig farmer behind the Western Cape farm strikes

Nosey Pieterse says he is fully behind farmworkers who want to be liberated from their "shackles", writes Glynnis Underhill.

Platter high-fives to diverse vineyards

Although the 2012 ­<em>Platter’s Wine Guide </em>will be released only next month, the winners of its top ratings were announced this week.

Dynamism doesn’t end at Swartland

Which are the most exciting wine areas of the Cape? I increasingly hear murmurs of discontent of too much focus on the Swartland and on its wineries.

Keeping sweet with the rich

The wine industry seems to be pandering to a conservative, rich market that likes flashy stuff.

Poor yields from grapes of wrath

It’s been threatening for a long time: a report from a responsible international body replete with accusations of shocking farmworker conditions.

Golfers scrum down on unfamiliar terrain

Combining sport and winemaking is not new. But does it work?

Fruit of a poisoned vine

Fruit of a poisoned vine

How will a damning Human Rights Watch report into the treatment of workers affect the local wine industry? We speak to wine columnist <b>Tim James</b>

Charm obscures need for change

It’s perhaps dangerous to visit a wine farm such as Annandale — it’s all too easy to forget the urgent need for change in the SA wine industry.

Slaving away

Slaving away

The ugly side underpinning the wine industry is often too easily ignored.

When innovation beats specialisation

Out of the great revolution in South African wine we’ve seen in the past few decades, something of a contradiction is emerging.

Toast of the markets

Toast of the markets

Fine wines outstripped gold, crude and the FTSE 100 as an investment last year as prices surged for top vintages.

Real men can drink pink

Ten years ago red-blooded men like a red-blooded Cabernet, but the palette is now a whole lot broader, writes Tim James.

Change comes slowly to SA’s wine trade

Changes are taking place in the traditionally white-dominated wine industry, albeit slowly.

SA wines winning more attention abroad

The Obamas had a reservation for the night Democrats announced their candidate and the restaurant was looking for a wine that popped.

Cape wine workers paid less than R60 a day

Workers who produce hundreds of thousands of bottles of wine are struggling to survive on wages of about R57 a day and are facing harsh conditions.